Der ABT January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 Stupid Fing autofeed back poped off while i was gone for an hour and one batter fell in the tank and decintagrated, I was going to do a water change so i already had water ready but is there anything else i can do, i siphoned out all the crap i could and got the main bits out of the tank. running GFO i have about 150 gallons i can change right now, shuld i be doing more then this??? thanks for any help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 I would also add a polyfilter to absorb any of the metals released by the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 +1 on the poly-filter. Carbon would work if you don't have a poly-filter handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 Wow... a battery disintegrated in an hour? I had NO idea saltwater would do that. Thanks for the warning about batteries around salt tanks! bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT January 27, 2010 Author Share January 27, 2010 (edited) I would also add a polyfilter to absorb any of the metals released by the battery. meant to say 15 gal, im going to end up doing about 30gal of new water tonight (was planning on changing my sump out as it developed a leak early this week. so there is another 29 gallons coming out (overall water vol is about 150 so i figure ill be changing close to half by tomorrow. all the corals are sliming, but nothing looks like death just yet, it was a single AA battery (SOOOO MAD) as im already having a rough week. Not sure what a polyfilter is, i really only have GFO and carbon but i can try to find one tomorrow i guess. I got all the leftovers from the battery i can, but who knows im going to go check on the ph and all and see if i can try to keep that in check in case its off with an acid being added in. fish seem to be happier, clam is like What, and all the brittle stars are coming out goinG AAHHHHHH i really hope thie doesnt crash everything, well keep you fingers crossed and if you have any more input please add it where could a get a poly filter at this hour?? its going to be a late night i think and i leave for work at 6 Edited January 27, 2010 by Der ABT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 Wow... a battery disintegrated in an hour? I had NO idea saltwater would do that. Thanks for the warning about batteries around salt tanks! bob The battery would short circuit in the saltwater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 Not sure what a polyfilter is This is what a poly-filter is. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...cfm?pcatid=4335 I have two at my house if you want to run over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT January 27, 2010 Author Share January 27, 2010 The battery would short circuit in the saltwater. it fully decintagrated into two parts with a bunch of black crud (luckily being bare bottom it wasnt too hard to get that out. there was teh shell that had brokend into to with a long rod in the center (at least i can laugh at rod) well back to water making Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT January 27, 2010 Author Share January 27, 2010 This is what a poly-filter is.http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...cfm?pcatid=4335 I have two at my house if you want to run over. pm sent i dont want to make it too late for you but i could be there in 15 or so maybe less the way i drive Evan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 Come on over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 Note to self: Check to see if I have any polyfilterleft in my "fish stuff" bin, and if not buy some more tomorrow...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 I'm guessing that it was an alkaline battery that fell into the tank. The saltwater environment probably caused a rapid discharge of the battery, leading to a case rupture. The primary components in alkaline battery chemistry are zinc, manganese dioxide, carbon and potassium hydroxide. Your biggest threat, I think, would be from the possible release of zinc in your system. A poly-filter may be your best bet to remove this component, though how effective it will be is up for debate. At higher zinc levels, you'll find that a poly-filter will be more effective than at low, trace levels. In addition, you're likely to need GAC (carbon) as well to deal with any organics that might be released from livestock due to the presence of high zinc levels. There's also the possibility that, during battery discharge, that salt water was electrolyzed to release a bit of chlorine and hydrogen gas. Given the high reactivity of chlorine, I suspect that it was quickly reabsorbed in the system. Poly-filter + GAC, I think, is the way you want to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT January 27, 2010 Author Share January 27, 2010 thanks to all for the responses, and very much to coral hind, ill definately be buying some more of the poly filter to lay around if all works out ok. So far all fish andinverts are still alive (well all the ones i can find) corals dont look happy but they are not looking like skeletons yet or hopefully ever. Ill keep it updated, I have one more batch of water that needs to heat up and then things should be ok until tomorrow. still soo mad about the back of the feeder falling off and just throwing one of the batteries in the tank. luckily one stayed in, but i mean dang, im going to have to think way ahead for anything that is possible. duct tape will be my new best friend, i hope i dont turn into an overprotective parent, i mean reefgeek. Glad it was only an hour and not while i was away or asleep. that back had been on just fine for at least 3 weeks. just dont get it. well live and learn, hopefully live thanks again for the quick response and support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igozoom January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 Sorry to hear about this. I know what you're going through. Coincidentally, I found that I can't keep anything that even uses batteries near a tank for very long. I had a clock with AAs in it on a wall near the tank, and it kept collecting salt creep at either end of the battery until the clock would stop working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pco1988 January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 Just please keep us updated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 thanks to all for the responses, and very much to coral hind... Your very welcome. Helping fellow reefers is what makes WAMAS so great! Keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 Wow, that's a scary situation. Good luck - I hope none of your livestock dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 still soo mad about the back of the feeder falling off and just throwing one of the batteries in the tank. luckily one stayed in, but i mean dang, im going to have to think way ahead for anything that is possible. duct tape will be my new best friend, i hope i dont turn into an overprotective parent, i mean reefgeek. Glad it was only an hour and not while i was away or asleep. that back had been on just fine for at least 3 weeks. just dont get it. well live and learn, hopefully live Don't beat yourself up over it. This is a new one for all of us, I'm sure. Sharing experiences like this with the community so the rest of us are aware is just one benefit we get from membership. Coralhind's quick offer to his emergency supplies is another. It's really impressive to me how quickly this all worked out. What a terrific community to be a part of. Good luck with getting things back on track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT January 27, 2010 Author Share January 27, 2010 Don't beat yourself up over it. This is a new one for all of us, I'm sure. Sharing experiences like this with the community so the rest of us are aware is just one benefit we get from membership. Coralhind's quick offer to his emergency supplies is another. It's really impressive to me how quickly this all worked out. What a terrific community to be a part of. Good luck with getting things back on track. +1 on the benefits Im trying not to beat myself up but when i look at it now i really feel like i shoulda done something more to ensure safety, cause looking at it now is like oh yeh i shoulda seen that possibility, im going to sue the company cause thats the american way just kidden. I mean it was a late night, i didnt get done till a little after 2, ended up changing about 45 gal of water, new carbon, and set up my temporary sump. things still looked angry this morning (wish doesnt make me feel good) but the flesh is still on everything. All the fish looked ok and were sleeping well. but man what a pain. Im going to rethink alot of things with the tank now and look for any possible disaster and ways to protect against em. hopefully when i get home from work all will be looking happier, ill try to take pics of whats left of the battery and how it went down. it was an aquachef digital auto feeder.....how they design a back that can pop off like that i dont know....maybe my tang tried to break into it for more food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar January 27, 2010 Share January 27, 2010 Hope everything pulls through ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT January 28, 2010 Author Share January 28, 2010 Hope everything pulls through ok. fish inverts, softies and clams seem to be just fine BUT Well i may be giving up for a while here, looks like im gonna loose about 95% of my sps. Hopefully some pull thru and are just ultra bleached. but i doubt it.............hopefully you wont see a getting out of the hoppy thread..... thanks for the help and wishes from all ill try to get some pics and show the havoc a freaking single AA battery did in 1 hour and hopefully youll never have the experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pco1988 January 28, 2010 Share January 28, 2010 Chin up and it will be fine! Don't jump to conclusions about getting out of the hobby. Do what I did, when I had my 120gal crash I upgraded to a 210gal! It was a good cure for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 28, 2010 Share January 28, 2010 Don't do the "getting out" thread. If anything just scale back on demanding corals like SPS. There are some really nice LPS and softie tanks too. They require a lot less money and time which you will be short on once the baby arrives. Let me know if you need anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT February 1, 2010 Author Share February 1, 2010 Update time sorry no pics camera is still being borrowed of course. Well im still very angered about all the loses but a few things have actually started to come back, im probalby still going to loose 60-80 percent of my sps, basically all of the nice corals. I added a two today and so far they are doing fine so i think the water quality is back to normal. So after my wife yelling at me for thinking of quitting ive decided to keep going and just deal with it and slowly rebuild my frag list. As for scaling it down, i think we all know how hard that is, there are just so many i want and will have one day but i think i will be taking it a little slower to start back up with. I mean look at the auction forum regulars.....there really should be a support group for most of us on here. The poly pads ended up being dark brown/black, i was expecting to see some other colors but i guess that means acidic somethign or rather according to the package. Thanks again to Coral Hind for helping me out with that, glad you were up so late. Most of the corals have lost all of their color, green went to blue or brown, blue turned mainly brown, rest pretty much went to skeleton in 1-2 days. Still cant believe how quick it happened. Ill post pics of the inside of the battery/shell and what everything looks like when the camera comes back, i ended up putting most of everything in the frag tank and left the lights off for one day and then have just had the actinics on until today, the extra light seems to just melt away some more flesh. thas about it hopefully the tank turns into something even better then before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhcorals February 1, 2010 Share February 1, 2010 I have a couple of frags i can throw your way. Just LMK when, maybe you can swing by and see what youwant out of my tank. I would just like to help out. When i had my tank crash back in 08 a lot of people helped me out with either free, or really cheap prices on some really nice SPS's. This is a way i can give back what i have received. Lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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