Djbetterly

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I recently and had an ATO issue...still not exactly sure what happened but I lost everything. Had all kinds of safeguards in place with apex and it still failed. Additionally for some reason I didn?t get the messages from apex, maybe because I was out of the country? Either way it?s created a lot of anger, as this was the second ATO issue I?ve had but this is by far the worst.

With all the die off, where do I start? Keep the tank running and do water changes over the next couple weeks?
 

Djbetterly

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I literally just walked in the door. The tank is cloudy, smelly and white. After looking around I'm not completely sure what happened, if its a leak or an ATO issue. Have some investigating to do tomorrow. Will post some pics tomorrow.
 

rwells

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Sorry for your lost. I just went throug smilar situation last week. Depends on what you was keeping I would remove and clean die on the rocks and do large water change.
 

evoIX_Reefer

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1) assess what went wrong
Was it really the ATO? How long were you gone? Did it overfill or water loss?


2) really depends on why it happened and how bad it is but water change immediately, change filters and basically try to stabilize the tank. Multiple water changes with the first at 40-50% and decrease % until you see some results. This will likely help the cause.


If you were closer, id definitely help out but right now probably better to assess and work on it. You just got home and still baffled at the situation.



3) update us on info and I'm sure the gurus on here will be able to give better guidance.
 

Djbetterly

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Nutley, NJ
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1) assess what went wrong
Was it really the ATO? How long were you gone? Did it overfill or water loss?


2) really depends on why it happened and how bad it is but water change immediately, change filters and basically try to stabilize the tank. Multiple water changes with the first at 40-50% and decrease % until you see some results. This will likely help the cause.


If you were closer, id definitely help out but right now probably better to assess and work on it. You just got home and still baffled at the situation.



3) update us on info and I'm sure the gurus on here will be able to give better guidance.

Appreciate your response, I'm probably quite close to you to be honest, I'm in Nutley, NJ.

Regarding your statements, I'm going to take some time today to starting investigating what possibly went wrong. I can confidently say its either an ATO that didn't shut off, or its a leak some where.

I'm also HIGHLY considering buying a new display tank. I have a great sump that I'm happy with, could use a new stand but my display tank I feel has been cursed since day one. I know it sounds weird...but I've had the oddest of problems with this tank.

If anyone has any recommendations of a rimless tank, 50-65 gallons, with built in overflow or pre-drilled I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Thank you everyone. This loss has angered me beyond belief, but I'm not throwing in the towel. I love this hobby way too much.
 

Djbetterly

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Nutley, NJ
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Water change. Do you have pics?



You asked...

5a46e895a693193e9598b55c56a00b00.jpg


1237dc28bde707f97ec2fa6e97c35002.jpg


fc0753bfaaee588146d187f87473ea77.jpg
 

Jazeel55

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Roselle NJ
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I know the feeling my son crashed my tank twice once he poured all the chemicals in and wiped out all but snails. The second time he poured son I know liquid in and wiped out all but snails again. You best bet is to investigate what cause the problem and prevent it from happening again


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

evoIX_Reefer

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Looks like you got hit pretty bad.


Sorry, just saw the response now. Hit me up via PM if you still need help. Looks like you'll have to start from scratch. Unfortunately my tank is only 3 months old with frags so maybe by the time your tank is stabilized i can help seed your tank with some frags.
 

Djbetterly

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Nutley, NJ
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Looks like you got hit pretty bad.


Sorry, just saw the response now. Hit me up via PM if you still need help. Looks like you'll have to start from scratch. Unfortunately my tank is only 3 months old with frags so maybe by the time your tank is stabilized i can help seed your tank with some frags.



Appreciate the offer. I?m a generous person, anyone who helps me out will surely get a favor in return.
 

Djbetterly

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Nutley, NJ
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Well, the tank is empty..such a sad sight.

Before cleaning any of the floats, or sensors, I retested the entire ATO system and it seems to be functioning fine. The two high level sensors trigger perfectly and shut off the ATO solenoid. Maybe the solenoid got stuck open? I'm really not sure...very frustrating. Will definitely be re-assesing things the next time around.
 

evoIX_Reefer

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still confused. Did you come back to a huge pool? You are aiming at the ATO so i assume dumped water and caused salinity to go plummetting, killing everything. Easiest way to tell would have been check salinity and a pool of water everywhere.


If not, could have been a lot of other reasons without an assessment of what went out of whack and killed everything. Cloudiness from a huge bacteria dieoff for X reason. Do you have a doser, kalk, etc that could have went crazy and killed everything off polluting the water?
 

Djbetterly

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Nutley, NJ
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Well the rebuild has started, picked up a used 65. Just filled it today, will be fine tuning over the next week. Aquascape is a mix of new and old rock. Hoping the cycle goes fast with the use of some live rock and some bacteria.

Will be starting a new build post soon.
 

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