Disaster!
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Help
Forum Name: EMERGENCY FORUM
Forum Description: If you have an Emergency post here and you should receive a quick reply.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=56064
Printed Date: November 21 2024 at 11:44am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Disaster!
Posted By: Ann_A
Subject: Disaster!
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 9:13am
Ok so yesterday I got home from dinner and a rock had tipped to be unstable, and when I went to fix it another rock fell over. While trying to repair the rockwork and protect corals, the whole aquascaping came down. Luckily I had a 20 gallon tank sitting around empty, so I moved everything into it and am running a light and skimmer on it as well as my MP10 at low flow. Everything has made it through the night and all the fish and inverts seem to be ok. The sand bed has been completely stirred up and is just a total mess. I'm planning to replace all the sand and water today, and let it settle for a day and try to get the rocks back in and let that settle for another day before putting all the fish and coral back in. Any suggestions?!?!   ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Replies:
Posted By: DLindquist
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 9:18am
|
A+B Epo Putty! Very easy to work with- in or out of the water. Keeps disasters like this from happening. ------------- A government strong enough to give you everything you want, is powerful enough to take everything you have. |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 10:35am
|
That's totally backwards from what I would have done. Everything gets stressed and prone to get sick by moving. This is not a goldfish bowl and these are not goldfish. Total clean up spoils a reef tank. Use the LS don't replace it. Use most of the water, don't replace all of it. Removing LR from the water opens it up to the air which fills tiny holes where important organisms are living. The tiny holes do not refill with water. The air spoils the LR, causing pollution - not immediately, but within a few days things start to feel the effects of rising pollution. It takes weeks for it to recover. I would leave the LR in the water in the tank and just re-stack it, using the tripod principle. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
|
Posted By: Pete1122
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 10:48am
|
What about using a canister filter filled with filter floss to quicky clear up the water? I did this when I first set up my Sump and filled it with sand, in less than a few hours my water was clear again. |
Posted By: 96slowbra
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 11:01am
|
i had a similar episode when i tried to get my anemone out of my tank. i just stacked it up as good as i could for the night and let the filter sock do its thing. then 3 or so days later re-scaped the rocks. ------------- 105 rimless |
Posted By: laynframe
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 11:04am
|
Do you stil have the 24" light fixture for sale? ------------- The time we enjoy wasting isn't wasted time!!!! |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 1:25pm
|
Kind of agree with above. Don't think I'd go to crazy on this. I would have just restacked everything. Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: Laird
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 1:40pm
|
Ya I wouldnt of moved everything either but its still going to be ok I hope. None of my rock was puttied together so i've had it come down a few times when I was adding coral. Once the coral starts growing it does a great job of holding everything together. Its really stressful when this happens but its always been ok other then coral breaking. I'd just put everything back in and not replace the sand and water. ------------- Indefinite hiatus from sw aquariums. Once I have my glorious return I'll set back up the following. 50 Gallon rimless cube. 180 Gallons mixed reef paradise |
Posted By: SkylerS
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 2:03pm
|
I think you overreacted. Stirred up sand and fallen rocks isn't that big of a deal. You just restacke it. I don't care to know how many times I've moved a rock or a coral and another rock falls and Ive ended up restacking. Stable rock work is the key here. Marks tripod reference is what I use. You put three small rocks down and a larger one on top, this opens up a lot of your sand and is great for flow, if done correctly you get a very stable rock scape. The damage is done already, don't over think it. The longer your rocks are out of your display the more your display will suffer from being deprived of the bacteria still residing in your LR. Restack your rocks and be prepared for a mini cycle. All the stirred up sediment and detritus will resettle. Don't vacuum it out, you'll just be pulling out stuff that's vital to our tanks. Once it's restacked it will settle down in a couple of days. |
Posted By: wickedsnowman
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 3:19pm
| Def a overreacton but it is ok it happens. Just put it all back and wait a few days to restack. |
Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 3:37pm
|
Yep I kinda figured it was an overreaction at about 3 this morning, when my brain actually kicked in. So far everything is doing fine in my little rescue tank and I'm working on just cleaning the sand of detritus by running the water through a filter sock and occasionally stirring the sand bed. So far it's starting to get cleared up, and I'm going to be putting everything back in very soon before it gets too clear and all of the organic material is out (don't want to remove too much of it!). Also, I went up to Aquatic Dreams to get some more water because I already know I will need a little more, and since I don't want to have to keep making the drive for water changes over the next two weeks. So all I am doing now is getting the sand cleaned up a bit and the water cleared, putting everything back in and gluing/puttying the rockwork together. Surprisingly I really haven't had too much damage to corals, but I will be reattaching a ton of corals that have broken off. Thank you all for your help and advice, and for helping me to train myself not to listen to my first instincts when it comes to a "major tank disaster." -Adam if you still want a frag of these palythoas, they've sort of fragged themselves.  ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 4:18pm
|
Heck yes I do!!!! Adam see you Thursday ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: April 28 2012 at 7:21pm
 Awesome Ann
------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
|
Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: April 29 2012 at 5:43pm
|
Just a quick update... So far everything is doing great since being moved back into the tank last night. The only thing I've lost is a small purple tip acropora (literally lost...no idea where it is). Before the "disaster" (this wasn't all that recent...but the rockwork was the same)  Now...  ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Posted By: griffith
Date Posted: April 29 2012 at 7:06pm
|
Looking good - keep us posted Linn ------------- Pay it forward... |
Posted By: npatching
Date Posted: April 29 2012 at 8:26pm
|
scape looks awesome ------------- http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l205/manchild2223/Nates75gpico.jpg |
Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: April 30 2012 at 9:11am
Thank you! So far everything is doing great, and the scape is extremely stable (thanks to a TON of coral glue and Mark's tripod method). I actually am liking this aquascape much better than the old one because it looks more natural, allows for better flow, gives me more options for coral placement, and allows a lot more open swimming space in the front for the fish. ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
npatching wrote: