Question about tank after melt down...vacation return...

[saf1]

Good morning.

Quick question - after returning from home it seems I had a bit of misfortune and I lost my 100 gallon reef. While nothing exciting, I did lose a pair of mated clown fish and a kole tang which I've had over 5 years now. The coral was 3 full heads of frog spawn, an elegance, and a huge brown leather - all since I've started the tank over 5 years ago. I guess the only good news is that I have given enough frog spawn away over the years that I should be able to get one piece back at least

I've removed the dead fish, and corals - and the tank is just sort of sitting there, moving water about. It looks like my RI/RO top off died or got kinked - so the water evaporated with nothing to refill it. 9 days and california heat was a bit much I guess. My fault for not doing any thing extra for precautions.

So my question. With the rocks and sand only in there - do I need to remove the sand completely? Or, can I skim off the stop layer and maybe mix it up a bit - then drain the water and start over? The sand looks completly lost as well and smells of rotten egg. My better half is about ready to brain me a good one...lol.

I'm just trying to figure out where to start with this mess...I have about 40 gallons of water being made now to start the process. Just need to now how much to remove...I was hoping to keep the sand and rock and start the cycle over again... /shrug

Thanks for any info. Never had to deal with this before but am willing to learn.

Thanks.
-scott

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry for you lose, that really stinks, (opps) no pun intended. If it were my tank I'd remove the sand, rinse the rocks well and use all new water. Old sand always seems to smell bad. You don't want the wife to brain you with the tank, so make her happy, then start planning out your "new" reef!

It's a shame you posted on the weekend as it's always pretty slow around here then. You'll get alot of different oppions, just give them/us some time.

Good luck

 

[Anonymous]

I don't see a reason to remove anything. Just do a good water change and re-cycle the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, only 9 days and you evaporated that much to cause that much damage? Yikes.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear about you tank. But I'm glad to hear you've got frags of your own coral out there. It's a great thing we can do for the hobby, (and ourselfs, incase of things like this!)

Just do a massive water change and go from there. Test your water and make sure it's good before you add anything new.

I'd hate to see what would happen to my tank if my topoff failed! I evap 6 literes a day on my 20 gallon. It would be 1/2 full when I came back after a week!

B