Helppp tank crash

[fishiee]

Just came home today and found my protein skimmer dead (reef octopus DNW110, the needlewheel pump). All my corals were also dying as well, 1 out of 2 sps bleached, all the rest of the soft corals (zoas, leather coral) closed up tight and the LPS shrunk as well. There was also a net of slime on the LPS and SPS.

My water quality has always been good as i keep no fish (no feeding) and change 15 out of the 130l of water in my tank every week (with the exception of chinese new year week). There is a lot of detritus at the bottom of my sump and some on the sandbed (been there before the tank crashed). My wavemaker is hydor K1 for a 2ft tank. Water quality was so good that amphipods could be seen grazing and all sorts of weird organisms could be seen growing everywhere. My cheato was also turning a little brown (lack of nutrients? cos I dose iron.)

There are 3 possible reasons for the tank crash:

1. toxic waste overload from the skimmer failing and the detritus

2. not enough oxygen in the tank, but that's a minor possibility as water flows back into the tank from the top (my sump is above my tank) and it gets aerated there.

3. electric shock (i tried the needlewheel pump on the mains after cleaning it. it did not work, but i felt a constant, slight shock when i touched the device)

I am inclined to blame an electric shock for causing the tank to crash.

A few questions,

1. What is the mortality rate for corals that have just been zapped by electricity (not a strong ZAP, but you know, a weak zap), how do i save them? Is there a point in saving them?

2. My plan of action: change water (25 l), get a new protein skimmer. looking at a weipro SA2014 paired with an aquabee 2000 (about 186 bucks)

any sugguestions on what else i should do or whether i should get a better skimmer (next in line will be the reef octopus NW 150, 240 bucks), but i am inclined to get the weipro as you can change pumps without going back to the reef octopus dealer. OR should i just buy a replacement pump for my skimmer from reef octo (about 80 bucks?)

[yikai]

a skimmer dying will not cause tank crash immediatly. in fact, it will not cause tank crash at all.

secondly fish and corals are unaffected by stray voltage. because they are not grounded. electricity can only be felt if it travels to the ground. in humans u feel coz it travels down to the ground via you.

i have a feeling it's something with the tank. either an underlying problem, etc. what was your temperature? perhaps your chiller failed and everything died as a result of temp spike.

[onizukaa]

bro what i would suggest.

1) Change 20% - 50% of your water

2) Change your Carbon soonest

3) Run the wavemaker / skimmer.

4) Siphon all the dirt out if possible.

Observe the corals for tomorrow and hope all will be good for you.

[peacemaker]

You may want to take a look at the Bubble Magus series of skimmers. IMO, they should perform better as compared to the ones you suggested. For a 2 Ft tank, you can consider NAC 3.5 and above. Check out our sponsor DE Lightings.

[DUCADOS]

Tank dun crash this way la bro.

Base on the info u gave,I would say all those sympthom happened some time already just that u never notice... Everything takes time unless u tell me power failure than I nothin to say...

[Guest]

Yes i agree with Lemon that the tank would crash if your skimmer fail on you unless you were away for one week or more ??

Perhapses it is something rotting inside your tank which cause the ammonia spike together with your skimmer failing at the same time . Doing a major water change and adding carbon will able to help restore the condition.

[fishiee]

oh well, something must have caused this.. my aquarium runs on fans and my maid said that there was no power outrage. Even if there was, it will have to have been so short that she did not notice it a.k.a the temp. won't have spiked to a dangerous level

the tank was doing just fine the day before the skimmer broken down. not a trace of ANYTHING amiss. SPS fully extended, everything thriving.

I am running the wavemaker and i put an airstone in my tank and sump and disconnected the sump from the main tank. Will conduct water and carbon changes tomorrow.

I have no idea what the underlying problem was.

I dose minerals. although i don't actually count the dosage, i dose below the recommended amount for my tank size. overdosing of minerals is not an issue.

I don't run a deep sand bed (sand about 1/2 an inch thick).

Detritus accumulation, possibly.

Looking at everything, the skimmer would have provided a large portion of oxygen to the sump. with it gone, organisms in the sump/###### refridgerum may have died (no oxygen in refuge, all organisms die) and caused pollution, coupled with the loss of the protein skimmer = massive nitrate spike? Is that a possibility? I have live rock and cheato in the fuge, LOTS and LOTS of tiny organisms, small tubeworms, mini sponge growing on the skimmer and tank walls.

I cannot see any other underlying problem besides that.

[yikai]

no.

oxygen depletion can happen but not at such an alarming rate. you have wave makers in the main tank and water circulation around it's enough. without skimmer it's fine even for a week!

i have a very strong feeling it's temperature related. the signs all point to temp spike.

corals shrunk

LPS close

SPS bleach

slime

all point to high temp to over exposure of light. i don't assume it's the second option so it's definitely temp related.

a cooling fan is very unreliable and it may have stopped and re-started itself? i don't know.

[peacemaker]

Or could your maid have pulled the plug for the fan so that she could use the vacuum cleaner...?

[tunicate]

BTW, what's your regular water temperature like, with pumps, wavemaker, lights,...all going concurrently?

[fishiee]

No. she does not do that and will never. there are more than enough plugs in my room to use and she usually uses the plug outside my room. and the plug which i use is messy and hard to access.

[braincoral]

1. break down of skimmer will not cause

corals to up lorry within a day or so.

2. Even chiller break down for a day or so.

should cause corals to up lorry unless the

temp spiked too much/ a few degree different?

[dnsfpl]

temp fluctuation yes

even shrimps cannot take it when temp hit more than 30 degree constantly

[straydum]

hmm i can't give you an answer to your problem but i would second peacemakers suggestion of a bubble magus skimmer in your budget. getting a weipro 2014 with an ab2000/1 is not worth it at all.

[fishiee]

ha. my temp usually stays at around 28, 29 at most. i remember that there was a fan failure once with this particular configuration. temp. went all the way up and everything survived, including the SPS that bleached this time round. is it possible the needlewheel pump leaked copper into the tank when it spoilt (damage at its outer casing by who knows what?). still think its something skimmer related. cannot be that so qiao, something has been festering in my tank and just decides to show up when the skimmer goes off. are you sure corals are not affected by electricity?

[fishiee]

OR the propeller on te spoilt pump may have gotten stuck, turning the pump into a 18 watt heater before iit fizzed out and spoilt completely. that would have caused a temp spike that my fans would not have been able to deal with. anyway, things are not looking too well. Both SPS bleached, thick net of slime covering both the brain and plate. brain still has some colour left in it. play has shrunk to the smallest it can get, zoa starting to produce slime, but not shrivelled up, leather coral shrinking in size and turning from brown to green with the usal protective coat of slime it has not produced in over 6 months cos of the excellent water quality. should i take the cash and trouble to save the tank and coral, or should i just start anew in a 1 foot cube? can the corals be saved in the first place? i have nursed a bleached brain coral (this one) back to life, am willing to do it for the rest of the lot, but i just don't know if they are dead already (e.g. i cannot save the if they have been poisoned by copper)

[mengyang_neo]

For SPS if bleach still can save back, just need to take some time for it to recover and colour up. If totally turn white then can throw liao.

For LPS if never show skeleton should be still alive.

For Zoa if still got poly mean still got chance, if melt then gone liao.

If u intend to save the left over coral, u can do a mass water change (suck out all the slime) and add carbon, since u dun have fish it should be ok without a skimmer for the time being.

[peacemaker]

I would choose the restart option, but that's just me.

You might wanna dismantle the skimmer pump to find out about the stuck propeller theory.

[fishiee]

Wah. Reborn closed today. Hoped to get my stock of saltwater from there. I came back home and things were quite bad. Bristleworms dying on the sandbed and all. I think i will fill a 1 ft cube with fresh salt water and put what savable corals there are in it. That will be my new reef tank. The plate coral is showing white skeleton, so that one's out. One colony of zoas have shrunken A LOT, so i won't bother saving those. Other than that, i think the leather, the brain coral and one colony of zoas that have not shrunk so much. I will put the 2 sps in just to see if there is anything to save. 1's totally white while the other has a tinge of brown in it.

[wilsontantw]

What are your NH3, NO2, NO3 and salinity readings?

[TayHongSiang]

Wah. Reborn closed today. Hoped to get my stock of saltwater from there. I came back home and things were quite bad. Bristleworms dying on the sandbed and all. I think i will fill a 1 ft cube with fresh salt water and put what savable corals there are in it. That will be my new reef tank. The plate coral is showing white skeleton, so that one's out. One colony of zoas have shrunken A LOT, so i won't bother saving those. Other than that, i think the leather, the brain coral and one colony of zoas that have not shrunk so much. I will put the 2 sps in just to see if there is anything to save. 1's totally white while the other has a tinge of brown in it.

too much bioload in a 1ft cube...your biological system cannot cope once skimmer is down, hence, the crash plus sudden temp increased from the skimmer pump that is stucked...thus producing a lot of heat.

[fishiee]

my orginal tank was a 2 foot (2 by 1 by 1.5) with a 14cm by 11cm by 15 cm sump/fuge. the 1 foot cube was a spare tank that i transfered my dying coral into. anyway, i just dismantled the main setup. bristleworms dying on the sandbed, the usual. cleaned everything up. transfered 1 sps, mushroom, brain, zoa and leather into the 1 ft cube with clean saltwater. my wavemaker is running for high flow and i have a fan blowing to keep the temp down. the leather coral's polyps came out a bit but they are all black and shrivelled, looks like a procupine now. brain and mushroom look like they have a good chance of survival. i think i will transform this 1 ft cube into my new tank. any sugguestions for a skimmer? bubble magnus qq or a reef octo hang on?

[fishiee]

Ahh. Update. I managed to save 4 corals (leather, brain, mushroom, zoa). They should make a full recovery in time to come if there are no more screw ups. I am thinking of making the 1 foot cube my official marine tank (cos i am just too lazy and disheartened to set up the 2 foot tank again). Any recommendations for a protein skimmer? Was looking at the rio nano, the bubble magus QQ and the reef octo range of nano skimmers. any other recommendations? I don't wish to pay too much, so the aqua c is out for me. i know the rio nano may not be the best out of all, but it does combine a filter and a skimmer in 1 package (less heat) and it takes the skimmer OUT of the tank. Real estate is so expensive.

[iskay]

Tunze 9002

[fishiee]

wah. 200 bucks ex leh. one thing was the price for me lol. i can restart my 2ft tank with that. not saying its a bad skimmer