A Fatal Mistake?

Josh Candiotti · 01/02/2010, 09:10 PM

I went away for 9 days, and my tanks secondary care taker, for when I am away, happened to be out of town as well, so I had my third care taker, watch my tank, I turned the skimmer off, because he wasn''t trained in emptying it. And he just fed for me. I have no idea what I was thinking, I came back and my clam was dead, and I couldn't find my firefish goby. I still can't find the goby, and it has been 4 days, the skimmer is back on, and I did a 10 gallon water change, How and when can declare the goby to be sadly dead? And what do I do next?

Playa-1 · 01/02/2010, 09:37 PM

My first step would be to test the water and make sure everything is in order.

redfishsc · 01/02/2010, 09:42 PM

Agreed, test water.

Also, put in some fresh activated carbon and, if you use it, GFO.

I hate to hear about this, that's a hard loss. I have considered getting a clam but just can't bring myself to do it yet for this kind of reason.

How did you have the tank-sitter feed the tank? Personally on a 9-day trip, I would package up, in a ziplock bag, only two or three portions of food, and tell him "one on Monday, one on Thursday, and one on the next Monday" and be done with it.

I recently was gone for 4 days and had a friend who knew nothing about reefs watch mine. I cut the photoperiod back to 2 hours (evaporation control), showed him how to top-off, gave a list of emergency "how-to" in case of power outage, and left. No food for the 4 days. Tanks were great when I came home and some hair algae had receded from the reduced photoperiod.

gtaylor67 · 01/02/2010, 09:43 PM

I would try to do a bigger water change and watch your params.. the fish could still show up but you never know... Find a new sitter for the next trip and leave lots of questions and answers on a sheet to follow and your number... It's just like a child sitter... LOL hope all works out...

lordofthereef · 01/02/2010, 10:40 PM

I would be shocked to hear that 9 days without a skimmer would kill your clam and fish unless there was just a whole lot of overfeeding going on. I would do some tests and checking to see if there is anything else amiss.

njdevilsfan · 01/03/2010, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordofthereef

I would be shocked to hear that 9 days without a skimmer would kill your clam and fish unless there was just a whole lot of overfeeding going on. I would do some tests and checking to see if there is anything else amiss.

thank you
thats what i was thinking
ive had a tank running without a skimmer for 10 years

Flipper62 · 01/03/2010, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Playa-1

My first step would be to test the water and make sure everything is in order.

+ 1 with Playa.......Anytime you have a situation like this, the first thing that you want to do is test everything in the water. This can tell you alot about what is going on.

Flipper62 · 01/03/2010, 02:16 AM

Add to the above...... 1 week without the skimmer.....I dont think thats what caused your problems

Rysam · 01/03/2010, 11:40 AM

I havent had a skimmer on my fairly heavy stocked 135 since a week or two before Xmas. No issues with critter health at all, the hair algae is a different beast. I have lots of SPS and a few clams too, all fine.

something else happened.

Josh Candiotti · 01/03/2010, 04:05 PM

Well, I had him pre bagged food, and he fed 6 of the 9 days I was away, but no top off, the salinity was at 1.028, which clearly very high. Now that is back to its normal place at 1.025, and i tested the water, Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, Ph 8.2, CA 480, so everything seems to be ok now, did the salinity level do it?

Josh Candiotti · 01/03/2010, 08:15 PM

bump?

Josh Candiotti · 01/04/2010, 05:58 PM

help please?

Juruense · 01/04/2010, 06:02 PM

In my opinion the salinity did not do it if it was increasing from evaporation. Evaporation would cause it to ramp up slowly enough to be a non-lethal change. Often with salinity it is not what it currently is but how fast it is changing. And one way is worse than the other but I cannot remember if increasing or decreasing too quickly is the harmful one...

01/02/2010, 09:10 PM	#1
Josh Candiotti Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New York Posts: 490	A Fatal Mistake? I went away for 9 days, and my tanks secondary care taker, for when I am away, happened to be out of town as well, so I had my third care taker, watch my tank, I turned the skimmer off, because he wasn''t trained in emptying it. And he just fed for me. I have no idea what I was thinking, I came back and my clam was dead, and I couldn't find my firefish goby. I still can't find the goby, and it has been 4 days, the skimmer is back on, and I did a 10 gallon water change, How and when can declare the goby to be sadly dead? And what do I do next? __________________ JC Current Tank Info: 65 Reef Tank

01/02/2010, 09:42 PM	#3
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	Agreed, test water. Also, put in some fresh activated carbon and, if you use it, GFO. I hate to hear about this, that's a hard loss. I have considered getting a clam but just can't bring myself to do it yet for this kind of reason. How did you have the tank-sitter feed the tank? Personally on a 9-day trip, I would package up, in a ziplock bag, only two or three portions of food, and tell him "one on Monday, one on Thursday, and one on the next Monday" and be done with it. I recently was gone for 4 days and had a friend who knew nothing about reefs watch mine. I cut the photoperiod back to 2 hours (evaporation control), showed him how to top-off, gave a list of emergency "how-to" in case of power outage, and left. No food for the 4 days. Tanks were great when I came home and some hair algae had receded from the reduced photoperiod. __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.

01/02/2010, 10:40 PM	#5
lordofthereef One reef to rule them all Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Leominster, MA Posts: 5,299	I would be shocked to hear that 9 days without a skimmer would kill your clam and fish unless there was just a whole lot of overfeeding going on. I would do some tests and checking to see if there is anything else amiss. __________________ "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself" ~ Josh Billings Visit My Home page for current build thread (click my user name and select "Visit LordoftheReef's Homepage" in the drop down menu!

01/03/2010, 02:16 AM	#8
Flipper62 Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Naperville, Il. Business Owner, President & CEO Posts: 3,045	Add to the above...... 1 week without the skimmer.....I dont think thats what caused your problems __________________ If todays automobile had followed the same development as the computer, A Rolls Royce would cost $100.00. It would get a million miles per gallon, but it would explode once a year killing everyone inside." Current Tanks... 90 gal Reef... My awesome Office BioCube....( 180 was on hold ..no time ) ... The 180 gal has been sold...Yay..yay..yay. Hobby Experience: 19 years Reef...22 years FW

01/03/2010, 11:40 AM	#9
Rysam Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: paradise california Posts: 1,000	I havent had a skimmer on my fairly heavy stocked 135 since a week or two before Xmas. No issues with critter health at all, the hair algae is a different beast. I have lots of SPS and a few clams too, all fine. something else happened. __________________ Josh “Seek advice but use your own common sense” Yiddish Proverb quote “Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.” Benjamin Franklin Current Tank Info: 135 reef

01/02/2010, 09:37 PM	#2
Playa-1 Moved On Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Laguna Niguel, CA Posts: 7,497	My first step would be to test the water and make sure everything is in order.

01/02/2010, 09:43 PM	#4
gtaylor67 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: OKLAHOMA Posts: 151	I would try to do a bigger water change and watch your params.. the fish could still show up but you never know... Find a new sitter for the next trip and leave lots of questions and answers on a sheet to follow and your number... It's just like a child sitter... LOL hope all works out...

01/03/2010, 04:05 PM	#10
Josh Candiotti Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New York Posts: 490	Well, I had him pre bagged food, and he fed 6 of the 9 days I was away, but no top off, the salinity was at 1.028, which clearly very high. Now that is back to its normal place at 1.025, and i tested the water, Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, Ph 8.2, CA 480, so everything seems to be ok now, did the salinity level do it? __________________ JC Current Tank Info: 65 Reef Tank

01/03/2010, 08:15 PM	#11
Josh Candiotti Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New York Posts: 490	bump? __________________ JC Current Tank Info: 65 Reef Tank

01/04/2010, 05:58 PM	#12
Josh Candiotti Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New York Posts: 490	help please? __________________ JC Current Tank Info: 65 Reef Tank

01/04/2010, 06:02 PM	#13
Juruense Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Fort Wayne, IN Posts: 1,138	In my opinion the salinity did not do it if it was increasing from evaporation. Evaporation would cause it to ramp up slowly enough to be a non-lethal change. Often with salinity it is not what it currently is but how fast it is changing. And one way is worse than the other but I cannot remember if increasing or decreasing too quickly is the harmful one...