So I am finially getting over my first near total tank crash...

[Ramble On Rose]

I haven't posted anything yet, cause I just couldn't do it... But I pretty much nuked my tank last week... I was adding AZ-NO3 to lower my Nitrates - they were at 10ppm - and I ended up killing 4 of 7 fish and 6 of 12 of my SPS (so far). I don't know if I overdosed or not, but it was the day that I hit the full treatment (you gradually increase the dosage over time) that the tank started getting a little cloudy. I had used the product in the past and the same thing happened (and it even says it can happen on the bottle) so I was not too concerned. The next day it was even worse and I could barely see through the tank. I stopped using it and started the water changes. The next morning the corals had RTN'd and I had a big group of 4 dead Anthias'. My only LPS - a frogspawn - was completely unaffected as well as my more "delicate" SPS surprisingly. The hardest hit were the free "frags" (in quotes cause they were more like colonies) that we were donated from Jose (I'm pretty sure was the original owner). Those were up till then my "hardier" corals that did very well, but they were nearly completely bleeched. Thankfully they all kept about half of it with color and I fragged some still healthy parts and then left the remainder around to see if it can recover.

Sorry, I just needed to vent finially - as things are now recovering and I am trying to regain some stability. It almost makes me laugh that I was trying to lower just 10ppm nitrates, that I am sure there was probably a more obvious source of. I thought it was due to some recent over feeding, but a few corals were losing color so I wanted to lose the nitrates. Guess I needed a "nothing happens fast in this hobby" reminder....

 

[aiko670]

Wow, so sorry to hear this!

 

[pk1]

Wow-sorry to hear about the loss-and glad you were not completely wiped out! That's a product I'll stay away from!

Pk

 

[nmprisons]

I am sorry to hear ... i hope your recovery goes smoothly. please post if you need help.

 

[Sullyman]

Sorry to hear. This hobby keeps you humble, when things are going well, something like that can happen. Glad things are getting back to normal.

 

[ostrow]

Drag. That's why I don't use stuff like that.

Don't give up on the corals. I have a coral dead 6mos and covered with algae, polyps are coming through. It can happen.

Frags whenever you are ready just holler.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I don't understand--10 isn't really that bad... why not just do more water changes or add a fuge? Sorry that happened to you!

 

[Ramble On Rose]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8430286#post8430286 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pufferpunk
I don't understand--10 isn't really that bad... why not just do more water changes or add a fuge? Sorry that happened to you!

It is around a 300 gallon system and I have been battleing nitrates pretty much since it was setup. Over the last two months I have been going broke (used 4 buckets of salt) doing water changes. I already have a fuge and a remote DSB (along with the DSB in the tank which is another possible source IMO). I got rid of all my filter socks just to rule them out. Believe me, this was not my first effort in lowering nitrates. I have never gotten really great growth out of anything so I kind of figured it was related to the nitrates. I had used the product before just to bump them down to 0 so I gave it a try again. Obviously 10 is not that bad, which is a big reason I was pretty upset that I lost half my tank due to trying to get rid of them.

 

[Ramble On Rose]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8429654#post8429654 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ostrow
Drag. That's why I don't use stuff like that.

Don't give up on the corals. I have a coral dead 6mos and covered with algae, polyps are coming through. It can happen.

Frags whenever you are ready just holler.

Yeah I am holding out hope on some of the corals. This was my first RTN experience and I was pretty surprised at how quickly these things can just shed themselves off. A few are already getting covered with algae, but my tank is pretty empty so I have plenty of room to just see what happens. Thanks.

 

[Sullyman]

I've been using a Suphor Denitrater for 3-4 months, no more nitrates. Tank stocked heavy, 17 fish lots of coral, feed every day heavy(feed my Dendros and Sun corals everyday too). Zero nitrates. I bought it from Korrollin, but there is a cheaper unit available.

 

[mbunaman]

Sorry to hear about that. I heard that those sulphur denitr. are awesome from what I have read. Sullyman correct me if I am wrong you dont need CO2 addition. I was looking to purchase one myself.

 

[Sullyman]

No co2 needed, but you used to have to do more to set one up.
Now they're pretty much fill, plug and play. I don't think I ever would have bought one, if it wasn't for the acro bug that bit me.
After using one for a while, even a heavily stocked FOWLR tank could really benefit from one of these things.