Hello All,
Haven't made a new thread in a while and it sucks that this is making me do it, but I feel like another person can learn from my mistakes (after all that's what this forum is about).
Many veterans here know I run a denitrator. My tank has been up for about 3 years now. 72 Bow. My denitrator started leaking a few droplets last week but it wasn't too crazy, but knowing my anal retentive self I decided to turn it off and seal the leak. I glued it with the adhesive suggested from Aquaripure (great service btw) and let it dry for 48 hours.
So last night, I turned it back on and thought to myself it would be good. After an hour a smell of rotten eggs emanated from the tank and my fish were breathing very heavily and some of my prized LPS colonies started closing up. I knew something was wrong... no tests required. Worst part was I couldn't do a water change as my new RODI filters arrive today...
So far, I've lost one fish (my 3 year old hippo tang I raised since the size of a dime). She's been with me for past crashes and survived but couldn't do this one... Now I'm at work, dreading on what I'm going to see when I get home. I did the best I could last night and applied small dosages of Amquel + to kill off ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates as much as I could (this is a drastic measure for me).
Moral of the story: Make sure your denitrators are cycled and have water running through them consistently. They are great pieces of equipment but can kill your tank quickly too if you forget the cycling part.
Haven't made a new thread in a while and it sucks that this is making me do it, but I feel like another person can learn from my mistakes (after all that's what this forum is about).
Many veterans here know I run a denitrator. My tank has been up for about 3 years now. 72 Bow. My denitrator started leaking a few droplets last week but it wasn't too crazy, but knowing my anal retentive self I decided to turn it off and seal the leak. I glued it with the adhesive suggested from Aquaripure (great service btw) and let it dry for 48 hours.
So last night, I turned it back on and thought to myself it would be good. After an hour a smell of rotten eggs emanated from the tank and my fish were breathing very heavily and some of my prized LPS colonies started closing up. I knew something was wrong... no tests required. Worst part was I couldn't do a water change as my new RODI filters arrive today...
So far, I've lost one fish (my 3 year old hippo tang I raised since the size of a dime). She's been with me for past crashes and survived but couldn't do this one... Now I'm at work, dreading on what I'm going to see when I get home. I did the best I could last night and applied small dosages of Amquel + to kill off ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates as much as I could (this is a drastic measure for me).
Moral of the story: Make sure your denitrators are cycled and have water running through them consistently. They are great pieces of equipment but can kill your tank quickly too if you forget the cycling part.
.
