Disaster!

[LCGoldman]

I must have used some skunky water for the water change I did two days ago.

I know I had let a water change linger for far too long. I had made up the water a few weeks ago. I really did mean to do a water change those few weeks ago. Well, I finally got around to it... and yesterday when I looked at the tank, my heart sank.

There must have been something terribly wrong with the water - or it got somehow contaminated. I lost a LOT of my corals. Most of the SPS became completely bleached out.

The fish, thankfully, seem to be fine.

Some of the LPS sustained some damage. For the most part the zoanthids look like they'll weather this storm.

I'm making up a new batch of saltwater as fast as I can to do a few more water changes over the next few days.

I can't believe I screwed up like this. My heart is very heavy

 

[jcaquatics]

Sorry for your loss, I have some saltwater made up if you need.

 

[LCGoldman]

Thanks Cindy... I might take you up on that offer this weekend

 

[billsreef]

Be sure and clean out your mixing container very well. It's more likely that something got into it, rather than the water going bad. I routinely mix up 30 gallons or so of SW and sometimes it sits for weeks at a time before I use it.

 

[MIKE NY]

sorry to hear Lonnie, do the water changes, run lots of carbon and keep on skimming

 

[LCGoldman]

Thanks Bill and Mike... I just put in some new carbon (one cup)... How often do you suggest replacing it?

When cleaning out the mixing vessel (44g BRUTE garbage can), there was lots of brown crud making like a two inch wide band near the water level.

 

[billsreef]

That layer of crud sounds like a problem. What brand of salt?

For the Carbon, I'd change it after 24 hours and keep up with the water changes and carbon changes untill the tank stabilizes.

 

[LCGoldman]

I'm using Instant Ocean... but, the last batch I made up was with IO and also the new stuff we all got samples of (sorry, I'm forgetting the brand name right now)

 

[ralphie]

Nothing else to really add here, but sorry for your losses...

Ralph

 

[pyro383]

did you keep it mixed/aerated ??

 

[DEXTER SOLIS]

sorry for the loss Lonnie

hmmm, noticed that brown film before when I cleaned my mixing/ RO container.....didnt have similar results though. I too use IO

 

[eboonaman]

sorry to hear of your disaster Lonnie,
I used that sample salt (OceanPure) also with no problems. I know sometimes the town flushes out the water system and the water coming into my washer will be light brown and when it settles theres a muddy like residue on the bottom. Maybe your RO membrane gone bad.? do you have a tds meter on it?
if there is anything I can help you with let me know...
chuck

 

[pecan2phat]

Lonnie,
I store only fresh water in my Brute can.
When I'm ready to do a water change, I just measure and transfer the FW into a rubbermaid container on a dolly, place a Gen-X 4100 pump for mixing and usually wait no more than 12 hours to use the SW. Sometimes as quick as 1-2 hours, so as long as the water is clear and the salt has dissolved.

 

[jnfallon]

****! Sorry to hear that Lonnie.

 

[Easily Distracted]

Sorry to hear, Lonnie. I hope you recover quickly.

 

[MIKE NY]

I'm one of the lucky ones to have West Hempstead-Hempstead Gardens water with the MTBE scare. I did my water changes as usual without any ill effects........so I'm thinging your Ro/Di should filter out most grud so I would look into what Bill suggested earlier about that Brute can. I store kalk top-off in mine w/o any problems, but maybe salt water over a period of time could cause something to leach into the water....you mentioned brown crude....is the can brown?

 

[billsreef]

Occasionally I've had IO mix up with a brownish tint to it, and I'm using good well water that is run through a DI filter. I've heard simular things from other people on occasion. Perhaps some quality control issues with IO. The samples that Joe got us mixed up very clear and very fast for me.

 

[efisher]

I had a problem with IO once. I think it was a bad batch but no matter what I did after mixing the salt the water stayed milky. I tried several different mixing containers and same result. Needless to say I never used it. I am sticking with TM pro reef. Never had any issues with TM. I was going to give IO a chance to save some money but the money saved is not worth crashing the tank.

 

[Spracklcat]

So sorry Lonnie. If you need anything please give a holler, and keep us posted.

Christine

 

[LCGoldman]

I've got about 25g of RO+DI water that I'm slowly bringing up to the correct salinity level before doing the first water change.

I'll keep posting updates.

All fish and inverts are doing well thankfully... biggest damage so far was sustained by the SPS.