MrHarvard
"ship it"
Before I tell this story I want everyone to know I'm a big supporter of LFS. It has been almost 3 weeks since this happened as well so I have had a lot of time to think about it. With all of this being said I think everyone should be aware so that something like this doesn't happen to them. A couple of weeks ago I went to the LFS, that I used to go to 3-5 times a week, to pick up some saltwater for a water change. When I got there I realized I forgot my jugs that I always use. The store said don't worry we sell jugs here that you can buy. I picked one up and asked where they came from and I was informed that they were food grade and had been cleaned so they were good to go. I took the water home and did a 5g water change. About 1 hour later a buddy of mine stopped by to see the tank and when we walked over he noticed I had 3 acros that were starting to RTN. Of course I freaked out right away and started testing everything. I have Red Sea and Salifert kits for pretty much anything you can test for. All of the test came back right were they should be with no swings at all. I know my temp was stable as well as my salinity so I was a bit confused. After finding nothing in the tests I just thought oh well shizz happens. The next day not only were the 3 colonies from the day before completely RTN, but 3 more were showing signs of it. I immediately tried to frag what I could and save at least a piece of the colonies. This continued over the next 5 days until I completely lost EVERY sps in my tank along with 2 bubble tips and a couple of zoas. I had my buddy come back over with and help me trouble shoot what could have went wrong. After going through everything and testing a second time he asked about the water change that I had done right before this started and If I had done anything different. I immediately thought about the jug I bought that day. I went and grabbed the jug unscrewed the lid and as soon as I did I could smell a chemical smell that smelled like ammonia. I went back to the LFS that I go to so often, and told them what had transpired. At that point they informed me that the jugs they get are normally steam cleaned but this time the company made a mistake and they didn't get cleaned. I told them that I had lost everything and that I was positive it was because of the poisoned jug. They said oh we haven't heard anything from anyone else yet about them but we will see. Please keep in mind that my tank was completely stocked with SPS. I had thousands of dollars in acros including things like blue dragon, rainbow millies, sunset millies, ice fire echinata, plum crazy, purple monster, pearl berry, the list goes on and on....I also had it dialed in and everything growing like crazy. The few people on here who saw my tank before this happened can vouch for the amount of acros I had in my tank. A few days later my buddy suggested I test my water for ammonia again due to the smell in the buckets and sure enough I had ammonia traces in my tank. I have been doing multiple water changes over the past 2 weeks and things seems to be getting back to normal. I have decided to wait another 4-6 weeks before adding anymore acros. I have been completely depressed since this happened and have thought about just selling everything and getting out of the hobby. Thanks to a few fellow reefers that talked me out of it, I'm going to start over. I have heard nothing from the LFS since, and they have done absolutely nothing to make it right. I will take what little blame is mine for not checking their jugs and trusting their word. I really thought that after all the money I spent in there store, and the clear carelessness on there part, they would some how make it right. Needles to say I haven't been back nor will I. I have learned my lesson and I will always check everything that goes in my tank and not trust anyone's word. I am very thankful that most of my rare zoas made it trough and are looking healthy as ever.
