Crashed

[JamesHolt]

Well mine was doing fine, till my HOB skimmer puked in the tank..
Came home, checked tank (10g Bowfront), skimmer cup was 1/2 full, emptied and cleaned it, and did my water change
Came home next morning (work third shift) skimmer is running over, water in tank is brown/black and smells like sewage.
Put 190g back on porch and sat 40g on its stand (2x4 frame,plywood top), and filled, transferred everybody i could find over (after a quick dip in some clean SW).
Pulled the rock out of 10g, wife had towel under it to catch riders, and this piece of goop that looks like a chunk of rotten white caulking falls out of rock, the smell off of it was staggering.It was the size of a good hotdog.
Removed the two crabs that were hanging on and tossed them in 40g.
Took the rock into bathroom and blasted it off in tub. Opened the hole in the back up with a hammer and cleaned the hollow out real good.
The survivors are two Three Stripe Damsels, two Turbos, one Peppermint Shrimp, two Emerald Crabs, and a couple of hermits. Lost all of my small snails and baby crabs and one Peppermint Shrimp.
40g is setup with two pieces of rock, eggcrate in bottom, patch of sand (handful in center) so hermits can move some (eggcrate giving them a fit), Emperor 400 HOB filter, heater and two 100gph bladed powerheads.

Would this setup be sufficient for a few days till I get sump/overflow setup??

I guess something was in rock and died, not real sure. Only thing I was having trouble with was Phosphates, and I have a reactor going for that. Was changing 1 gallon of water every other day to try to help reactor lower phosphates..

Wanted to upgrade to the 40g but not like this.....

 

[robs.mark]

maybe that was a sea cucumber in the tank that died and nuked everything. you should be good for a few days mate, just have a close eye on everything..

 

[formsix]

Yikes!! Small tanks scare me for that very reason -- just no room for error if something goes awry. I'd keep doing a few largish water changes in the new tank just in case anything carried over, and to account for any cycling that might occur (just by moving the rock, or from stuff in the rock continuing to slowly die if it was affected by the original incident).

Other than that, I can't see any reason that setup wouldn't work for a few days, or even longer for your inhabitants. Just keep a careful eye on stuff like the temperature -- that it's actually heating the water to the temp you want and keeping it there. I find all these heaters really fickle and never trust them, especially in a new setup.

Oh, and sorry about what happened -- that sounds like a stressful mess. Glad you had another tank on hand and salt water to deal with it quickly!!

 

[Teenreefer15]

maybe that was a sea cucumber in the tank that died and nuked everything. You should be good for a few days mate, just have a close eye on everything..

+1

 

[JamesHolt]

maybe that was a sea cucumber in the tank that died and nuked everything. you should be good for a few days mate, just have a close eye on everything..

If it was, they sure do stink when they die, got the HOB filter intake right next to that rock, already have changed the pads out. Have taken that rock out a few times and swished it around in a bucket. Nothing else has fallen out, maybe I got it all..

Yikes!! Small tanks scare me for that very reason -- just no room for error if something goes awry. I'd keep doing a few largish water changes in the new tank just in case anything carried over, and to account for any cycling that might occur (just by moving the rock, or from stuff in the rock continuing to slowly die if it was affected by the original incident).

Other than that, I can't see any reason that setup wouldn't work for a few days, or even longer for your inhabitants. Just keep a careful eye on stuff like the temperature -- that it's actually heating the water to the temp you want and keeping it there. I find all these heaters really fickle and never trust them, especially in a new setup.

Oh, and sorry about what happened -- that sounds like a stressful mess. Glad you had another tank on hand and salt water to deal with it quickly!!

Yeah I was warned about the small tanks, it was doing good until that happened, but I like the 40g, it fits good in my home office, happy with the tank size, not as big as my oscar tank but a lot easier to keep up. He is a slob.
Think I will setup the 40g as my DT, got to cut the overflow at a water change....
The heater is a spare from the oscar tank it was working, just had to adjust temp some, it is holding temp.

Hermit crabs are really ****ed at the eggcrate in the bottom, two have finally made it to another rock and climbed up, the last one is climbing up out of the holes and falling into the next one, gonna put him on a rock so he can rest..

How big of a sump will I need for the 40g, I have a 12d X 36w x 20t that came with the 190g,(190 is gonna be FW so that wont be big enough for it)
that will be 35g-40g capacity but probably run it around 20g-25g.
Doing berlin sump.

In the DT I am only gonna do shrimp, crabs, (coral later, alot later) I may add two more Damsels or chromies. I just like watching the crabs and shrimp run around.. Any charts around on what shrimp,crabs get along??

Sorry if I am rambling, just tired, spent 6 hours on this yesterday followed by going straight to work, been on it a few hours today..

 

[formsix]

In the DT I am only gonna do shrimp, crabs, (coral later, alot later) I may add two more Damsels or chromies. I just like watching the crabs and shrimp run around.. Any charts around on what shrimp,crabs get along??

Hmm, sexy shrimp, fire shrimp, and striped cleaner shrimp all get along, and I like them in pairs (but you can have as many sexy shrimp as you want). Porcelain crabs are fun to watch filter feed, and you might consider a decorator crab given what you're going for. An urchin could also be fun. Some rock anenomes would also work, but don't add those until your tank is somewhat established.

That's funny that the egg crate is causing the hermits so many problems... I wonder if laying a piece on the sandbed with some food in the holes would make the perfect hermit trap!!

 

[JamesHolt]

The eggcrate would get the little ones, I have one that has give up but I cant pull him out of the hole as he is to small. Guess I will try to get him in the morning with the siphon..

 

[JamesHolt]

Ammonia spike already, that was fast..Wife called me and said the badge was starting to change colors. Looks like I will be doing a water change in the morning...

 

[robs.mark]

start running some carbon too mate

 

[tzylak]

". . . . Came home next morning (work third shift) skimmer is running over, . .. "
Running over onto the floor? or back into the DT??
I can't imagine NOT plugging an outlet hose to the skimmer collection tank and letting it continuously drain into a separate receptacle. Make the receptacle as big as the space allows. -That way the skimmer will never spill out.

 

[robs.mark]

or empty your display onto the floor...

 

[JamesHolt]

". . . . Came home next morning (work third shift) skimmer is running over, . .. "
Running over onto the floor? or back into the DT??
I can't imagine NOT plugging an outlet hose to the skimmer collection tank and letting it continuously drain into a separate receptacle. Make the receptacle as big as the space allows. -That way the skimmer will never spill out.

Back into DT,,it was one of the ones that use an airstone, just clamped to the back wall of tank, no place for hose attachment,, never again,, gonna order real skimmer next week,, everything will be hooked to a collection bucket/tank that drains outside

 

[JamesHolt]

start running some carbon too mate

the HOB filter I am using has carbon in its pads

wish this 3 day week would hurry up and end,, 2 whole days to work on tank

 

[robs.mark]

Back into DT,,it was one of the ones that use an airstone, just clamped to the back wall of tank, no place for hose attachment,, never again,, gonna order real skimmer next week,, everything will be hooked to a collection bucket/tank that drains outside

just be carefull with that mate, if that skimmer flips out and decides to start free flowing, then its gonna empty your tank. At least with the current set-up all your going to see is a nutrient spike if the same thing happens.. food for thought.

 

[JamesHolt]

just be carefull with that mate, if that skimmer flips out and decides to start free flowing, then its gonna empty your tank. At least with the current set-up all your going to see is a nutrient spike if the same thing happens.. food for thought.

ok, so a unattended remote tank for skimmer cup(outside of sump isnt a good idea..guess i could divide off a section for cup to overflow into with a valve to empty.. not take divider to top so if freeflow happens it just recirculates it...

thanks