bprinehart

Ok, in my best estimation both of my Birdsnests are completely gone, as well as my efflo frag. So I made it through with two badly damaged but clinging hammer coral polyps, my Duncanos which thankfully were moved over previously, and a few zoanthids. I absolutely must get an AC III soon. I don't ever want to go through this again.

Supposedly, Hydor has been getting ready to release a wavemaker for the Koralia's for about the past year. I think the main issue with the wavemakers and the koralia's is the possibility of starting the motor up backwards? IMHO the Koralia's are great for a nice low velocity wide dispersion of flow.

Glad everything worked out good for you. I definitely got lucky, no outages in GB.

Quick update, my Favia bit the dust this morning, along with the green and brown birdsnests. I think everyone else is going to pull through. Thanks again for the kind words guys and gals.

Well that was the main reason, the heater made the water way to warm for most of my creatures. If I had to guess, all of the animals died when the BTA kicked the bucket, I'm just assuming this, but it would seem logical. The nematocysts and stinging sensation in my hands are my main reasons for thinking this. I would also be willing to bet that the decrease in O2 had something to do with it. Thanks Bob. It'll get better I'm sure.

Wow...simply gorgeous. I love the aquascape too. Nice and open. Looks very natural.

Wow...I have to say I'm a bit overwhelmed by the offers to help. I will definitely be taking some people up on those. I see so many good natured people on these boards everyday speaking volumes about their character without words, but by their actions. I am really proud to say that I'm a WAMAS member. Thank you all so much, I really am kind of emotional about the outpouring of kindness. Thought I'd provide an update. It looks like the hammer may not be a loss. There is a little bit of tissue that is starting to puff itself up, looks like a severely contracted polyp. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I also think the GSPs may make it. One or two polyps are trying to poke out. So we'll see how they do. I would say all of the SPS are a total loss, as well as the LPS listed previously. My heart just sunk into the pit of my stomach when I pulled out an Echino and Acan skeleton with absolutely no flesh left on either. After making sure everyone that could be saved was moved in and doing ok in the 75, I got to cleaning up the old tank and sump. I found something interesting. Apparently the heater must have gotten so hot that it shattered itself, which doesn't make sense to me. But when I started to think back about what happened, I can probably pinpoint the exact moment that it did. I was surveying all the equipment in the sump, and saw that the heater was on, I disconnected the non GFI powerstrip, and then thought it was odd that the powerstrip connected to the GFI outlet tripped itself. I was thinking maybe in my haste I got some water splashed around. There were 4 hands in the tank at the time, not counting my own so there was a little drippage going on. I think that is when the heater shattered. It was submerged the whole time though and that's what I still don't get. Once I pulled the sump out and inspected everything I saw that it looks like a couple of the elements kind of burnt themselves up. I'd really like to know what happened to it. I have some pics of it on the cell, and I'll get em posted up sometime soon for your best guesses. Just keep thinking about and pulling for my few remaining critters guys and gals. I'll make it through this. I'm just glad that I was able to save at least a few animals, and that no people were hurt Thanks again to everyone for the encouragement, it really does mean a lot, to both my wife and myself.

That would be the absolute last thing I need to happen today.

Thanks Howard. Like I said, I was able to get the fish, and some zoanthids, and peppermints out of there. Thank goodness the 75 was ready to go. Yeah I know what you mean, and thanks Dave. It's not even about the money though...It's about the attachment you get watching things grown and thrive in our best attempts at recreating their environment. I really did shed a tear or two after one of my fish buddies got out of here from helping me clean up the wreckage. It's just sad.

I'm definitely looking into an AC ASAP. Thanks for the commiseration.

So I get a frantic call from my wife while I'm at work, around 2:15. "Honey your aquarium stinks really bad, the water is cloudy, and all your corals are white!" :( I rushed home from work, and found every single piece of SPS and LPS either completely bleached or devoid of any flesh at all, and my BTA in an unrecognizable ball of goo. Some of my Zoanthids look like they are going make it. Both my cleaner shrimp...gone. All my snails except for one Astrea, and my big bad turbo who's been with me from the beginning dead. Most of my hermits made it. The GSM and the Coral beauty managed to survive as well. Judging from the scale of the destruction, I'd say the BTA went belly up, and proceeded to wipe it all out. I noticed that the tank temperature was over 88 degrees, and it normally stays put at 78-80 depending on the temp of the house. I looked in the sump and the heater's light was still on. I'm really kind of sick about this whole deal. I was getting ready to finish moving everybody out of this tank TONIGHT, and get them in to the 75. When I left for work this morning everything was fine. It's just heartbreaking. I managed to salvage who I could. Took out all the LR and scrubbed it in ASW I had set aside for this weekend's water change, and moved it to the 75. Looks like the casualties so far include: Yellow M. Digitata Green M. Cap. A nice blue tort frag that had really started to flourish in the last 4-5 months A. Valida E. Quadricolor Acan. Lordhowensis My beautiful pink lemonade chalice I just picked up at the last meeting My pink tipped hammer My snowflake Xenia GSPs So just about everyone of my corals, save for the few that had already been moved. Excuse me while I go cry myself to sleep... Sorry for the rambling diatribe, and I know I'm not the first to experience this. Just needed to vent it. It really sucks when you invest so much time and research into the care of these beautiful animals and a mechanical failure wipes them out in a matter of a few hours.

There was also a recent thread of activity about this very issue on the NOAA Coral-List. I found the timing uncanny given Andrew's presentation at the meeting.

Maybe it's just an adjustment period. We'll see.

Anyone experienced this? I currently have over my 37gallon a 3 bulb 36" T5 retro. I've been growing mostly SPS with a few LPS and softies thrown into the mix. In the new 75, I wanted to have a focus on LPS, with a few other specimens, but primarily LPS. For some strange reason, It seems like the 4X54Ws are way to bright for the LPS (as evidenced by my hammers and duncanos). After seeing their reaction, I chose not to move any of my other LPS (Acan, and Echino) into the new tank for a while. I have them shaded, literally under the rockwork, like they were in my 37, where they were all very happy, but they are now staying quite small like they did when I was first learning and had them directly under the halides. They aren't necessarily retracted, just not as "full". About half the water and LR in the new tank is from the old one as well as a good portion of the sand, and they've been in there since Sunday evening. Everything else, Xenias, Zoas, Birdnests, and my BTA are doing wonderfully, very happy with the increased lighting. There are no fish for the time being. Haven't had any spikes in Amonnia, nitrite, or nitrate at all, and wouldn't expect to given the established bacteria I moved into the tank. Temp, PH, Alk, and SG are all spot on with the old tank. For flow I have two Koralia 2's and a 3/4" sea swirl, definitely not a sand storm goin on, and over all much calmer than the 40. The only thing I can point a finger at is the lighting. They aren't in the direct path of the light, but the 54w certainly do light everything up a little brighter, seems to be much more light distributed throughout the tank, much more than from the 39Ws. Could it just be the increase in wattage is too much? I really like the T5s, I love not having to change them every 6 months, and the cost is much easier on the wallet, but I'm thinking I would almost do better with some MH to provide a greater distinction between light and cryptic areas. Can anyone with some experience chime in on this? Thanks, Brian

Josh, IIRC The free-swimming stage can't live very long without a host. But I believe the buggers (cysts) can lie in the sandbed for quite a while. Check out WetWebMedia.com, consensus over there is 8 weeks is optimum for going fallow, like someone earlier stated I believe. Sorry for your losses, welcome to the not so fun side of the hobby....growing pains. As Forrest said, now would be an excellent time to do some research and plan your next stocking list. Take Care, Brian

Well I see the problem right away. You have two Tangs in there. It's a known scientific fact that fighting Tangs are ginormous consumers of alk. In the spirit of WAMAS good-will and communitiy I will take the Purple off your hands.

Wow...that managed to make me feel old! Oh and by the way...Welcome to WAMAS!

Looking good, I like your coral selection, and your clam should be happy as a....umm....clam under that MH!

Carl- It's actually very easy to do with the right drill bits. What I did was drill a hole in each of the upper corners for the closed loop returns, I also drilled 2 holes on the same plane for the overflow to the sump, one for the return from the sump pump, and then a hole pretty much dead center for the closed loop inlet. It didn't take very long either, just have to keep the bit cooled and lubricated, and not try to rush it. I think on average it was about 5 mins per hole. I was able to get 6 holes out of a cheap $7.00 Fleabay diamond bit, though I don't know how many more I could coax from it. If you would like to see some pics, I should be starting a dedicated thread for it soon. Just have to get my camera back from my buddy. I believe there are also several people in your area that have a lot of experience with this as well. -Brian

Yeah I know people do it all the time, drilling that is. I made sure to not drill any hole closer than the holes diameter from any edge, and also no closer than 6" from each other. Thanks for putting my mind at ease. -Brian

I drilled my 75 this weekend, yep sure did. I put in 6 holes total, 3 for overflow, and 3 for closed loop. Looking at the amount of glass removed from the panel, I'm tempted to reinforce the back panel by siliconing (sp?) some strips of glass cut to the length of the tank to reinforce what was removed. Anyone see any problems with this? Also, what is the proper way to dress the holes, sand them? No matter how meticulous I was with the drilling there were still some slight chips taken out of the edges. Any advice is appreciated. -Brian

That's awesome dude! Good for you. In hindsight I wish I'd held off and gotten an RBTA, but both me and my maroon love the GBTA, so in the end it's a wash. Congrats again, awesome! P.S. It no longer looks like the pathetic bleached out thing it was in my avatar(right after purchase). It's about 9" inches across now and VERY green.

Oh man Squiddly sorry to hear that. Hopefully this won't discourage you from trying again in the future. Hang in there. -Brian

That is definitely NOT a shining example of good customer service. Sorry about your luck there, Greg. I know who to stay away from when I'm ready to order a clam.

Same here, I feed mine a mix of mysis, cyclopeeze, and some times I will grate up a couple very tiny pieces of a basic seafood mash recipe I found somewhere about 6 months ago. I usually direct feed them once a week, but from observing flow in the tank, I'm sure they eat consistently via leftovers from the fishies. I treat my Duncanos pretty much the same way. I have all of my LPS sitting just outside the 2 square foot "box" of my 250W 20,000K DE MH lights intensity, and in the only really moderate flow area of the tank, a neat little eddy in the front right corner. My Blastos (Merletti), which I got from Steveoutlaw, are growing like crazy. I've gone from 1 to 3 polyps on the "candy cane" Acans, and my Duncanos from BRK have gone from the initial 2 to 6 now, plus a new little baby starting to poke his head out from one of the main stalks, in the space of about 4 months. I have heard the same things from numerous people though, some people have great luck, and others not so much. I "seem" to have a knack for the LPS though.