... I messed up BIG TIME - now what?

[Sandee]

Ok, so I learned my lesson - shoulda just kept my nice 2.5g nano the way it was. I rushed a transfer to a new 12g Aquapod HQI ... moved over water, sand, live rock, Feathers, Clown, Sexy Dancer, etc. Filled it with saltwater from my holding tank (for other salt, non-reef tanks) and added 2lbs of new, live rock. Looked great for a exactly 7 days. Today, everything is dead. Even the Sexy Dancer and small hermit crab - I didn't anything would knock them out.

Ok, stupid new nano owner. Ammonia off the chart, end of story.

Question, if you'll even answer me ... I'm guessing I need to pull everyone out right? The Feather Dusters crawled right out of their tubes, and they're not moving. A few mushrooms, etc. They're just going to continue to kill the rest of the water while decaying ... but what about the live rock? Will that survive?

My fault, kicking myself for rushing it ... :-[

 

[adesimone1]

Was the 2 lbs of live rock you added cured?

 

[Sandee]

Well yes - $8.95/lb. at Tropiquarium. Came from their tank, home, into mine. At that price, they would be fully cured, yes?

 

[mynd]

Hello there


Watching other people I once learned long ago, never add to ones grief by saying things that will ultimately make them feel worse, so I am going to try and make sure I help not aggravate.

Sorry to hear about your current situation. If we could go back and do it all over again I as an inhabitant of your tank would probably tap on the glass and tell you that going from 2.5 gallons of water the way I like it to 12 gallons of water might shock me. I might even say WOW with big eyes to all that new rock and diversity with cool places to hide and grow would be cool, but I would hope it was clean and cured as well. At that price you would hope that the rock came with a no kill my tank warranty, and maybe a new set of tires. However, what's done is done, so let's move forward, hate ourselves in the morning but feel good we are doing something about it. Here is what I would do at this point and I really sat here and thought about it.

I could re-setup the 2.5 and put everything back with the the rock that was originally in there and some carbon to take out those coral toxins, just do some smaller but larger water changes over the next few days to bring down the ammonia spike. Meanwhile have the 12 gallon and all the new rock ( get more now if you want more ) curing and seeding the new tank for the next few weeks. Then do a transfer... However,,

It seems at this point everything has moved on to a better place. So at this point I personally would bite the bullet, set up the 12 gallon, do a 40% water change, toss everything that is dead, add all the new rock I would ever want this weekend and start over. In about a month I would have a clear, clean tank ready for some new friends and family. That's just me. It would ease my pain knowing all that was in the past and check it off as a bad day.

Again, I am sorry for your losses and in this hobby we are all about trying to save the reef and its inhabitants. Unfortunately, that does not always go as planned. I as a nano owner that does not have corals to frag am sorry that I won't be able to help you repopulate your tank. I HOPE that others might be nice enough here at NJRC to get your tank back to beautiful as a friendly gesture in about 30 days by maybe offering up some frags out of family kindness.

If there are any typos I am sorry as a non member of NJRC I am unable to edit my posts, and since it is 2:30am in the morning and I just woke up to get some water and saw this, please excuse anything that sounds like rambling.. I am doing this with one eye closed.

Hope things work out for you.. Be well and please keep us updated.. We / I like to hear about progress and how good things are getting. Night

 

[Hawkeye]

sandee - sorry to hear - as a quick fix, couldn't you just take some "mature" water from your other tanks, and then temporarily place whatever you can save in that water? it may be high in nitrates (since your other tanks are fowlr, - fishcam 1,2) but it's better than water high in ammonia.

Then while the stuff is recovering in the "mature" water tank - you do a major water change on the 12.5 and then check to make sure the cycle is done.

Oh and if the duster doesn't survive - it would make a nice meal for someone in fishcam 1.

 

[albie611]

we have all made mistakes , the key is to learn from them.
if it were me , and everything is dead, i would start fresh with the 12.5 gal
start by removing all the dead and decaying corals(live stock), the rock will be fine dont shortchange its ability to survive the spike, it will reseed over time and you will be surprised to see what it can bounce back from.
do a large water change (50 %) and then watch for a few weeks as the cycle works it way out . once the levels zero out it will be safe to start with new livestock.

if your close to sandy hook i might be able to start you off with a few softies when your ready

as my old coach would say........walk it off and get back in the game

happy reefing..........al

 

[Sandee]

Mynd, guys - thanks. Just finished up in the fish room. Took your collective advice ... 'couching' for a week or so, then I'll take a look at the readings and start from there. Yucky clean up job ... but, it's behind me now. Lessons learned.

On the positive note, picked up a very handsome Dragon Wrasse today at Absolutely Fish. He is nice ... love that little hat, but I understand that will disappear as he matures. He's currently on FishCam #2 (and thanks for checking out the FishCams folks - my hit counter has been going nuts - even Pat at AF has it bookmarked now!). We got the Coris Wrasse last week at Pet Place II in Nanuet.

So, lights off on the Nano for now ... thanks again.

PS: Mynd, in appreciation of your 2am reply and suggesting folks throw in a few frags - spell check is in your future! What a nice little community this forum is, thanks again!

 

[waynes reef]

hi sandee, sorry about your loss, i had a 24 aqua pod in my bathroom , nice setup, couple clowns, a baby queen angel, 2 anenomes and a few toadstools, everything was great for 7 months, one morning woke up and the whole tank was dead, till this day i still dont know what happened...wayne

 

[Sandee]

Status = Ammonia gone, nitrites/nitrates high. Workin on it. Slowly. But back in the saddle (sorta)!

Thanks for the comments ...

 

[JRWOHLER]

Sorry to hear about it. I guess the sand bed was the cuplrit? That is the trickiest concept...can you transfer or not a particular sandbed??? Just change your water daily and it should all settle down pretty quick.

On a positive note nice new fish.

 

[Sandee]

I'm pretty sure it was the live rock actually - the more I hear, that can spike the tank pretty quickly. I used my existing sande and a small bag of live sand - who knows. On the road to recovery now ...

Thanks again for the comments. Yes, the new Dragon Wrasse is great. Picked up a beautiful Achilles Tang yesterday at Aquatic Obsession. He's on FishCam #2 below (Refresh page to see updated pix)

 

[Hawkeye]

beautiful.

Hey - are you having Wil hold the fish for you or are you skipping the QT? Just be warned - no matter how good the LFS (and AqOB is great) - you run the risk of introducing something not-so-nice if you skip the QT.

Obviously it's not so bad for you since this is a FOWLR - but just something to consider.

 

[Sandee]

Interesting you should ask. I have always QT'd my freshwater fish - 2 extra tanks running for just that. But we don't have a SW QT (yet). We do have our 20g SW holding tank for water changes ... but no QT. Next on our to do, I guess. So far, so good ... and we have been going nuts with new fish. Not pictured yet, our new 7" Guinea Fowl, baby Look Down, etc. Again, so far, so good - but yes, will do, re: QT. Geez, and I thought owning a single engine plane was expensive!

 

[needreefunds]

Since it looks like you already received some good advice I will just say I am sorry for the losses.

Good to see you will be sticking with the tank. I agree, damage is done. We move forward, hopefully smarter. Let it finish the cycle and go from there.

Thanks for the fishcam link. But someone just walked past the tank in what looked to be a red nightie and I thought I may have clicked the wrong link! :

Seriously tho, cool stuff, the fishcams.
Quite a collection you have there.

Best of luck sandee!

 

[Sandee]

HA! That was me! But no, not a red 'nighty' ... just my house dress -

Ya caught me!

 

[ericksaks]

Bummer Man ... sorry about the loss :-[