Down the primrose path: or step by step to a tank crash...

Sk8r · 03/09/2007, 02:45 PM

...or, how 40 years of experience can still get you into trouble...

1. set up a 54 with a sump but no refugium with an inadequate skimmer: I'd never used a skimmer, didn't know what the skimmate rate was supposed to be, but the Urchin with a 54 wasn't cutting it. [First month].
2. log and test until the tank is just running marvelously and everything is growing [6 months]...then get cocky. Got a sea swirl: the lps is ecstatic. I can add 2 tsp a day of buffer and 2 a day of calcium just like clockwork; and go over to buffering the topoff water, since it's a gallon a day evap rate, and easy to figure.
3. Ignorant that I should be changing your lights about now [nine months] Tank is still doing great. But caulerpa and film algae are becoming a PITA. Start running phosban. This helps. Tested the TDS and we're ok on the filters.
4. get a little sloppy on your water changes since things are looking so much better. [10 months.]
5. Caulerpa is taking over despite the phosban. The sand is getting shaded by cyano. Import a tang, for a stopgap. This helps. [11 months, and I know I'm going to move, so I can trade the tang back when he's got that vegetable plague under control]. Get a new pump to have the old one for a backup; try to increase the flow.
6. Tank looks great, everything growing like crazy, sps and lps alike. coming up on 1 year. [12 months.] Christmas, New Year's, Nationals, where we had tickets...didn't do a water change. About time for heavy maintenance. And I caught the flu, and was off my head for 3 days---during which time I see the tank looking iffy and decide after the 10 days of Nationals I've got to do something.
7. Minute I'm well enough, I head down and get new mh lights, new actinics, go through break-in, increasing photoperiod an hour a day...corals aren't looking good. I clean everything I can. For a day or two: looking good. Then I realize what I'd done with the dosing: because the dosing I do is by the week. I'd hit my tank with a mega dose of alk buffer, and the alk is over 12. I hadn't been logging things but I *knew* that was what I'd done. SO, dimbrain here goes on adding cal, even though corals are retracted and things are going wrong, because it's the alk, right?
8. RTN all over the place. Maybe it's the new lights.
Maybe it's phosphate.
I got a new EV 120 skimmer, thinking the tang may have loosed too much phosphate by eating all the algae. Skimmer starts pulling black skimmate like crazy. So I think, well, this will get the problem stopped.
9. A few days later it's better, so I relax---mind, I'm still adding calcium, letting the alk fall. The alk has finally gotten to 12.
10. Mushrooms aren't looking good. I decide MAYBE I better test the calcium. Oh, over 500. Waka! So I start with a water change.
11. By now I'm checking with RC to find out what kind of a mess I'm in---should have done this earlier. Probably ammonia from all the RTN...hmn: I test with a simple nitrate strip, which have lain unused in the kit for ages. Yep! I add Amquel, and run carbon.
12. Finally! the surviving corals are perking up, putting out feeders, the fish are a lot happier, and in general, I'm kicking myself for complete idiocy.

Here's the lesson: for every symptom, after all the decades of experience I've had, I could find a perfectly plausible probable cause and go after it---but I was at no time identifying the RIGHT cause. I'd pulled so many changes [lights, skimmer] and was behind-times in making these changes [late on the lights, wrong skimmer from the start] that I could blame 'change' itself for what was going on. I DIDN'T check what I'll tell every newbie to check: the nitrates. I DIDN'T do what I'll tell every newbie to do when corals look iffy: run carbon---that would have gotten the ammonia down immediately. I consulted RC on all sorts of parameters separately, but I didn't list my ammonia and nitrate---if I had, I'd have been honest and tested them, and I'd have found it. And I DIDN'T log my tests, or I'd have spotted the troublesome trends long before I ran into the wall.

Comments are welcome: many will run along the line of "stupid" and "well, that's what you get." I've said them all to myself.

The good news is it didn't go all the way to a crash, and half my corals, all my fish, and the clam and shrimp are still fine. Naturally the cussed mushrooms are all fine.

I just thought it only fair to be honest about what happened in the hope it may jog someone else into looking at their own situation and running the WHOLE battery of tests, instead of assuming they know what's going on; plus to remind everyone that the useful life of lights doesn't mean when they burn out; and that a good skimmer is a good investment.

AquaReeferMan · 03/09/2007, 03:01 PM

I always enjoy reading your posts like this. It always reminds me of things I might have forgot. I too can tell you that with time and experience in this hobby I have stopped testing for the simple 3 things(ammonia, trites and trates) that when I first started was all I tested for. This hobby can get rather harsh on people with lives who cannot be around their tanks all the time. Hey you found out what was wrong and you fixed it. I really cant call you stupid for that. Hope everything turns around and heads in the right path for you.

ralphie16 · 03/09/2007, 03:05 PM

Great post.

Im going home after work today and test everything. I've been getting lazy and not testing and logging.

Thanks for the wakeup call!

zoomfish1 · 03/09/2007, 03:35 PM

That is a great story, sad, but true. I caught myself being, not really lazy, but more comfortable with way things were looking. I haven't logged nitrates or phosphates in over a year. Hadn't tested for nitrites or ammonia in probably 3 yrs. Still haven't. But will today. Thanks for the reminders.

Sk8r · 03/09/2007, 05:08 PM

THanks, all---the fact that people go and test [and that I have had a valuable lesson] is at least something good out of the downside of this.

virginiadiver69 · 03/09/2007, 05:46 PM

Among my diving crowd there is a saying: with experience come complacency. Your post brought up some points that veterans and newbies alike should keep in mind.

paradicio · 03/09/2007, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by virginiadiver69
Among my diving crowd there is a saying: with experience come complacency. Your post brought up some points that veterans and newbies alike should keep in mind.

Agreed, good post!

03/09/2007, 02:45 PM	#1
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Down the primrose path: or step by step to a tank crash... ...or, how 40 years of experience can still get you into trouble... 1. set up a 54 with a sump but no refugium with an inadequate skimmer: I'd never used a skimmer, didn't know what the skimmate rate was supposed to be, but the Urchin with a 54 wasn't cutting it. [First month]. 2. log and test until the tank is just running marvelously and everything is growing [6 months]...then get cocky. Got a sea swirl: the lps is ecstatic. I can add 2 tsp a day of buffer and 2 a day of calcium just like clockwork; and go over to buffering the topoff water, since it's a gallon a day evap rate, and easy to figure. 3. Ignorant that I should be changing your lights about now [nine months] Tank is still doing great. But caulerpa and film algae are becoming a PITA. Start running phosban. This helps. Tested the TDS and we're ok on the filters. 4. get a little sloppy on your water changes since things are looking so much better. [10 months.] 5. Caulerpa is taking over despite the phosban. The sand is getting shaded by cyano. Import a tang, for a stopgap. This helps. [11 months, and I know I'm going to move, so I can trade the tang back when he's got that vegetable plague under control]. Get a new pump to have the old one for a backup; try to increase the flow. 6. Tank looks great, everything growing like crazy, sps and lps alike. coming up on 1 year. [12 months.] Christmas, New Year's, Nationals, where we had tickets...didn't do a water change. About time for heavy maintenance. And I caught the flu, and was off my head for 3 days---during which time I see the tank looking iffy and decide after the 10 days of Nationals I've got to do something. 7. Minute I'm well enough, I head down and get new mh lights, new actinics, go through break-in, increasing photoperiod an hour a day...corals aren't looking good. I clean everything I can. For a day or two: looking good. Then I realize what I'd done with the dosing: because the dosing I do is by the week. I'd hit my tank with a mega dose of alk buffer, and the alk is over 12. I hadn't been logging things but I knew that was what I'd done. SO, dimbrain here goes on adding cal, even though corals are retracted and things are going wrong, because it's the alk, right? 8. RTN all over the place. Maybe it's the new lights. Maybe it's phosphate. I got a new EV 120 skimmer, thinking the tang may have loosed too much phosphate by eating all the algae. Skimmer starts pulling black skimmate like crazy. So I think, well, this will get the problem stopped. 9. A few days later it's better, so I relax---mind, I'm still adding calcium, letting the alk fall. The alk has finally gotten to 12. 10. Mushrooms aren't looking good. I decide MAYBE I better test the calcium. Oh, over 500. Waka! So I start with a water change. 11. By now I'm checking with RC to find out what kind of a mess I'm in---should have done this earlier. Probably ammonia from all the RTN...hmn: I test with a simple nitrate strip, which have lain unused in the kit for ages. Yep! I add Amquel, and run carbon. 12. Finally! the surviving corals are perking up, putting out feeders, the fish are a lot happier, and in general, I'm kicking myself for complete idiocy. Here's the lesson: for every symptom, after all the decades of experience I've had, I could find a perfectly plausible probable cause and go after it---but I was at no time identifying the RIGHT cause. I'd pulled so many changes [lights, skimmer] and was behind-times in making these changes [late on the lights, wrong skimmer from the start] that I could blame 'change' itself for what was going on. I DIDN'T check what I'll tell every newbie to check: the nitrates. I DIDN'T do what I'll tell every newbie to do when corals look iffy: run carbon---that would have gotten the ammonia down immediately. I consulted RC on all sorts of parameters separately, but I didn't list my ammonia and nitrate---if I had, I'd have been honest and tested them, and I'd have found it. And I DIDN'T log my tests, or I'd have spotted the troublesome trends long before I ran into the wall. Comments are welcome: many will run along the line of "stupid" and "well, that's what you get." I've said them all to myself. The good news is it didn't go all the way to a crash, and half my corals, all my fish, and the clam and shrimp are still fine. Naturally the cussed mushrooms are all fine. I just thought it only fair to be honest about what happened in the hope it may jog someone else into looking at their own situation and running the WHOLE battery of tests, instead of assuming they know what's going on; plus to remind everyone that the useful life of lights doesn't mean when they burn out; and that a good skimmer is a good investment. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

03/09/2007, 03:01 PM	#2
AquaReeferMan Got Reef? Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Under the Sea, Pa Posts: 4,593	I always enjoy reading your posts like this. It always reminds me of things I might have forgot. I too can tell you that with time and experience in this hobby I have stopped testing for the simple 3 things(ammonia, trites and trates) that when I first started was all I tested for. This hobby can get rather harsh on people with lives who cannot be around their tanks all the time. Hey you found out what was wrong and you fixed it. I really cant call you stupid for that. Hope everything turns around and heads in the right path for you. __________________ Couple SPS/Zoanthid tanks and a couple of FW planted tanks. Current Tank Info: 5 pieces of glass with some silicone and plastic frames holding them together

03/09/2007, 03:35 PM	#4
zoomfish1 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Claremore, Oklahoma Posts: 1,659	That is a great story, sad, but true. I caught myself being, not really lazy, but more comfortable with way things were looking. I haven't logged nitrates or phosphates in over a year. Hadn't tested for nitrites or ammonia in probably 3 yrs. Still haven't. But will today. Thanks for the reminders. __________________ Zoomfish Current Tank Info: 75g RR, dsb w/90 lbs sand, 150 lb live rock, anemone & LPS tank

03/09/2007, 05:08 PM	#5
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	THanks, all---the fact that people go and test [and that I have had a valuable lesson] is at least something good out of the downside of this. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

03/09/2007, 05:46 PM	#6
virginiadiver69 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Va. Posts: 4,400	Among my diving crowd there is a saying: with experience come complacency. Your post brought up some points that veterans and newbies alike should keep in mind. __________________ Semi-aggressive mixed reef w/ shallow sand bed 96x30x27 310gal custom acrylic w/ ext. "fail safe" overflow 125gal sump/cryptic fuge w/ 6" DSB 3 400w Plus Rite 20k MH in Lumembrights 2 250w Plus Rite 20k MH in spider reflectors VHO actinic supplementation 2 Tunze wave boxes 2 Tunze 6060 in Tunze Rocks 2 Tunze 6125 Reeflo 250 skimmer Hammerhead return on OM 4 way Aqua controller lll Leviton power panel Deltec Eco-Cooler Randy's Two part 6.5 kw generator

03/09/2007, 03:05 PM	#3
ralphie16 Moved On Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 1,550	Great post. Im going home after work today and test everything. I've been getting lazy and not testing and logging. Thanks for the wakeup call!