Our mission

So bummed out. Lost almost everything....

Tamazula

Tamazula

Guest
BARcard
It's been a while since I posted- work and life have kept me way too busy to lurk or post on any forums. Last I checked in, I had finished up a nice LED fixture to my cube which has been running beautifully. Corals were growing like crazy- got an appleberry monti that was encrusting on my rock, wild acro that doubled in size, and JAR's blue stag that I got at the swap was just starting to color up and grow.

Then things went downhill. Alk was low for a bit and I was slowly supplementing with 2 part to raise it back up. It was never super low or high (probably 7 at the lowest). I left for a weekend and when I came back.... disaster.

Death toll so far...


Palmer's Millepora (two ~3-4 inch branches)
Appleberry Monti
Huge (for my tank) colonies of Hyacinth and Neon Green seriatopora that I had grown from itty bitty frags, first SPS I ever owned
Blue Stag from JAR
Sunset Monti from seminolecpa
Green Pocillopora
Beautiful, fast-growing green wild acro
3 frags of Lokani 40k
Green monti with purple rim
Two acan colonies


Makes me want to quit. Goddamnitsomuch. Water params are not out of whack (dkh at 8 right now). Maybe it was raised too quickly? Maybe someone dumped bleach into my tank?

Kind, encouraging words appreciated. Or someone who wants to just buy my tank and take it away. I'm sure this has happened to other people so how'd you cope?

To top it off I was rear-ended this morning on the way to work.
 
Sh*t certainly does happen. Weird death swept across everything and didn't just target one thing (say acros). I think it's safe to say that most everything in your list was represented at last weekend's swap so let the rebuilding begin!
 
What a crappy day! Sh*t happens, but usually for a reason. Don't sweat it, but do check phosphate! And also ca and mag while you're at it. Also, what about temp swings? That small of a tank can swing a bit if it's getting a lot if sun...
On the bright side I think people have a lot of those corals to replace what you've lost when you're ready!
 
hmmm all in 1 weekend...sorry to hear this. I am not sure alk can kill all that in 2 days.... maybe temp went off too? Hang in there.
 
Sorry to hear about the tank and the rear-ender!

If it's any consolation I biffed my tank about a month ago. The short story: because I believed my controller. It turned out to be wrong, and from that point on I did damage (should have tested, should have tested, should have tested).

So how do I continue on after losing some colonies that I had for over 4 years? I eat some humble pie, learn from my lesson, and resolve to be a better reefer. I take a step back and think about why it is that I am in this hobby, and how much I have enjoyed my tank over the years.

It's a devastating set back for sure, but I encourage you to not give up, and think about what got you started in this hobby in the first place and go from there. Wish you the best!
 
Well, you have my biggest sympathy.
It really sucks to have a huge hit like that!
You can check everything. Even the basics, like Ammonia and Nitrite. But you may never know.
Things happen, especially in smaller tanks.

Several few years back, when I had a simpler fresh-water tank, I lost a big group of fish all at once to disease.
Felt terrible for weeks, thought about quitting as well. But time really does heal those feelings.
After a while, I figured maybe it was actually an opportunity for change.
At the time, that just meant different fish. But that was exciting, so I eventually
switched to saltwater, then to a much bigger tank.

So take some time to relax. Don't rush off and do something drastic.
Then maybe look at it as an opportunity to start over.
Maybe aquascape it different, tweak the biotope, or just change the mix of corals.
 
sorry to hear, I can emphathise I just finished a move to another place.... a couple weeks after moving was loosing fish every week till now only have 1 left. Also lost a whole bunch of corals too.. SPS/LPS and Z's and Ps. Moving the tank probably cause a spike ( ammonia or something else ) that stressed the whole tank out.
 
Yea I thought the same thing too- wasn't just one type, was across the board... although possibly losing one caused a cascade. And it might not have been alk but I didn't lose power. Maybe my heater is on the fritz. Second Jager I've had to get... the first one just stopped working one day.

Thanks for the words and the offers. I might take you guys up on it; apparently I missed a swap? That sucks even more... a lot of what I had/lost was in my frag racks ready to be given away.

Last I checked Mg it was about 1150. Will check again. So far I've only change 5gal and will probably change another 5 tomorrow, re-test everything, etc. I'd like to keep what I have at least.

I went from never losing a single coral to genocide. :O
 
Sorry to hear man. I think i might have a good quote for this "I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom." George Smith Patton, the greatest tank commander! With that said, +1 for what JAR said; corals can grow like weed =D, so before and after pics would be a great measure of how you bounce back from the bottom.
 
Very sorry to hear about the death toll. Figure out what went wrong and bounce back with the knowledge you likely won't make that mistake again.
 
Found that my Chaeto had all died... plot thickens. It's either another symptom or a cause (or both). It's never died before.

Did a 50% water change... will probably do another one next week.
 
So the coral that I have left is not looking good. I'm not sure how long a "recovery" would take to kick in but the Duncans and Cyphastrea are still closed and sad looking. Clavularia are also small/shrivelled. Even the GSP doesn't look happy. The only things that are totally thriving are the Zoas and a few mushrooms.

I did the massive water change last night and the lights have only been on for a little while but I'm hoping that this isn't something like someone chucked a penny in my tank, or something weird. The parameters check out fine. It's a bit discouraging. Any ideas?

IMG_1806.JPG



IMG_1810.JPG



IMG_1808.JPG

Duncans unhappy. Grew this from 3 polyps, really don't want to see it go.

IMG_1807.JPG

Tank in current state.
 
I did chuck in a spare BC29 filter cartridge (I don't normally use them) since it has carbon in it, but I may need to stop by a store and get something larger.

Was going to try and hit up the Norcal Reef Club swap and re-stock.... but honestly I'm about to go on a month+ trip so it's not the best timing. More importantly with the crash, don't know if it's a safe environment for new critters. Nor did I have much to offer except for a few boutique Zoas and a Blasto that I got from the BAR swap a ways back- it started out unhealthy looking and has never really blossomed like the rest of the swap frags did. Decided to just sleep in and focus on figuring out what the hell happened with my tank.

JAR I may take you up on your offer, man. Plus I have a thing for in-wall tanks. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top