dishwasher tablets

Rwpdunne

Rwpdunne

spsaholic
What would happen to a marine tank if some one put a dishwasher tablet into a tank
I had a major crash at the weekend and i suspect one of the kids put one in the tank but iam not 100% sure

The reason i suspect this is because the p04 and ph went through the roof

I mannaged to get most of the corals out but lost a tot of fish
 

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if u have a skimmer how did it respond?....sorry to hear about ur loss

after a quick google search it does seem dishwasher soap has a very high ph but most soaps are not allowed to use high levels of phos to aide in cleaning in the US but ur in Ireland
 
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By the look of it it's possible, someone definitely put something into that tank that shouldn't have gone in there.
 
somethingphishy said:
if u have a skimmer how did it respond?....sorry to hear about ur loss

after a quick google search it does seem dishwasher soap has a very high ph but most soaps are not allowed to use high levels of phos to aide in cleaning in the US but ur in Ireland
Click to expand...

Thanks
Skimmer cup just filled up
there is a very high level of phos in dishwasher tablets here in Ireland

iam very intrested to see what Randys views are on this
 
organism said:
By the look of it it's possible, someone definitely put something into that tank that shouldn't have gone in there.
Click to expand...

Total agree i had 16 fish and over 50 sps and a couple of lps corals my friends tank looks like a shop tank with all my corals on the sandbed
 
Wow sorry to hear this. :(

I think it would be very bad news, whether it had phosphate or not (and it would only make the problem worse if it did). The surfactants will be quite harmful at reasonably high concentrations.

Dishwashing detergents are designed to not foam much, so the skimmer effect will possibly be less than if it were something like soap or shampoo.

GAC may help remove it. Replace the GAC daily.
 
Wow, is anything alive? Have you checked the ammonia level? Most any soap is going to be toxic at some level, and the skimmer might bubble a lot, too. That would be more likely with other detergent products, though, IMO. The fish losses definitely resemble problems other people have reported with detergents getting into the tank.
 
Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Wow sorry to hear this. :(

I think it would be very bad news, whether it had phosphate or not (and it would only make the problem worse if it did). The surfactants will be quite harmful at reasonably high concentrations.

Dishwashing detergents are designed to not foam much, so the skimmer effect will possibly be less than if it were something like soap or shampoo.

GAC may help remove it. Replace the GAC daily.
Click to expand...

Thanks Randy
iam after emptying the tank and cleaning out tank sump skimmer ect
Iam going to have to start again
the live rock was put into container with fresh salt water pump heater and a hang on skimmer i dont think i will use it again as it probably soaked with the detergents
 
bertoni said:
Wow, is anything alive? Have you checked the ammonia level? Most any soap is going to be toxic at some level, and the skimmer might bubble a lot, too. That would be more likely with other detergent products, though, IMO. The fish losses definitely resemble problems other people have reported with detergents getting into the tank.
Click to expand...

nothing survived even the sand bed wes dead
I have to start all over again:thumbdown
 
Iam going to have to start again

I've been there from other disasters, so I feel your pain.

Most recently for me, it was a tank wipe out while on vacation. Took me months to even decide it was worth starting over again.

Good luck.
 
Very sorry for your troubles. Good luck with the the new set up.
 
Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Iam going to have to start again

I've been there from other disasters, so I feel your pain.

Most recently for me, it was a tank wipe out while on vacation. Took me months to even decide it was worth starting over again.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks Randy
At first i said i was getting out of the hobby but ive decided to give it another go
 
Sorry for your losses. :(

A tank wipe out is very disheartening, I know I have been there as well. I ended up looking at my wipe out as a chance to improve my set-up.
 
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