Disaster!!

[IrishTang]

So I guess I should count myself lucky as this is my work tank and didn't happen to my home tank but.........


The 180 gallon tank I built and maintain at work crashed over the weekend due to a breaker tripping. Must have tripped Fri or Saturday. Got the call from front desk that everything was dead. Sure enough everything but some bristle worms , snails and a couple leather corals seem to have gone to that great big fish bowl in the sky.

SO, time to rebuild, I guess my main concern now would be getting ammonia spike under control. LFS told me to do a big dose of Prime, large water change and run carbon. I only have about 45 gallons of R/O made up at the moment, how big of a water change should I do to try and save any corals?


Such a big loss as over a year ago there was a fire here at the clinic and all of the fish, rock and corals were taken to a local LFS and housed for over a year while we rebuilt. Got the tank back up and running, we were about a year into it and everything was looking beautiful ! Lost a large show size blue tang, yellow tang, flame angel, 2 clowns, 4 RBTA's one ultra rainbow anemone too. UGH over 10 years this round in the hobby and this is my first disaster......... Any other suggestions or tips would be great!

 

[nitrodude]

Sucks man. I dont run gfi's on my tank anymore. Had one that tripped twice and luckily both times I was home. Changed out my gfi outlet for a standard one after the 2nd time. Both times they tripped for no apparent reason. Have had no gfi on either tanks for almost 2 years now with no more issues. I guess worst case is I get electrocuted without the gfi-better then my fish/coral dying I suppose :lolspin:

 

[Desertoasis]

That's terrible to hear, I'm sorry. Can I ask a naive question and ask what it was that killed everything specifically?

 

[mark.red]

I agree with no GFI. 110v stings a lil and isn't worth the entire tank crashing. Never used one nor do I plan to. If you short on water for a water change........Just get water flowing and let it chill for a month allowing the tank to cycle. Toss a lil NOPOX in there with the skimmer running. Test water and go from there when the nutrients are within order. Carbon, NOPOX, fine filter sock and a water change specifically to clean sand. No GFO!......let the NOPOX/bacteria work for ya. Good luck and stay strong.

 

[IrishTang]

The breaker must have tripped Friday (Not in office) or Saturday. We think we found the problem which is a freezer that was put in that was unknowingly on the same breaker as whole aquarium. Just overloaded that breaker. So the fish died of oxygen starvation from zero flow or surface agitation. Then the mass die off created an ammonia spike that killed off everything else.

Thanks for the tips guys. I did a 50 gallon water change yesterday and have noticed very minimal clearing of cloudiness in the water and a strong low tide smell.

Should I keep doing water changes until this is cleared? I added Prime and 2 bottles of Fritz 9 yesterday as well.

 

[BlueCoast]

Uggh, what a horrible thing to walk into.

I would keep up with the water changes. Like you mentioned, anything to keep ammonia down. SPS don't like some of the ammonia products.

Vacuuming sand / bottom would be good as well to try to remove any small dead critters.

I use a little battery powered air pump that plugs into the wall. When it detects no power, the bubbler kicks in. With a lift tube it provides oxygenation and a tiny bit of flow.

Hope it all comes back together bigger, better and stronger then before.

 

[IrishTang]

Thank you! I will definitely be investing in some back ups!

 

[Webmanny]

oh, this is horrible. When you are ready for corals again, let me know. I have a few corals (Mostly LPS) that I can frag and donate to get you started.

 

[CuzzA]

FWIW, not running your tank on a protected circuit increases the risk of death by electrocution and burning your home down in a water induced electrical fire. There's countless accounts of this happening and I would caution anyone advising someone else or a business to do that. I too have set up a commercial tank and demanded the circuit be on a dedicated GFCI breaker, which is less likely to be faulty compared to an outlet. The business had no objections. I also set up a battery backup because no one will be there when Murphy strikes at 5:01 Friday night. My home tank area is also rigged with a dedicated GFCI breaker circuit should I get back in the hobby.

Given the advancement in marine aquarium controllers, and for how cheap even a basic used Apex Jr. costs or battery backups, it's borderline irresponsible to not have your tank on a monitor or some backup system.

I don't want to come across as combative, but my time out of the hobby and my time diving around the world has left me a little more repulsed by the amount of death and poor livestock choices I see while still following forums and now even worse, social media.

 

[BlueCoast]

I also set up a battery backup

Is this post GFCI? If so, the battery will kick in and still provide 120V to the tank. The little portable GFCI's are known to false trip sometimes so using a different dedicated(and protected) circuit would be highly recommended. I run a 1500va on my tank and had to take that into consideration.

If possible using 2 different circuits to power the tank is a great way to help prevent disasters if a GFI or breaker trips. I keep pumps on different circuits in case one pops.

Agree on the Apex, even for small stuff they are invaluable when away from the tank and can alert to power outages as well with the right parts.

 

[IrishTang]

CuzzA I agree this is totally my fault and of course I have a reefkeeper at home WITH a web module. I was just falsely confident with this being a new building, all new wiring etc after the fire. Trust me I am kicking myself worse than anyone else could. I'll probably be breaking down my home tank, bringing the fish over to this tank WITH the reefkeeper. We also have an Eco-Tech battery back up on the way. Going to just shut this barn door good and tight now.

Webmanny, thank you that is very generous of you! Once I get everything back up and running I may contact you. Thankfully some of the corals are still hanging in there. Mainly the leathers, GSP, and even a frogspawn.

Thanks for the help and suggestions fellas. We had an electrician out and he believes it was just a freak accident of 3 refrigerators kicking in at the same time.