Tank-O-death

[bergzy]

steve,

i am certain with your positive outlook that you will rebuild your reef more breathtaking than before. and as dave noted, it shows to all of us how delicate reef ecosystems (natural and artificial) are...and what a great job you have done to further the hobby, and hopefully, to be able to make the hobby self sustaining and preserve mother nature!!!

jacob30 may be talking about systems like these...

http://www.spectrapure.com/St_deion_p3.htm

most di systems without the use of ro, usually use a sediment filter and carbon filter as well to stretch out the di resins a little. i remember from the late 80's when the this was the method of choice for water purification. you may remember the kati and ani towers that were fabricated in acrylic towers before the introduction of easily changeable and refillable cartridges.

the advantage of a di system is that it does make di water with 0 ppm (if the system is set up correctly) very quickly, the possible disadvantage is that the di resins gets used up very quickly and this can be expensive! people that do this usually use separate cation and anion cartridges in order to recharge the resins and thus lowering costs.

hopefully, this was a little helpful.

 

[manderx]

Di only systems can only get out charged particles. it does not get water as clean as a RO/DI can (though unless you have a weird impurity in your water it's probably clean enough). if you are in an area with really soft tapwater, care about wastewater, don't mind recharging yourself, and don't worry about the bits that make it through, then it can be a pretty good deal. you can order the resin bulk and find/make your own filter bodies. though the ones i've seen were all contracted through local purification companies that maintained them, and charged by-the-gallon via meters built into the units.

 

[melev]

Steve, a few vendors sell a system called Merlin. It makes 800gpd and uses two membranes. It doesn't come with prefilters, but you could use your existing RO/DI system to prefilter the water before it hits the Merlin system (just don't use your current membrane or DI). It costs around $400 last I looked, but for a tank of your size it would seem to be a good unit.

 

[chideloh]

Wow, what a tragedy, Steve, but good to see you keeping your chin up.

I knew I should have gotte a piece of your oregon tort from you couple years ago.

Good luck to you, Steve.

 

[jacob30]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9569230#post9569230 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by steveweast
Please elaborate. Never heard of such capacity in such a short time.

Steve here is a picture of what the system looks like:

It has five stages. The 1st is carbon tower followed by a cation, anion, mixed bed and another mixed bed. The starting water needs to be fairly low TDS to make this economical. Here in Virginia Beach the starting TDS is about 80. A company comes and recharges the beds when they run out. There is a built in resistance meter to check purity at the 4th stage. There is no maintenance on my side. They do it all. The only cost for this system is .13 cents a gallon. I have been using it for about 6 months so far. This is the same system our local aquarium uses and is used in many labs and hospitals. I am sure there is a similar company in your area.

May not be for everyone but the convenience factor and purity are what interested me.

 

[steveweast]

Thanks....I'll look into that. Our water here is surface run-off and has a 35 tds reading out of the tap....so....that might be an option.

The Spectrepure unit that was linked is the same unit that I currently use. It's a five stage RO-DI unit that produces 100 gals/day (although, they might have a larger unit these days). For the past 5 years it has met my needs....well....at least up until last Thursday.

 

[8BALL_99]

wow this post owned me... I'm Crushed:sad1: Sorry to hear about it..

I've needed losts of water quick before.. When I moved my tanks a while back I added a 60 gallon Storage Tank for RO Water. Cost all of 18 bucks.. Its a poly tank Coke companys use. Its a sealed tank with two small screw caps. I drilled one of the caps for a air hole and installed a carbon block on it for the vent. 60 Gallons wouldn't do much for you but since I have 3 systems the largest only about 280Gallons, 60 gallons goes a long way.. I have another tank I keep a little saltwater in also.

Will

 

[UnderCoverDork]

wow...that is awful..i started my sps tank about 7 months ago. It is actually my first fish tank. I am waiting for the time to fast foward so my frags will grow out. It is awful that you have an established tank and lost a lot of in over night. Sorry to hear about that...

 

[jwildman]

sorry for the loss

 

[Startled]

Another you-don't-know-me-from-Adam post here. Steve, you propably are beginning to get an idea of how influencial and respected your reef was. I'm staggered by how massive this loss is.

Rise again.

p.s. To those offering corals... maybe someone near to Steve could coordinate a registry and start a list? If Steve's like me, he'll appreciate the offers, but never actually ask for the stuff. With one big push, one QT schedule, and some generousity, he might get back sooner.

 

[SERVO]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9567546#post9567546 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by steveweast
You know what really has me PO'd ? that nasty pocillopora that I've had buried in the back for ages.....he could of at least had the decency to go down with the ship. Instead, he just sits back there ....flipping me the bird.

ROTFLMAO

Thats great, but just your luck if it is a Damicornis and not a eydouxi, you'll really get the bird when you get polyp bail out and little pieces of it end up all over your tank.

 

[8BALL_99]

I'm just wondering..What do you think was in the water that killed all the sps and Softies but not the LPS or Fish? It just seems odd that it killed some things but not others.. I guess if it was the dechlorinator and not the water then there is no way of knowing exactly what it was..

P.S. After reading this I am going to pour every drop of dechlorinator out that I can find in the house to make sure I'm never tempted to use it lol

 

[TryTheChi]

OMG! A world class inspiration gone! I admire your speed of adjustment to it. I know its not a human berievement, but Jez, we put so much effort into our reefs..........and yours...!!!

 

[gahlenfr]

Steve, Is there a reason not to have a low water float in the sump that would shutdown any equipment removing water from the sump? Thanks for posting this "Learning Situation" for the rest of us! It is amazing to me that the "low tech solution" failed when it is usually the "high tech" solution that gets us.....

 

[Mishap]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9572172#post9572172 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by steveweast
Thanks....I'll look into that. Our water here is surface run-off and has a 35 tds reading out of the tap....so....that might be an option.

The Spectrepure unit that was linked is the same unit that I currently use. It's a five stage RO-DI unit that produces 100 gals/day (although, they might have a larger unit these days). For the past 5 years it has met my needs....well....at least up until last Thursday.

Spectrapure makes a unit that does 300gpd, kent has one that does 600gpd. just a thought

 

[LarryW]

what a shame, your tank really was an inspiration to all. Good luck with the recovery...

 

[gflat65]

So sorry to hear about your loss, Steve. Your tank has certainly been a standard I've been using as a long term goal. Good luck getting it all back up.

 

[steveweast]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9573827#post9573827 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 8BALL_99
I'm just wondering..What do you think was in the water that killed all the sps and Softies but not the LPS or Fish? It just seems odd that it killed some things but not others.. I guess if it was the dechlorinator and not the water then there is no way of knowing exactly what it was..

P.S. After reading this I am going to pour every drop of dechlorinator out that I can find in the house to make sure I'm never tempted to use it lol

I'm fairly certain that it was the dechlorinator.....it's probably been on my shelf for 5 years.....I just should not have used it. The softies and sps were just most suseptible. LPS were affected too. I lost two...but, most are pulling through.

 

[cheeks69]

Wow I can't believe it !!!
I'm very sorry to hear of this terrible tragedy Steve, my condolences.

I admire your attitude and perseverence, I don't think I could ever recover from such a catastrophic event. I wish you the best on your path to recovery.

regards
Robert

 

[steveweast]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9574687#post9574687 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gahlenfr
Steve, Is there a reason not to have a low water float in the sump that would shutdown any equipment removing water from the sump? Thanks for posting this "Learning Situation" for the rest of us! It is amazing to me that the "low tech solution" failed when it is usually the "high tech" solution that gets us.....

That's actually a pretty good idea....a low water level sensor that could shut off the skimmer pumps.