Disaster strikes... mourning continues

rugger08 · 09/18/2008, 08:52 PM

let me start out by saying I love My reeflo 250 Skimmer and until last sunday my tank and all its inhabitants were doing great... but unfortunately I did not listen to the disaster stories or more importantly I did not follow the advice of many wise reefers on these boards about how to avoid a external skimmer form going nuts and emptying the system.

Last Sunday after a round of golf in an area with bad cell reception, I received a panicked call from my wife informing me that she had been trying to get a hold of me for a few hours. She said the tank temp had spiked to 94 degrees and my 100 gallon sump was nearly empty. When I got home I found that the skimmer had gone nuts and was skimming really wet and had emptied nearly 80 gallons of water form the system. (Luckily my sump is one floor down in the basement) I lost almost everything... Bubble coral, two anemone's. I originally had one but it split about three weeks ago), 7 fish, 1 lobophylia, couple of sps, several ricodia's and 2 shrimp, several varieties of mushrooms 1 sea serpent..and the list goes on.

I have a 125 gallon display thats kills me to look at. I guess I'm lucky because my sohal survived as did my 2 true percs although thier anemone frinds did not...

Word of advise set up an overflow shut off system on all your external skimmer to avoid the heartache...

moondoggy4 · 09/18/2008, 09:09 PM

Thanks so much I guess I will better listen to my wife and say no to external skimmers. Sorry to hear about the disaster.

Runfrumu · 09/18/2008, 10:00 PM

My coralife SS about got me once, but I walked into the room when it was about to start letting loose.

I will never ever use a external skimmer on a tank ever again. I got the tunze and its in sump, and the tunze is designed to never overflow and if by some freak accident it did, it would go back into the water.

good luck on getting this back up and going.

amehel0 · 09/18/2008, 10:01 PM

thats why i run my recirc skimmer in sump!

09/18/2008, 08:52 PM	#1
rugger08 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Albany, NY Posts: 47	Disaster strikes... mourning continues let me start out by saying I love My reeflo 250 Skimmer and until last sunday my tank and all its inhabitants were doing great... but unfortunately I did not listen to the disaster stories or more importantly I did not follow the advice of many wise reefers on these boards about how to avoid a external skimmer form going nuts and emptying the system. Last Sunday after a round of golf in an area with bad cell reception, I received a panicked call from my wife informing me that she had been trying to get a hold of me for a few hours. She said the tank temp had spiked to 94 degrees and my 100 gallon sump was nearly empty. When I got home I found that the skimmer had gone nuts and was skimming really wet and had emptied nearly 80 gallons of water form the system. (Luckily my sump is one floor down in the basement) I lost almost everything... Bubble coral, two anemone's. I originally had one but it split about three weeks ago), 7 fish, 1 lobophylia, couple of sps, several ricodia's and 2 shrimp, several varieties of mushrooms 1 sea serpent..and the list goes on. I have a 125 gallon display thats kills me to look at. I guess I'm lucky because my sohal survived as did my 2 true percs although thier anemone frinds did not... Word of advise set up an overflow shut off system on all your external skimmer to avoid the heartache...

09/18/2008, 10:00 PM	#3
Runfrumu Hi Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: NC Posts: 1,014	My coralife SS about got me once, but I walked into the room when it was about to start letting loose. I will never ever use a external skimmer on a tank ever again. I got the tunze and its in sump, and the tunze is designed to never overflow and if by some freak accident it did, it would go back into the water. good luck on getting this back up and going. __________________ Red Sea Max 130d and 125 gallon mixed reef. Current Tank Info: 125 gallon oceanic tank, Lighthouse Pro XLS, 72" outer orbit fixture, H&S 150-F2000/1 skimmer, H&S 110 Calcium Reactor, Tunze 7096, 2 Tunze 6105's , Tunze Osmolator, Prime 1/4hp drop-in chiller. 5 years running. Red Sea Max, 3 years.

09/18/2008, 10:01 PM	#4
amehel0 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia Posts: 232	thats why i run my recirc skimmer in sump! __________________ AUSSIE NATIVE PREDATORY FISH ROK!! 1100g 170g 90g 40g Current Tank Info: 170g 90g packed with aussie natives highly filtered, 40g a few natives and a few oddballs, i mainly keep predatory fish and 1100g is a pond and has barramundi and mor enatives in it

09/18/2008, 09:09 PM	#2
moondoggy4 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: menifee So cal Posts: 11,042	Thanks so much I guess I will better listen to my wife and say no to external skimmers. Sorry to hear about the disaster.