tfp
New member
Its been a long, ardulous 10 days and i've got some bad news"¦ my display tank is officially crashed.
I'm in a weird situation and not sure what to do from this point forward. I knew this day would come sooner or later.
Thank you to everyone that helped out and let me borrow equipment. Things just didn't work out as planned due to me being overwhelmed.
Here is a summary of what happened:
Beginning of April, we noticed a small section of our carpet was damp adjacent to the kitchen.
Figured it was the 16 yr old dishwasher since i couldn't find any water under the sink so we go get a new one.
During the diswasher replacement, the installer noticed a lot of mold back there and recommended we hold off on installing until its removed. Immediately, we contacted our homeowners insurance and got a claim going.
Long story short, 3 toxic molds were growing in our house. No sink, dishwasher, limited kitchen access, a containment barrier, demolition, fans, dust, testing, etc for about 8 weeks.
Mold was also discovered in the carpetting and 80% of the house flooring needed replacement. This was the when i made the difficult decision to breakdown the tank instead of having them re-floor around it. I needed the assurance that nothing funky was growing underneath the stand (as we've all had water spills) for my own peace of mind.
Fast forward two months to Saturday, May 29th...some friends and I transferred all livestock from display into large water bins in our den. Each bin had strong circulation and heat to combat the weird, cold weather we had that week.
Sunday and Monday, corals and livestock appeared ok.
Tuesday, I manage to find time to squeeze in a 20% water change on the bins as i can "smell" things are going south. Removed all tank equipment from display and isolated the system for relocation. New flooring completed in 40% of house.
Wednesday, I had to move the bins and stressed out livestock to a compleed area of the house so flooring could be put in the den. Noticed some smaller sps colonies rtn'd. The smell of the empty display began stinking up the whole house. Moved display tank into hallway/master bedroom. New flooring completed 70% by end of the day.
Thursday, many of the larger sps colonies began to rtn. Water in 2 of the 3 bins stinks bad and is cloudy. I toss any white corals I can see. Water in the primarily chalice bin remains clean and clear for some reason. Moved display tank onto the new flooring. Flooring completed 100% by end of the day.
Friday, I pulled out some dead fish and continued to remove dead acro's and some chalices. Got very depressed during this time. The empty display began to REALLY stink up the house. I shop vac'd anywhere in the display I could reach with my beat up body. To alleviate the smell, I filled the display with 30g of new saltwater.
Saturday, was the worst day ever. Everything in 2 bins was dying and it was time for a Hail Mary. I added another 60g of saltwater to the display and began transferring the livestock to the tank. You know its bad when you can catch your plethora of tangs with your hands.
Sunday, got the display tank and sump completely filled and was able to start the skimmer and tunzes. I couldn't believe the fish that were on deaths door were following me around like usual! Did some makeshift landscaping to provide hiding places for the fish. However, many of the corals I put in from Saturday were on the way out. Emptied and cleaned out 2 of the bins. Slid last bin back into the den without disturbing them too bad. Did a 40% water change on the bin.
Monday, reconnected all equipment to the display. Cleared some space in our garage from all the water making. Fish/shrimp continued to to improve but I know I'm not out of the woods yet. Remaining corals in display continue to die. So by next weekend its going to be a FOWLR. Corals in den are looking good but I'm not sure how dedicated I am to keeping them around.
During the tank breakdown, I was on zero energy and averaging 5-6 hours of sleep, coming off the flu and nursing a severely sprained left ankle. Everything seemed to happen so fast. We saved a lot of money by demoing our kitchen counters, redoing the framing, plumbing, removing interior tile (loved using that Hilti!), moving furniture, pulling up carpet, tack strip, removing and painting baseboards, removing/replacing toilets, removing vinyl, removing clothes washer and dryer, breaking down bedroom furniture and trying our best to hold it together.
So with all that in mind, I'll leave you with some lasting impressions of this journey"¦
A tough decision beforehand"¦
I'm in a weird situation and not sure what to do from this point forward. I knew this day would come sooner or later.
Thank you to everyone that helped out and let me borrow equipment. Things just didn't work out as planned due to me being overwhelmed.
Here is a summary of what happened:
Beginning of April, we noticed a small section of our carpet was damp adjacent to the kitchen.
Figured it was the 16 yr old dishwasher since i couldn't find any water under the sink so we go get a new one.
During the diswasher replacement, the installer noticed a lot of mold back there and recommended we hold off on installing until its removed. Immediately, we contacted our homeowners insurance and got a claim going.
Long story short, 3 toxic molds were growing in our house. No sink, dishwasher, limited kitchen access, a containment barrier, demolition, fans, dust, testing, etc for about 8 weeks.
Mold was also discovered in the carpetting and 80% of the house flooring needed replacement. This was the when i made the difficult decision to breakdown the tank instead of having them re-floor around it. I needed the assurance that nothing funky was growing underneath the stand (as we've all had water spills) for my own peace of mind.
Fast forward two months to Saturday, May 29th...some friends and I transferred all livestock from display into large water bins in our den. Each bin had strong circulation and heat to combat the weird, cold weather we had that week.
Sunday and Monday, corals and livestock appeared ok.
Tuesday, I manage to find time to squeeze in a 20% water change on the bins as i can "smell" things are going south. Removed all tank equipment from display and isolated the system for relocation. New flooring completed in 40% of house.
Wednesday, I had to move the bins and stressed out livestock to a compleed area of the house so flooring could be put in the den. Noticed some smaller sps colonies rtn'd. The smell of the empty display began stinking up the whole house. Moved display tank into hallway/master bedroom. New flooring completed 70% by end of the day.
Thursday, many of the larger sps colonies began to rtn. Water in 2 of the 3 bins stinks bad and is cloudy. I toss any white corals I can see. Water in the primarily chalice bin remains clean and clear for some reason. Moved display tank onto the new flooring. Flooring completed 100% by end of the day.
Friday, I pulled out some dead fish and continued to remove dead acro's and some chalices. Got very depressed during this time. The empty display began to REALLY stink up the house. I shop vac'd anywhere in the display I could reach with my beat up body. To alleviate the smell, I filled the display with 30g of new saltwater.
Saturday, was the worst day ever. Everything in 2 bins was dying and it was time for a Hail Mary. I added another 60g of saltwater to the display and began transferring the livestock to the tank. You know its bad when you can catch your plethora of tangs with your hands.
Sunday, got the display tank and sump completely filled and was able to start the skimmer and tunzes. I couldn't believe the fish that were on deaths door were following me around like usual! Did some makeshift landscaping to provide hiding places for the fish. However, many of the corals I put in from Saturday were on the way out. Emptied and cleaned out 2 of the bins. Slid last bin back into the den without disturbing them too bad. Did a 40% water change on the bin.
Monday, reconnected all equipment to the display. Cleared some space in our garage from all the water making. Fish/shrimp continued to to improve but I know I'm not out of the woods yet. Remaining corals in display continue to die. So by next weekend its going to be a FOWLR. Corals in den are looking good but I'm not sure how dedicated I am to keeping them around.
During the tank breakdown, I was on zero energy and averaging 5-6 hours of sleep, coming off the flu and nursing a severely sprained left ankle. Everything seemed to happen so fast. We saved a lot of money by demoing our kitchen counters, redoing the framing, plumbing, removing interior tile (loved using that Hilti!), moving furniture, pulling up carpet, tack strip, removing and painting baseboards, removing/replacing toilets, removing vinyl, removing clothes washer and dryer, breaking down bedroom furniture and trying our best to hold it together.
So with all that in mind, I'll leave you with some lasting impressions of this journey"¦
A tough decision beforehand"¦
.......:sad1:
