Tank crashed

[sammyw]

My 50g crashed. I am going to start completely over with a 29g sump. This was my first reef tank. I know I probably killed the tank because I didn't use ro/di and I added the 29g sump and shocked the fish.
Can I reuse the 60lbs live rock in the new tank. It's covered with green algae. I have it covered in sw in a 30g trash can right now.
Should I use sand again? If so, how much.
What type of media should I use in my sump?

 

[shogun323]

Hey Sammy. Sorry for your loss. I think it may be wise to take some time, catch your breath and regroup before jumping into another tank. From your description, it sounds like you may have rushed things a bit. Rushing in this hobby only results in crashes/ failure/death. Let's take all the precautions to make sure it doesnt happen again. I am sure you put alot of hard work and hard earned money into your tank.
Can you describe what all has happened a little more detailed including what was in your tank?

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by shogun323
Hey Sammy. Sorry for your loss. I think it may be wise to take some time, catch your breath and regroup before jumping into another tank. From your description, it sounds like you may have rushed things a bit. Rushing in this hobby only results in crashes/ failure/death. Let's take all the precautions to make sure it doesnt happen again. I am sure you put alot of hard work and hard earned money into your tank.
Can you describe what all has happened a little more detailed including what was in your tank?
bump

 

[sepulatian]

I am interested in knowing exactly what happened as well. Please decribe it as thoroughly as you can.

 

[aztec reef]

sammy, can you share some more info, have you invested in an ro/di unit?

 

[sammyw]

Well, the tank is about six months old. I started with (after allowing a one month cycle):
30 lbs LR
2" sandbed
1 perc clown
10 turbo snails
10 hermits
1 three-stripe damsel (I know, damsels!)
1 diamond goby
2x 250w MH
Prizm protein skimmer
2 power heads
About two weeks ago, I made a 29g sump with an overflow box. I added the water to the tank all at once and have been using tap water. Initiall I tested the tap water and it seemed to be OK.
All my water parameters seemed to be near perfect, but the tank started getting a lot of green slime algae.
About one week after introducing the sump, my snails all went belly side up (literally). They were still alive but wound not turn over. I would turn them over and somehow they would end up belly side up again and wouldn't turn over. WEIRD! About two days later, they died. ALL OF THEM! Even the bristleworms in the rocks crawled out and died.
About three days after the snails died, the fish followed. I tested the water again, and it appeared to be good.
All I have left is an empty tank and sump.
Should I reuse the rocks? A good portion of them are covered in the green algae. The algae is not hair algae.

:notsure: :help:

 

[sepulatian]

It sounds as though your water has phosphates. Unless the amount is extremely high it would not have killed everything that quickly. Was the sump and pumps new or used? Did you mix the water in advance and make sure it matched your DT exactly before adding it to the sump? Did you stay on top of testing your water parameters?

 

[fishwilly1]

HEY MAN, COUPLE OF Q'S, WHEN YOU ADDED THE SUMP DID YOU ADJUST YOUR SALINITY TO IT? ALSO WHEN YOU ADDED THE TAP DID YOU MIX THE WATER (IF YOU MATCHED SALINITY) TO THE WATER THOROUGHLY OR JUST CLUMP IT IN TOGETHER, AND ALSO WHAT WERE YOU RUNNING IN YOUR SUMP? YOU DIDN'T HAVE SOME FRESH MACRO REVERSE ON YOU FROM THE STRAIGHT TAP DID YOU? YOU NEED TO GIVE US MORE SO WE CAN HELP YOU!!!! JUST STICK WITH IT, WE WILL GET YOU THROUGH, THE PEOPLE HERE ARE GRRRRREEEEEEAAAAAATTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :happyfish

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by sammyw
Well, the tank is about six months old. I started with (after allowing a one month cycle):
30 lbs LR
2" sandbed
1 perc clown
10 turbo snails
10 hermits
1 three-stripe damsel (I know, damsels!)
1 diamond goby
2x 250w MH
Prizm protein skimmer
2 power heads
About two weeks ago, I made a 29g sump with an overflow box. I added the water to the tank all at once and have been using tap water. Initiall I tested the tap water and it seemed to be OK.
All my water parameters seemed to be near perfect, but the tank started getting a lot of green slime algae.
About one week after introducing the sump, my snails all went belly side up (literally). They were still alive but wound not turn over. I would turn them over and somehow they would end up belly side up again and wouldn't turn over. WEIRD! About two days later, they died. ALL OF THEM! Even the bristleworms in the rocks crawled out and died.
About three days after the snails died, the fish followed. I tested the water again, and it appeared to be good.
All I have left is an empty tank and sump.
Should I reuse the rocks? A good portion of them are covered in the green algae. The algae is not hair algae.

:notsure: :help:

What is your temp doing with 2 X 250 MHs on a 50G? How much varience? I assume you know tap water could be the culprit. What did you test the tap water for? Cl-? Over 35% (30g in 80gs) Cl- tap water might of done it? Man, something was bad if B worms were croaking!
Mc

 

[sammyw]

pump was new. I think the salinity was 1.024 in the tank and the water in the sump was 1.023 when I introduced it.

 

[aztec reef]

that prizm is kind of lame for a 50g, also you could off used 2" more of sand and about twice the lr you got there..

 

[aztec reef]

also did you have 15x -20 turnover(flow) rate per hour?

 

[mcbdz]

I have also heard of copper and different metals in some tap water. May need to test for that.

 

[sammyw]

I have about a 15x water rate. I am going to buy an ro/di system.
I think I am going to buy some additional rock too.

 

[sammyw]

my water temp was about 84 before the sump. With the addition of the sump it decreased to about 82. I know I need to probably get a chiller eventually!

 

[d0 thy d3w]

or u could just hang the halides higher above the water line....also increasing the water turnover rate might help a little bit

 

[promisetbg]

It sounds like something foreign got into the water...as in...what was in the container you used to make the water up before, or is there some way something was on your hands, or in the vicinity of the tank..ie: cleaners, chemicals, hand lotion, etc.? Something caused this that you must not be testing for. Can you post all of the parameters as they were? SG.? My wild guess is going to be temp swings. Why are you using 250 wt MH's on a 50 gal tank? 30 Lbs of LR is'nt really enough for bio-filtration. When you added the sump, was it a new or used tank? Did you de-chorinate the tapwater? What is the TDS of the tapwater where you live? No offense but having a Prism is like having no skimmer at all. Could also be lack of oxygen, do you have powerheads and surface movement? Another thing to consider....if you used water straight from the tap without airating it, the PH of that water would have been nil. Fluctuations of this magnitude are extremely hard on saltwater fish, inverts, etc. Anytime you make a change it should be done with care to insure that everything is the same with the parameters.