fiber glass poisoning

scrmbld33

scrmbld33

New member
im posting this for my sister so if more info is needed let me know
ill try i put as many details as i can remmeber

here goes, my sister has a hex tank approx 40-50 gallons, been running for a couple years, the inhabitants are 2 clowns onoe kole tang a chalk bass and one anemone about 8 inches in dia

the stand was made of partical board and it was falling apart due to humid/salt creep. so she bought a new stand, also made of partical board and my bro in law used fiberglass resin to coat the inside of the stand. they got the tank up and running again, they took the live rock and water out and put it in a clean tub and then back in.
well 2 days go by,1 day after she left for the keys, and my other sister went ot take care of the tank and the house smelled very strongly of fiber glass, the anemone was already dead, the fish made it and are still ok :), after further inspection the live rock was beaching white, all the little feather dusters, snails, hermits were dead, the water also seem to smell of fiberglass, after testing the water everything was off the charts {obviously)

4 months later and after quite a few water changes, 1 100%, the live rock looks like base rock, mostly brown, and the water has tested great after the slight cycle , the fish have been in there a a month or two

so here the main deal, she has tried anemones again (2 at diff times) and both died within a week, we tested with her tests and mine and the water is perfect, the fish are fine the rock still looks brown, but what we are trieng to find out if the odor of the fiber glass is what caused this all to happen? why are the fish fine and the anemones not? is the live rock ruined? is there something we are not picking up on tests,

i was supposed to post his last week and she got anemone # 3 yesterday, he just curled up in a ball and sank to the bottm, so she scouped him out and brought him over to my house, i put the bag in my tank, to get the water equalized till i check the q tank param and within 5 minutes in my tank he started to open up almost to full size, here what confuses me, hes in the bag in my tank for five minutes and opens up, but hes still in the water from her house, so is the water fine or is it some thing we are missing?

thank for taking the time to read this sorry so long
 
Did you give the fiberglass resin time to dry before putting the tank on it?
What kind of substrate was in the tank?

Regards,

Pat
 
What type of lighting does she have verses what you have (type, watts, and age of bulbs)? What about temperature?

There is a good possibility that the fumes from the fiberglass resin has poisend the rock and substrate. Water is the best spounge there is. It soaks up anything and everything that comes it's way. If you say that it is fine in your tank even though it's in the same water though?? I would be looking at the lighting i think.
 
the resin is on the the stand only not the sump, forgot about that, it was dry to the touch , cured maybe 1 day or so, i believe she has crushed coral
 
i was thinking the lighting too, she has pc , not sure off the watts, i have 2 250 mh 15k 2 110 actinics. the lights she has worked for the other anemone, started at about 2" and was about 8" round, it was huge and amazing, all the anemones are the quadracolor green

do you think the rock is now contaminated and should the tank be torm down and start with fresh substrate/rocks/water and cleaning the skimmer power heads and overflow?
 
I think it's her lighting. PC lights only have a useable life span of about 6 months. After that you might as well shine a flashlight at the tank. Very few anemones will do good at all under pc lights. Maybe during the first month or 2 of the bulb they would be ok, but pc lights just don't cut it for an anemone. T-5 is the weak end of lighting when it comes to anemones.
 
i think the lights a weak too, im not sure of the age of the bulbs, but the first anemone thrived under the lights, i guess it could be a slightly different version, but her main concern is about the rock leaching the fiber glass chemicals in the tank, kindof like LR treated with copper, my guess would be start fresh, she only has 40lbs of live rock,
 
Try getting a few snails or crabs in there before trying another anemone. If they don't make it, maybe run carbon for awhile to see if that helps any.
 
I agree with BurntOutReefer. I don't think it is the resin. If it was dry to the touch I doubt that it would get in the tank. I suspect also lighting and just genaral lack of attention to the water quality.

Pat
 
the resin didnt in the tank, we think the fumes from it maybe did, is this possible? i was told the whole downstairs reaked from it, if it is possible for the fumes to get in the water would the live rock be crap now
 
Maybe a chance, but I wouldn't point to it as the primary source. As indicated, try some easier inverts like snails and crabs. If they make it, then I would start looking at water quality and lighting.
 
thanks for the help ill tell her to give it a try, copper tests came out zero, we are still puzzled on the cause, thanks for the ideas to check for
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Need some help with two clowns swimming unusually as I’m doing a fish cycle.
2
Replies
24
Views
2K
kfisc
kfisc
S
New with anemone (eaten by emerald crab?)
Replies
5
Views
453
griss
griss
Kona26
Aerate instant ocean reef crystals salt mix..?
Replies
3
Views
512
griss
griss
J
Tank restart after 8 years 😳
Replies
13
Views
638
griss
griss
W
Potential 65G
Replies
17
Views
907
griss
griss
Back
Top