Bad Advice From Birmingham Reef Store

I'm really sorry to hear of your loss. I wish that I had a dollar for everytime I've heard of catastrophy resulting from EM use. Truth is, it's a broad spectrum which kills bacteria indescriminately. It can and does wipe out most (if not all) of the beneficial bacteria in your tank. Within 24 hours or less your entire biological system is gone. Then ammonia spikes and kills everything.

Should the LFS employee know this? Yes. Do they? Maybe. Are they responsible? No. Unfortunately, what happens when you put it in your tank is your responsibility. If you had hired them to maintain your tank, paid them for the service and they did it, they would be responsible.

I know it's not what you wanted to hear but it's the truth. Also, you can sue anyone for anything, any time. Winning a judgement is another story. In this case, you wouldn't. Sorry.
 
If you buy RO water from somewhere else, get a TDS meter and test the water. (Preferably before you pay for it!) That way you know if the system is in good condition that day.
 
Come over to Tuscaloosa and see Spiller pets, it will make you want to bust out all of there tanks or slit your wrists.

I have not been in there in two years; its truely horrific from an algea tank maintenance perspective 2foot hair algea in every tank! I can only imagine the people that go there wanting to get into salt water-
 
Sorry for your losses!

I just used 1/2 an EM in my 20 a couple weeks ago for a persistant cyano problem. The duster threw his crown and the corals started looking a bit unhappy after about 10 hours so I added carbon to the filter and turned the skimmer back on and all is now fine, cyano is gone and everyone is happy. I was more than a bit nervous when I saw what was going on that next morning and am not sure that i'll use EM again, but it did work. Also, I was told by my lfs to start adding stability as soon as I started skimming again.
 
The main tank looks to be recovering. Two snails made it through and are on the glass, though not moving much. A hermit also made it as did the emerald crab. I can't really tell yet with corals but I think the frog spawn might be trying to come back out, as well as the zoa's/polyps. The mushrooms and xenia are gone I'm afriad, as is the kenya tree. The digi lost all his color but I'm waiting to see if his polyps will come back out. The monti and blue ridge could also come back.

Anyway, I'm thinking I might get some more sand to put in. Is there any place in Birmingham I could just get a couple of scoops rather than having to buy 20lbs? I was thinking this might help the process of bringing the bacteria levels back up.
 
Where in Birmingham are you? I'd offer you a scoop of my sand, but my cyano appears to be trying to come back. I'm sure someone here with a more established tank wouldn't mind giving you a scoop or two to get your bacteria back going.
 
Looks like death, but candy canes are tough. I also see what appears to be healthy flesh underneath. I would leave them be and continue with water changes and monitoring tank health.
 
I'll give you some sand. I live on northwest side of B'ham and may not be able to meet until weekend but let me know if this will help.
My sand is fine grain #0 by the way. White powder.
HTH Mark
 
Almost sorry to bring this topic back to life, but I have to say.

Understanding your point on listening to a store employee, you should be able to trust in his advice.

On the other hand, you also have to remember that on average, LFS employees <I am one> are not marine biologist. They are usually hobbyist just like the rest of us.
What he advised may have worked for a friend, or maybe even himself at one time uder a little diffrent circumstances.

The only thing I can say, is that if someone ask me advice about something and I am not dead certain, I will point out that it is something I read, heard, second hand, not something I have experienced. And in any case, even when it is my experience I make sure that they understand that no tank is the same and every tank could have bad reaction to a common cure.

This hobby seems to be as much about theory as it is fact, and because of that you can easily have two diffrent results from the same experiment.

So always remember that your LFS employees are not always going to be experts, or scientist, but most of them are experienced, and will help where they can.
 
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