starting all over

medbull · 01/01/2008, 07:16 PM

not really sure where to start :-(

I had a nice tank at 1 time. Got alot of help on here and everything was going fine. very slowly i would lose a coral here or a fish there. Eventually i was down all of my coral. i had some ballast issues that hurt my lighting situaltion for a while and i thought that was the cause.

My work would cause me to be gone for a few days at a time, my wife would take care of the tank best she could while i was gone.
Long story short. I got home 1 day to find that all of my fish were dead. The tank had totaly crashed.

Completely upset and totaly discouraged i just gave up and let the tank set. Nothing running, just let it set.
Water evaporated and it has jsut set 1/3 for a few mos.

Today i filled it up with tap water and conditioner, cleaned all the powerhheads and skimmer.

I guess what i am asking is what i need to do to get it back up and running.
I am still upset over what happened the first time, and a little unsure about doing it again. My wife wants it going again for our 2yo to enjoy.

I do not want coral, i just want a couple of hardy fish to start out with until i can prove to myself that i can keep it going.

If anyone has any thoughts on the steps i should go thru to get it back on the road to having fish, i would appreciate it.

I expect a flame or 2 and thats ok. I started out to big i guess. and alot of things died because of my inexperience.

Thx for your help.

The Floodinator · 01/01/2008, 08:09 PM

I feel your pain, almost. I went on a hunting trip in October and came home to about 30 bone white coral skeletons. Time to start over.
I decided to take my time and buy all the things I wish I had when my electric bill was huge and I was at the LFS every week.
If you ever want to keep corals buy an RO/DI filter. Tap just wont work.
Take your time, don't add too much too fast. Every time you add a fish or coral the tanks' micro fauna has to adjust. Give it time.
Never give up. Every failure should be a lesson, learn from them.

vanmo92 · 01/01/2008, 08:14 PM

I would fill it w/ RO/DI, not tap, that will definitely give you a better chance for success.

stingythingy45 · 01/01/2008, 08:20 PM

So.........what did you learn from it?
Did you find out why the tank crashed?
If you learned from your mistakes then it was never really a total loss.
Was the tank still being airated,heated or filtered?
Is the live rock/sand still alive?

macronut · 01/01/2008, 08:20 PM

Hmmm this is perplexing.

Here is a list of things I'd do to prepare your new tank. You may already know, but I threw them in anyway.

Read about saltwater systems, fish, fish compatability, system care.

Find a good local fish store or reef store that has knowledgeable staff and a good reputation. Find a store that has healthy livestock. There are many opinions out there on how to set up a system and care for one as I am sure you are aware. Many opinions on this site too.

1. Remove the tap water and replace with RO/or RO/DI. It is the purest water to use. Tap water has phosphate etc in it and you will have unwanted algae blooms that will most likely discourage you again.

2. I'd also siphon the sand real good. Removing would be best and washing it out in a bucket until the water is clear.

3. I'm assuming since you let the tank sit for sometime with liverock in it that it was quite a mess to clean. I'd clean the rock by boiling it and getting all the dead etc out. Scrub good prior to boiling.

4. Add your sand. Arrange the rocks in your tank in an open fashion to allow water to circulate around them.

5. Fill with fresh salt water, preferably a mix that has been prepared a day or so in advance with RO/DI or RO water. Adjust the temp to 78 degrees. Adjust the salinity to 1.024 or 1.023. Each day check the salinity level with your hydrometer and add RO/or RO/DI water to top the system off. Do not add saltwater for top after you are set at 1.024 or 1.023 as it will increase your salinity level. Only add freshwater RO/or RO/DI when topping off. Add saltwater when you do a monthly water change of 10%.

6. Turn your cleaned equipment on. Skimmer, pumps, heater, etc.

7. Add some live sand in the center front section of the tank (in a mound, don't spread out), and a nice piece of live rock to reseed the system with beneficial bacteria.

You will have to let your tank cycle making it safe for livestock. I'm not a believer in adding fish to cycle a tank. Let the liverock and livesand do that for you.

8. Be patient. Don't go out and put a fish in it right away. Wait let the system stablize and get familiar with topping the system off. Continue to read about fish only tank husbandry and about the fish you would like to keep, are they compatable, feeding requirements.

Test your water for ammonia, nitrates, and ph.

When you have 0 amonia and nitrates and begin to see diatom algae growing on the rocks and glass then add some clean up crew. Snails and blue legged hermits.

9. Do this as a family project. Since you are gone, ask your wife to get involed too as she will be responsible for the system while you are gone. (I hope this doesn't sound like I am being blunt as it is not intended that way).

10. Let the system mature and don't add a bunch of fish at one time.

I hope this helps. If I have forgotten anything I'm sure someone else will jump in.

Good luck!

macronut · 01/01/2008, 09:18 PM

When adding a fish, do not be tempted to add a damsel fish. They are cheap, colorful when young, but have bad dispositions and will cause you grief later on when adding other fish.

medbull · 01/01/2008, 10:32 PM

Stingy, yes the ph was waaayy off and that was what caused the crash from what i understand.

I filled it up with tap water and cond just to get it filled up and to get everything turned on. we always used DI from the fish store for top offs and premixed water from the fish store for water changes.

Flood ty for the encouragement.

Macro, tyvm for the list. it is exactly what i was looking for.

Im going to take it very slow, hopefully to avoid this problem from ever happening again.

Thank you all for the replies.

01/01/2008, 07:16 PM	#1
medbull Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 76	starting all over not really sure where to start :-( I had a nice tank at 1 time. Got alot of help on here and everything was going fine. very slowly i would lose a coral here or a fish there. Eventually i was down all of my coral. i had some ballast issues that hurt my lighting situaltion for a while and i thought that was the cause. My work would cause me to be gone for a few days at a time, my wife would take care of the tank best she could while i was gone. Long story short. I got home 1 day to find that all of my fish were dead. The tank had totaly crashed. Completely upset and totaly discouraged i just gave up and let the tank set. Nothing running, just let it set. Water evaporated and it has jsut set 1/3 for a few mos. Today i filled it up with tap water and conditioner, cleaned all the powerhheads and skimmer. I guess what i am asking is what i need to do to get it back up and running. I am still upset over what happened the first time, and a little unsure about doing it again. My wife wants it going again for our 2yo to enjoy. I do not want coral, i just want a couple of hardy fish to start out with until i can prove to myself that i can keep it going. If anyone has any thoughts on the steps i should go thru to get it back on the road to having fish, i would appreciate it. I expect a flame or 2 and thats ok. I started out to big i guess. and alot of things died because of my inexperience. Thx for your help.

01/01/2008, 08:09 PM	#2
The Floodinator Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Outside looking In Posts: 119	I feel your pain, almost. I went on a hunting trip in October and came home to about 30 bone white coral skeletons. Time to start over. I decided to take my time and buy all the things I wish I had when my electric bill was huge and I was at the LFS every week. If you ever want to keep corals buy an RO/DI filter. Tap just wont work. Take your time, don't add too much too fast. Every time you add a fish or coral the tanks' micro fauna has to adjust. Give it time. Never give up. Every failure should be a lesson, learn from them. __________________ "Quid Me Anxius Sum?" -Lemmy Current Tank Info: 110 & 35 gal. display tanks sharing a 4 tank, 120 gal. sump/fuge system type thing in the basement. Oh yeah, there's a 55 gal. FW too, forgot about that one.

01/01/2008, 08:14 PM	#3
vanmo92 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Silverthorne, CO. Posts: 2,045	I would fill it w/ RO/DI, not tap, that will definitely give you a better chance for success. __________________ PBITAWA Current Tank Info: 72 gallon bow Mixed Reef 1 fw tank

01/01/2008, 08:20 PM	#4
stingythingy45 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: MA Posts: 3,296	So.........what did you learn from it? Did you find out why the tank crashed? If you learned from your mistakes then it was never really a total loss. Was the tank still being airated,heated or filtered? Is the live rock/sand still alive? __________________ Bob Current Tank Info: 90 gallon,mixed Reef,2-250 watt Optix 3 pendants(Phoenix 14K)2-54 watt T5 Super actnics ,ASM G-2 Gate/recirc mods,70 gal. basement sump,20L ref

01/01/2008, 08:20 PM	#5
macronut Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 405	Hmmm this is perplexing. Here is a list of things I'd do to prepare your new tank. You may already know, but I threw them in anyway. Read about saltwater systems, fish, fish compatability, system care. Find a good local fish store or reef store that has knowledgeable staff and a good reputation. Find a store that has healthy livestock. There are many opinions out there on how to set up a system and care for one as I am sure you are aware. Many opinions on this site too. 1. Remove the tap water and replace with RO/or RO/DI. It is the purest water to use. Tap water has phosphate etc in it and you will have unwanted algae blooms that will most likely discourage you again. 2. I'd also siphon the sand real good. Removing would be best and washing it out in a bucket until the water is clear. 3. I'm assuming since you let the tank sit for sometime with liverock in it that it was quite a mess to clean. I'd clean the rock by boiling it and getting all the dead etc out. Scrub good prior to boiling. 4. Add your sand. Arrange the rocks in your tank in an open fashion to allow water to circulate around them. 5. Fill with fresh salt water, preferably a mix that has been prepared a day or so in advance with RO/DI or RO water. Adjust the temp to 78 degrees. Adjust the salinity to 1.024 or 1.023. Each day check the salinity level with your hydrometer and add RO/or RO/DI water to top the system off. Do not add saltwater for top after you are set at 1.024 or 1.023 as it will increase your salinity level. Only add freshwater RO/or RO/DI when topping off. Add saltwater when you do a monthly water change of 10%. 6. Turn your cleaned equipment on. Skimmer, pumps, heater, etc. 7. Add some live sand in the center front section of the tank (in a mound, don't spread out), and a nice piece of live rock to reseed the system with beneficial bacteria. You will have to let your tank cycle making it safe for livestock. I'm not a believer in adding fish to cycle a tank. Let the liverock and livesand do that for you. 8. Be patient. Don't go out and put a fish in it right away. Wait let the system stablize and get familiar with topping the system off. Continue to read about fish only tank husbandry and about the fish you would like to keep, are they compatable, feeding requirements. Test your water for ammonia, nitrates, and ph. When you have 0 amonia and nitrates and begin to see diatom algae growing on the rocks and glass then add some clean up crew. Snails and blue legged hermits. 9. Do this as a family project. Since you are gone, ask your wife to get involed too as she will be responsible for the system while you are gone. (I hope this doesn't sound like I am being blunt as it is not intended that way). 10. Let the system mature and don't add a bunch of fish at one time. I hope this helps. If I have forgotten anything I'm sure someone else will jump in. Good luck!

01/01/2008, 09:18 PM	#6
macronut Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 405	When adding a fish, do not be tempted to add a damsel fish. They are cheap, colorful when young, but have bad dispositions and will cause you grief later on when adding other fish.

01/01/2008, 10:32 PM	#7
medbull Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 76	Stingy, yes the ph was waaayy off and that was what caused the crash from what i understand. I filled it up with tap water and cond just to get it filled up and to get everything turned on. we always used DI from the fish store for top offs and premixed water from the fish store for water changes. Flood ty for the encouragement. Macro, tyvm for the list. it is exactly what i was looking for. Im going to take it very slow, hopefully to avoid this problem from ever happening again. Thank you all for the replies.