Tradgedy strikes the oregon reef

[dhoch]

Quite a sad story for such a wonderful tank, but it emphasizes don't do anything quickly or hastily.

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...mp;pagenumber=1

 

Dave

[lanman]

Quite a sad story for such a wonderful tank, but it emphasizes don't do anything quickly or hastily.

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...mp;pagenumber=1

 

Dave

 

Ouch! You're right - sure drives home that point! I've tried to do everything slow and careful since I started this. Sometimes NOT knowing what you're doing can be an advantage - makes you think a lot more about every little thing.

 

bob

[jason the filter freak]

ooh no :( . at least he had a drain for the sump...

[jamal]

its funny cuz i had something similar to that happen to me. but i resisted the urge. sps are so beautiful and so delicate.

[Guest beatle]

I guess I don't understand how his skimmer emptied his sump. Was it just skimming really wet into a drilled collection cup? Then again, on an 850g tank, he may have something different than I do.

[dhoch]

My understanding that he skims into a drain... when it's wet (and we've all seen it wet)... it just kept pulling till there was nothing left to pull.

 

Dave

[Jager]

he also uses an RK2 skimmer. its extremely large and is hard plumbed in the cup out to the sewer because it has auto cleaning (it sprays FW and spins a brush to clean the skimmer out.) he said in his post that it skimmed super wet due to not being adjusted. i can see it burning through 200g fairly easily since its such a big skimmer.

[Sleeper]

he also uses an RK2 skimmer. its extremely large and is hard plumbed in the cup out to the sewer because it has auto cleaning (it sprays FW and spins a brush to clean the skimmer out.) he said in his post that it skimmed super wet due to not being adjusted. i can see it burning through 200g fairly easily since its such a big skimmer.

 

But does anyone understand exactly what happened that killed the SPS in the first place? I mean, *exactly?* Was is something in the tapwater? I just find it hard to believe that even a water change that big could have outright killed all those SPS just by introducing some kind of trace chemical. Maybe I'm missing something?

[YBeNormal]

He mentioned that he mixed the water using tap vice RO/DI and that he used some dechlorinator that was several years old. It could have been something in the tap water, or maybe the dechlorinator didn't work and there were high chlorine/chloramine levels in the water change. This could cause some things in the tank to die off, maybe releasing toxins that killed other things and setting off a chain reaction. Just a guess... If I recall correctly, he even mentioned that we will never know exactly what happened.

[chideloh]

I know from personal experience, the protein skimmers can be very dangerous to tank. More than once I had minor accidents with it overflowing past 5 years.

[Caribbean Jake]

Seen it happen. My pump came loose from the collection container, and all the foam filled the sump pump. WOW.. their story is sad.

[VicSkimmr]

This is a huge blow to the reefing community. His tank was an inspiration to all of us, and he had some of the largest SPS colonies in the country. That being said, he is a master aquascaper and I can't wait to see what he comes up with now

[Sharkb8]

Anyone have a link to the original photos of the tank, before the disaster struck?

 

I have no idea about how to take care of SPS because I have none and my setup isn't good enough for them yet. But, could it be that just the rapid change in the environment was enough to stress them out and kill them? He said his Redox changed drastically, as I'm sure did his phosphates and possibly other salts, etc. Maybe it was just the huge change that shocked them . . .

[YBeNormal]

He didn't have any pictures of the tank just prior to the disaster but here is a link to the photo gallery on his web site: http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_gallery.htm