Tabeaubi
New member
Thursday was like any other. I woke up early and checked my salt water mixing container for my scheduled afternoon waterchange. Went to work and was able to get off early to change the water before the lights came on.
I drained 20 gallon from the main tank and added the new salt water. Piece of cake.
Left the house before the lights came on to run errands.
Came home about 3 hours later to a total disaster. All of my SPS was totally bleached out. I mean totally. The dark reds on my beautiful Montipora Cap. Was a really light fluorescent pink. All the acropora was sliming to no end. The water was milky white and cloudy. I immediately began to trouble shoot what was going on. I found nothing in or connected to my system being at fault. So I began to retraced my last steps. THE WATER CHANGE. Immediately I went to check my mixing container. Upon inspection I noticed a dark film on the surface of the water. Oh Crap. I dipped my finger in the sludge and touched it to my lips. The very apparent taste of a petroleum product. Pulled out my mixing pump. A RIO of course. Smelled the pump, it smelled like burning plastic. Why is this happeneing.? I immediately went to the store picked up a new mixing container and bought out all the distilled water at walmart. Mixed up 35 gallons of salt water and started performing water changes. Picked up 4 new containers of matrix carbon and added it to my Fluval 404. I did roughly 10 10 gallon water changes since then. The colors on all my SPS are barely visible. It appears that the corals have just kept sliming until nearly all the tissue was gone.
By last night the corals have stopped sliming and I am getting polyp extension again, but the colors are nearly gone and the bare skeletons are very near exposed. Am I just delaying the inevitable? , is everything toast? What are the odds that the tissue will regenerate? What other steps should I take to assist? I've pulled out and scrubbed nearly everything? Carbons fresh, continuous water changes.
Please all RIO owners heed the warning of a fellow reefer, as I did not. Get rid of all your RIO's. I was aware of the problems with these pieces of crap and I put it off. I recently moved it out of my main tank and moved into the mixing station but that wasn't good enough. THe RIO was able to get me anyway.
Any insight on my situation would be greatly appreciated. I fear I may have lost everything that I have worked so hard to accomplish, not to mention tracking down prized Frags from all over the Country.
I will post pics tomorrow, be prepared this will cause even a grown man to shed tears.
Thanks for listening.
Tom
I drained 20 gallon from the main tank and added the new salt water. Piece of cake.
Left the house before the lights came on to run errands.
Came home about 3 hours later to a total disaster. All of my SPS was totally bleached out. I mean totally. The dark reds on my beautiful Montipora Cap. Was a really light fluorescent pink. All the acropora was sliming to no end. The water was milky white and cloudy. I immediately began to trouble shoot what was going on. I found nothing in or connected to my system being at fault. So I began to retraced my last steps. THE WATER CHANGE. Immediately I went to check my mixing container. Upon inspection I noticed a dark film on the surface of the water. Oh Crap. I dipped my finger in the sludge and touched it to my lips. The very apparent taste of a petroleum product. Pulled out my mixing pump. A RIO of course. Smelled the pump, it smelled like burning plastic. Why is this happeneing.? I immediately went to the store picked up a new mixing container and bought out all the distilled water at walmart. Mixed up 35 gallons of salt water and started performing water changes. Picked up 4 new containers of matrix carbon and added it to my Fluval 404. I did roughly 10 10 gallon water changes since then. The colors on all my SPS are barely visible. It appears that the corals have just kept sliming until nearly all the tissue was gone.
By last night the corals have stopped sliming and I am getting polyp extension again, but the colors are nearly gone and the bare skeletons are very near exposed. Am I just delaying the inevitable? , is everything toast? What are the odds that the tissue will regenerate? What other steps should I take to assist? I've pulled out and scrubbed nearly everything? Carbons fresh, continuous water changes.
Please all RIO owners heed the warning of a fellow reefer, as I did not. Get rid of all your RIO's. I was aware of the problems with these pieces of crap and I put it off. I recently moved it out of my main tank and moved into the mixing station but that wasn't good enough. THe RIO was able to get me anyway.
Any insight on my situation would be greatly appreciated. I fear I may have lost everything that I have worked so hard to accomplish, not to mention tracking down prized Frags from all over the Country.
I will post pics tomorrow, be prepared this will cause even a grown man to shed tears.
Thanks for listening.
Tom
