Can a bowl of cereal crash a tank?

[rs_joe]

I have had my 55 gal. tank going for about 5 years with no major problems until today. It has a dsb, quite a bit of lr (unsure of how many pounds) a few mushrooms, lots of critters in the sand, and a damsel, a tomato clown, and a small grouper. A few weeks ago the grouper looked like he might have tuberculosis (sp?) or had ben injured on one of the powerhead intakes. He had a curve in his spine and had a difficult time swimming. Recently he appeared to be doing better, but last night the tank completely crashed. All the fish are dead, there are tons of tiny dead critters that used to live in the sand, and the water is very cloudy. The tank is completely devoid of any life I can see.

Also, I questioned my kids. My 3 year old son told me that his cousin had dumped a bowl of cereal into the tank the day before it crashed.

Any ideas as to what happened? Can a bowl of cereal crash a tank overnight? And any ideas on what to do with the mess I have now? Is the sandbed and rock still ok to use or do I start over from scratch?

 

[Anonymous]

Just a guess:
The cereal could have been enough of a nutrient spike to cause a bacteria bloom. This could easily bring O2 down to a level that could not sustain fish or raise CO2 to lethal levels. It would also explain the cloudy water. It would also lower your PH significantly so if your PH is normal then I'm wrong.

If that's the case the rock & sand bed can be salvaged with some large water changes.

How's your skimmer acting?

 

[Anonymous]

yah, cereal = oat coated sugar chunks nowadays, its possible the sugar spike could have made the bacteria go crazy.

Of course if they tried to clean the cereal up and disturbed the DSB that could potentially release quite a few nasties as well.

 

[rs_joe]

I just checked the ph high range test kit and it was as low as the test kit would go (7.4). I've never seen it that low before. I have some broad spectrum ph test paper and it is giving a reading of 6, but I don't trust the numbers because it is old paper.

About the skimmer. My collection cup is constantly overflowing with what looks like vanilla mouse.

 

[jandree22]

wow, that sucks! so sorry to hear about your tank

 

[Anonymous]

I just checked the ph high range test kit and it was as low as the test kit would go (7.4). I've never seen it that low before. I have some broad spectrum ph test paper and it is giving a reading of 6, but I don't trust the numbers because it is old paper.

About the skimmer. My collection cup is constantly overflowing with what looks like vanilla mouse.

I'm 99% convinced it was a bacterial population spike with the new information you provided. I'm really sorry for your loss but a few water changes and your tank will be just fine in my opinion.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with Guy. You may want to throw in some new carbon, too.

 

[Anonymous]

:?
Sorry to hear about this.
I've heard almost this exact same story 3 times now - I love kids, but :evil:

 

[jandree22]

kinda funny in a sick way, though, ain't?? I mean, unless this kids a complete brat and he was doing it to be malicious, I can seriously just see him dumpin it in to feed the fishies :lol: :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

Years ago I had a FW Oscar that was so tame he would come up to the surface and let you "pet" him. One day when I had a bunch of family visiting I found the Oscar was dead. When questioned the 2.5 year old said she just 'hugged him' a little 8O .

So sorry about your tank!

 

[Anonymous]

That is sooooooo sad.


I would be really pissed at that kid who dumped the cerial in there. How old was he? I mean if he was more than 5 years old, I'd expect some compensation from his parents...same as if a kid came over and purposefully poured sugar in my gas tank and it cost me a couple grand at the mechanic.


Man...it isn't even my tank and I feel like finding the kid and spanking the living daylights out of him. :twisted:

 

[Anonymous]

Man...it isn't even my tank and I feel like finding the kid and spanking the living daylights out of him. :twisted:

It's the bright lights up here that's doing that, ya know

 

[Anonymous]

Man...it isn't even my tank and I feel like finding the kid and spanking the living daylights out of him. :twisted:

It's the bright lights up here that's doing that, ya know

My father in law often tells the story of how his children felt the fish were "thirsty" and poured pink lemonade into the tank. :? There went a nice 55 gallon planted freshwater tank.

Granted, it was only a freshwater tank (no offense to the freshies), but if that were me, my wife and brother in law wouldn't be here to relive that little adventure! :evil:

 

[jandree22]

I think when I have a kid I'm gonna put a lock on the canopy. Why not, there's no reason for ANYONE to be messin around in there but me anyway :|

 

[Anonymous]

That might be a good idea anyway. Every once in a while I see a post from someone who was having a party and a guest thought it would be funny to "feed the fish beer" or a relative comes over and dumps in a bunch of food because "they look so hungry."

 

[Anonymous]

That might be a good idea anyway. Every once in a while I see a post from someone who was having a party and a guest thought it would be funny to "feed the fish beer" or a relative comes over and dumps in a bunch of food because "they look so hungry."

How about I go over to their house and feed their dogs beer. Or just kick them in the head because they look so......in need of head kicking! :x


THere should be a special prison for those people!

 

[Anonymous]

is it just me or is "outsider tampering" a common cause of whole tank crashing. i feel your pain man. when i saw all the sand bed critters coming up for their death throes in my crashing tank, i lamented loudly and in a most vulgar fashion.

 

[mike90]

Man...it isn't even my tank and I feel like finding the kid and spanking the living daylights out of him. :twisted:

ill second that!

 

[rs_joe]

I may be taking a break from the tank for a while.

For those interested, the kid that caused the mess has at least one incident every time he comes over. And whats better yet his mother doesn't believe that her son would do such a thing and said it must have been my wife or my kids that did it. As of now, the kid isn't allowed inside our house unless he is under the immediate supervision of my wife or myself. We are still debating if whe should just not allow him over at all.

I am still grinding my teeth over this.

 

[mike90]

i would never let him in again. but thats just me