My tank is crashing

[stingythingy45]

All the fish are accounted for.
I pulled out a very large dead snail and keeping an eye out for any other dead.
All my sps is bleached.Zoas,palys are still closed as well as the 2 rbta I can see.

 

[JohnK]

Is the heater cracked? If so it may have leached copper out, check the color of the poly filter. If the color of the poly filter suggests copper I'd run several more poly filters.

 

[stingythingy45]

Is the heater cracked? If so it may have leached copper out, check the color of the poly filter. If the color of the poly filter suggests copper I'd run several more poly filters.

I will check later,John.
I just did another 30 gallon water change.
It's been crazy.

 

[stingythingy45]

Sadly I bought a new heater a year ago.
But the digital control died.

 

[jamesdong009]

That stinks Bob. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you need anything.

 

[dcforester1]

Wow Bob that suck, let me know if you need anything. When your tank is back up I ave some nice SPS that needs trimming, just let me know.
Does this only happen with glass heaters? I have had the same titanium heaters for over 3 years
Derek

 

[stingythingy45]

Looks like the rbtas are not going to make it.
I did 2-25 gallon water changes and still have 1 ppm ammonia.

 

[stingythingy45]

RBTAs are still alive but are closed.All fish and are good.Some softies still alive but are molting.
Looks like all my acros are dead.They're white and even have a light green appearance of algae.
Question:should I remove all the acro skeletons now...or wait?
One is very large and might keep me from inspection and removing other victims.

Lost:

Very large ATL purple tip acro
Brown acro(Greg Hiller) freebie years back
Valadia acro(neverlost)freebie
Green slimer
Chips ahoy?acro(had light blue tips)
Orange cap

I might rearange my rock and try just softies.
I'm going to look at this crash as a time to rearange things in the tank.
I just hope I don't get discouraged and call it quits.I'll show some pictures tonight of the damage.

 

[stingythingy45]

Is the heater cracked? If so it may have leached copper out, check the color of the poly filter. If the color of the poly filter suggests copper I'd run several more poly filters.

Yes,the heater had water in it.It seemed to have entered through where the cord entered the heater housing.
It was one of the old Visitherm fully submersible heaters that had no indicator lights.
When the heater had the extra water wieght the cord fulled out when I lifted the heater up.Was most likely already coroded inside.
The night before I checked the heater and couldn't see any issues.
I had just added two brand new T5 54 watt blue plus actinics and thought the issue was with not acclimating the corals to the 100 watts of new light.
But when my wife called and said the tank was cloudy and looked really bad I knew something else was going on.
All sps died within 48 hrs. of seeing the first signs of slight bleaching.

 

[JohnK]

Are there any signs of copper (leached out from the coils in the heater)? Did you run a poly filter, and of so did you check the color to see if it was indicating copper?

 

[stingythingy45]

Unfortunately I haven't checked the color of the poly filter,John.
The poly filter is running on the bottom of a filter sock and have mesh sack of carbon on top of that.
I'm captoring 80% of my water that exits the skimmer and running through the sock.
I've done 3 water changes of approx 25 gallons each.The water is nice and clear now.
I tested for ammonia the other day and that was .5 ppm.
I will pull the poly filter when I get home to see what color it is..

 

[stingythingy45]

I'll check for:
Blue=Copper
Red=Iron
Green=Free Copper ions

I also plan to pick up another one after work and more carbon.
Also ran clean out of reef salt.

 

[wrassefan]

Bob, you sure something else isn't dead in the tank? Ammonia readings with poly filters and carbon says to me that their is still a source. Might want to get some amquel to neutralize it and continue doing water changes.

 

[php1775]

mine just crashed a couple of months ago,all my parameters were perfect,but i did not check ammonia,when i did that was it.it was coming from a plenum in my sump so in preparation for this kind of problem i installed all kinds of vales to isolate the tank from the plenum.i tried tons of amquel and it would temporarily work but not fast enough so things kept dying off even though i did a bunch of water changes .i found a seachem product that worked much better for the ammonia and they also sell a color changing thing that went on the inside glass so i you could watch the status of the ammonia,(i bought 1 of those for each of my tanks)then add more solution as needed ,instead of overdosing,and constant testing.good luck,dont lose hope,mine has been back in action after a devastating crash

 

[stingythingy45]

The poly filter was very light green.
I tried to get another but they were out at Krystal Clear Aquatic.
I picked up some more reef crystals salt mix and have another 30 gallons getting ready to mix.
And one picture a few weeks ago before the destuction now.

The large acro on the right I got years ago as a frag from Cory (maxfisher).
Looks like i'll be doing a do over.

 

[JohnK]

Wow, that's brutal. Sorry Bob.

 

[dz6t]

Sorry to hear that. Do you run carbon also?

 

[STiTCH87]

Sorry to hear. That really sucks, but please don't give up. I've read your posts over the years and seen what you've kept and sold and you are far too knowledgeable and capable of a reefer to give up the hobby for any amount of time IMO.
I can't really think of much advice to give personally, but I can say this.

I know very few people think to check Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrates after the tank has cycled, especially in a mature tank, but what I do personally, is every week when I do my water changes, before I do the WC, I bought those cheap 5 in 1 or whatever test strips that check Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate amongst pH and I think water hardness IIRC (i only pay attention to the first 3 things on the strip) and even though it's far less accurate than a liquid test, it does alert me if something funky is going on.

They're so super cheap that I can afford the $20 or so for a years supply and the peace of mind is nice. It's good to see if any levels are high before my WC. Then if a reading is slightly above 0ppm, i'll know to take head and i'll do a liquid test with the more expensive test kit and double check readings to verify. Maybe it's too much work and I go overboard, but it makes me feel more stable.

I'd absolutely recommend you get a digital controller like an Apex, RKL, or whatever brand you fancy however. It'll let you know through temp swing if a heater is turning on or not, and also they have built in circuit breakers so that in the event of a heater doing as yours did (I could be wrong) but I would imagine that would flip a circuit and disable the heater. Also, when I do my weekly maintenance, I check the conditions of all equipment and wiring. I also like to keep my products up to date and anything I feel is cheap or outdated I like to replace. I too had a Visitherm crack and break after it got stuck on. Luckily it way only an overnight in a saltwater mix bucket.

I know in your case the heater doesn't light up so it's tough to see if it is on or not.

And I want you to know that I am in absolutely no way trying to say it may have been any percentage your fault, so I hope I didn't come off that way.

Best of luck, and if you need any help tht I may somehow be able to provide from this side of Massachusetts, LMK.

 

[stingythingy45]

Wow, that's brutal. Sorry Bob.

Yeah,it's bad,John.
I might try redoing the rock and just do a FOWLR for a while.
If you noticed the Nepthea in the middle made it.Hardy coral.

 

[SteveDola]

get a controller and a titanium heater.
no more headaches or worries.

Sadly I bought a new heater a year ago.
But the digital control died.