System Crash

vishboy

vishboy

New member
Friday morning my system was in the middle of crashing. I came into the room to see if the "microbubbles" that I had seen earlier were gone and one of my clowns was lying on the bottom dead. I immediately got the last clown out of my tank and my corals and put them into 12 gallons of water I keep prepared for water changes. My montipora bleached pretty badly, but so far everything that I took out is doing fine.

So, what do I do to clean my tank? I was thinking I should empty it, kill the rock, scrub all the dead stuff off, then cycle it again. But I really have no idea what to do.

Also, what can I do to get my remaining clown eating? I'm pretty sure she won't pass up food, but the tub she's in is red, and the food is red, so she might not be able to see it.

Thanks,
vishboy
 
I'm sorry for your loss.

You really need to figure out what caused your system to crash. Maybe you do not need to do anything with it - just let it figure it self out.

My 75 crashed a few years back when a tank leak caused an overdose of limewater and a sudden drop in salinity (not to0 mention the high ph). I lost a lot livestock. After the first few water changes to start to prop up the salinity and very aggressive skimming, my system started to rebound. My tank went from the smelliest swamp hole you could find to it's normal self within a week. Those corals and fish that survived rebounded quickly.

On the upside of my tank crash, the hair algae I had suddenly went away. After a bit of a mini cycle and a brief battle with Cyno, my tank was back to normal.

Big thing here is to determine why the crash, then you can figure out what to do to get things back on track!
 
That's the problem, I have no idea what caused the crash. The only theory I have is that it was caused by the Caulerpa I have growing inside the tank (it has been an ongoing battle). Doesn't it release some kind of chemical sometimes?

I really have no idea.
 
You should do some water test to see what your amonia, phosphates, trates and trites are at. Or out a paper bag over your head and just walk around blind. LOL
 
The Caulerpa by itself wouldn't cause it, I've been keep that in my sump for years. However, did the Caulerpa go sexual on you? Meaning is it all white now? If that is the case, that could be the issue.
 
OK, How is the tank now? Have you taken any parameter measurements?

Anything die or was unacounted for before the crash? Any chance of other type of contamination (such as spaying cleaning agents or air fresheners in the air)?

What kind of sand bed to you have? If deep, was it possibly disturbed? You mention a microbubble problem, do you know the cause of microbubbles? Did the crash happen shortly after the microbubbles apeared?

Caulerpa can go sexual and release all the stuff it has stored up back into the water, but if you have been pruning it down and removing, then I am guessing it was not that.
 
Nothing died recently. I only had two fish (now one), and my corals were (are fine). Cleaning stuff and soaps couldn't have gotten into the tank. I drilled everyone in the house about "No chemical junk near the tank." I don't have a sandbed, I used to, but I took it out a year ago. The stuff may not have been microbubbles, but I thought that (I have a Remora, and figured the bubble trap had gotten messed up). In fact, if the Caulerpa did go sexual, it probably makes sense.
Yeah, the Caulerpa has become a translucent white color. I guess that means it nuked my tank. I'll do some tests later, if you think it's necessary.

Thanks for all your help!
 
If the alkalinity was not maintained properly the bio-filter will crash. The bio filter needs alkalinity to function properly.
 
Okay, here is what I have tested so far. Alkalinity, pH, Ammonia (free and total), and Nitrite.

pH- 8.2
Free Ammonia- <0.02mg/L
Total Ammonia- 0.1mg/L
Nitrite-<0.3mg/L
Alk.- 3.5meq/L

A note on the ammonia. One of my reefkeeping friends who lives about 1/2 mile away tested the city's water and found that there is ammonia in the tapwater that the water company adds. So whatever is in my water can be accounted for by the top-off.

Thanks.
 
Ammonia level in your tank should be 0 at all times. Whether ammonia is added to the tank through the tank inhabitant's metabolism, or it is added in top-off water, the aerobic bacteria colonies in your tank should be enough to reduce that ammonia to nitrate almost immediately.

This might be a good place to start in figuring out what happened.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about the ammonia readings right now, after all that has happened, I am not surprised that it is showing a reading.

With the Caulerpa going sexual, it most likely taxed the bio-filter and most likely dropped the O2 levels.
 
Okay, so what's the next step? Seeing as it isn't something toxic, I could do massive water changes and the like (and scrub off all the caulerpa). Any other options?
 
Water changes, run your skimmer wet, and run fresh carbon.

That happened to me years ago, but I was home at the time and was able to remove the caulerpa before it caused too many issues.
 
"With the Caulerpa going sexual, it most likely taxed the bio-filter and most likely dropped the O2 levels"

Another perfect example of why you should always have a wet - dry /bio-ball area in your water column.

Just in case you have a an increase in ammonia levels because of some unexpected occurrence, the wet/dry area will give your bacteria colonies an area to quickly multiply and possibly avoid a catastrophic ammonia spike.

JMHO
 
How do you know? And why not?

The open-air wet/dry system is perfectly suited to foster the rapid multiplication of aerobic bacteria by providing an oxygen-rich envoirnment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
some random questions
Replies
1
Views
225
SantaMonica
S
T
Tank Crashing
Replies
19
Views
623
brandon429
brandon429
FishMann
Electrical Upgrades
Replies
2
Views
129
wvned
wvned
M
Rock hard crushed coral sand bed
Replies
8
Views
374
Jimbob
Jimbob
Brian60077
Blue Tang best food besides small pellets
Replies
5
Views
724
Brian60077
Brian60077
Back
Top