o2manyfish - It's All Gone.

o2manyfish

o2manyfish
This is one of those horrible posts. This post is so bad it took me almost 3 weeks to make it. It's all gone! We had a 2 strike catastrophe and lost everything. On Mar 17th we treated the display tank with Salifert Flatwrom exit at 80% dose strength. I added a wooden airstone, turned on all the pumps, add 2lbs of carbon to the tank and thought I was safe to treat. But just 2 hrs after dosing the fish just started falling to the bottom of the tank. Lots and Lots and Lots of fish. Out of about 140 fish maybe only 15 survived. All the angels (Interruptus, Joculator, Pair of Goldflakes, Trio of Flameback, Pair of Golden, Pair of Venustus, Flame, Yellow Belly Regal), most of the tangs (9 yellows, 2 purples, Gem, Black, 1 Hippo, 3 Hippo's with no tails), all the anthias just gone. My wife and I were just devestated. So many fish just falling to the bottom of the tank. We caught as many of the bodies as we could out of the tank and sat to wait and see how things would pan out. This was on Thursday night. On Saturday sometime before dawn the 300gal outdoor sump blew apart at the back corner seam. The sump drained to 3" of water. Then at 5am the Topoff turned on to fill up the system before sunrise. With a 4000 gal a day top off system it didn't take long for it to try to fill the sump back up. But the more fresh water the topoff pumped in the more freshwater got pumped out of the sump and into the tanks - Diluting the salt in the whole system. By Saturday morning breakfast all the corals were bleached. By Saturday evening all the tissue was gone. Display tank, frag tanks, sump, anemone tank - everything but the chaetomorph dead.

Here is a youtube video showing the disaster.



The wife and I talked at length and the wife said I can't quit. So we ordered a new 300 gal outdoor sump - this one made of fiberglass - no more worries about splitting. And if you have followed my posts and videos from the past year you all know I hate the 36" deep 560g tall tank we put in as an emergency fix in Dec of 2020.

We are waiting on a quote for the new tank now - We already had quotes for the new tank to be made out of glass. But this experience with a 3 year old glass tank just reminded me of the risks involved with a glass tank. And I am going to stick to acrylic, as I have for the last 36 years.

My fellow SoCal reefers, I am going to need your help to restock the new tank and frag tanks. I'm not going to start collecting anything till we get the new sump in place. And at that point I will start collecting fish and corals. The sump should hopefully be here by the middle of May.

If you are breaking down a tank. If you have large colonies you are thinking of rehoming or getting rid of, if you can hold off till mid May I promise to give them a great home and also use them to share with the So Cal Reefing community in the future. The new tank is going to be big - so starting from frags is not going to work. If you break off a chunk of something cool, let me know. Willing to take as many donations as possible. But also willing to pay for chunks and colonies of coral. It doesn't need some fancy name, it doesn't have to have a high price tag, It just needs to be a pretty coral.


Dave B
 
Oh man...so sorry for your loss. This has got to be one of the worst crashes I've seen in a long time. I should have some mini colonies available by then so keep us updated on progress.
 
So sorry dave , i dont have any corals to help you out but if u need help with moving things around let me know
 
Sorry to here this Dave. If I still had my tank, I would give you everything that was in it!
 
Dave,

I have a very large Miami Orchid you can have when the time comes... it is about 8-10" across. I was thinking about moving it to the other side of the tank, but, this seems like a much more worthy use!

Let me know when you are ready... Barring a crash for me before May, I should be good to go.
 
Sorry to hear Dave! That is my nightmare to wake up to dead livestock and leaking tank. I'm here to suppose with frags and mini colonies when the time comes.
 
Words can not express it Dave. I really enjoyed your tanks on videos. It was my dream to visit one day from the other coast.
Thankfully you are not getting out & another system is already in the works.
Best wishes, Vinny
 
Rough one


Stay positive and you will come back stronger than ever

Address everything that ever bothered you

Sorry!!
 
So sorry to hear of your loss, Dave. The good news is that we know you have friends here, I live across the country, yet I know about how you pay forward. I'm sure you will be back up and running soon.
There are but a few that have saltwater in their veins, I'm convinced that you are one.
 
This is one of those horrible posts. This post is so bad it took me almost 3 weeks to make it. It's all gone! We had a 2 strike catastrophe and lost everything. On Mar 17th we treated the display tank with Salifert Flatwrom exit at 80% dose strength. I added a wooden airstone, turned on all the pumps, add 2lbs of carbon to the tank and thought I was safe to treat. But just 2 hrs after dosing the fish just started falling to the bottom of the tank. Lots and Lots and Lots of fish. Out of about 140 fish maybe only 15 survived. All the angels (Interruptus, Joculator, Pair of Goldflakes, Trio of Flameback, Pair of Golden, Pair of Venustus, Flame, Yellow Belly Regal), most of the tangs (9 yellows, 2 purples, Gem, Black, 1 Hippo, 3 Hippo's with no tails), all the anthias just gone. My wife and I were just devestated. So many fish just falling to the bottom of the tank. We caught as many of the bodies as we could out of the tank and sat to wait and see how things would pan out. This was on Thursday night. On Saturday sometime before dawn the 300gal outdoor sump blew apart at the back corner seam. The sump drained to 3" of water. Then at 5am the Topoff turned on to fill up the system before sunrise. With a 4000 gal a day top off system it didn't take long for it to try to fill the sump back up. But the more fresh water the topoff pumped in the more freshwater got pumped out of the sump and into the tanks - Diluting the salt in the whole system. By Saturday morning breakfast all the corals were bleached. By Saturday evening all the tissue was gone. Display tank, frag tanks, sump, anemone tank - everything but the chaetomorph dead.

Here is a youtube video showing the disaster.



The wife and I talked at length and the wife said I can't quit. So we ordered a new 300 gal outdoor sump - this one made of fiberglass - no more worries about splitting. And if you have followed my posts and videos from the past year you all know I hate the 36" deep 560g tall tank we put in as an emergency fix in Dec of 2020.

We are waiting on a quote for the new tank now - We already had quotes for the new tank to be made out of glass. But this experience with a 3 year old glass tank just reminded me of the risks involved with a glass tank. And I am going to stick to acrylic, as I have for the last 36 years.

My fellow SoCal reefers, I am going to need your help to restock the new tank and frag tanks. I'm not going to start collecting anything till we get the new sump in place. And at that point I will start collecting fish and corals. The sump should hopefully be here by the middle of May.

If you are breaking down a tank. If you have large colonies you are thinking of rehoming or getting rid of, if you can hold off till mid May I promise to give them a great home and also use them to share with the So Cal Reefing community in the future. The new tank is going to be big - so starting from frags is not going to work. If you break off a chunk of something cool, let me know. Willing to take as many donations as possible. But also willing to pay for chunks and colonies of coral. It doesn't need some fancy name, it doesn't have to have a high price tag, It just needs to be a pretty coral.


Dave B
Hi Dave ,sorry to hear about your disaster.
I have a 180 g reef system I want to tear down.Set up for 19 years.Lots of over grown corals.Maybe you are interested.
Located in Redondo Beach...call me at 310 316 7462.
I'm retired so usually home.....Holger
 
Sorry Dave, hopefully you can get back on the reef horse smoothly. I had a terrible crash in 2020, it happens to all of us.
 
Horrible news. When I entered the hobby 11 years ago, your house was my first meet and greet event. Met a lot of cool people, and really opened my eyes to the great local community we have here in SoCal.

My tank isn't large, but you're welcome to pieces of anything that I have. I am in Simi, so close. PM when ready
 
Hi, I am thinking of setting up a big tank, can you please give me some advice, call me at 562 356-7776 . I live in Whittier, CA about 20 miles from you.
 
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