To make a long sad story as short as possible, I came home from a vacation (Atlantis Bahamas = ironic). To my 150 gal aquarium nearly 100% fresh water. Everything dead except Hal the triggerfish whom I watched pass away before my eyes the next day.
The tank-sitters (my kids) did everything they could including constantly bailing water from the sump to prevent further water on floor. Turns out it was a busted float valve that allowed a constant supply of fw into the system. Suspecting this, I instructed them to shut off the main fw valve from the house water supply. (There is no way they could trouble-shoot a busted float valve).
I arrived home to every fish-keepers worst nightmare. Everything dead, main fw supply valve wide open. I immediately introduced a salt slurry into the aquarium to bring the SG up to normalish as well as changing out some water beforehand (hours and 3:00 in the morning).
Next day was mostly removing jelly from the tank as well as any LR that smelled like sulfur. Almost 8 years of happy aquarium literally down the drain. I wont list the deceased except to say that an original Sarcophyton I acquired at 3" across when open was about 16" on its demise.
There were 2 immediate options. Dry-wall the tank hole in the wall in and turn the fish room into a gym, or start again. With every encouragement from my wife, I am re-starting. 50% water changes every day for the last 3 days. Not done yet. First time in many years where I had to buy ammonia and nitrite test kits.
Moral.
Never do major maintenance on your aquarium a day or 2 before you go away. Bad things can happen such as detritus clogging equipment, falling rock, malfunctioning equipment, etc, etc. Doing maintenance A FEW DAYS before you go away allows you judge if everything is running ok before you leave.
Question.
Is my live rock still ok after at least 2 days of nearly 100% fresh water?
The tank-sitters (my kids) did everything they could including constantly bailing water from the sump to prevent further water on floor. Turns out it was a busted float valve that allowed a constant supply of fw into the system. Suspecting this, I instructed them to shut off the main fw valve from the house water supply. (There is no way they could trouble-shoot a busted float valve).
I arrived home to every fish-keepers worst nightmare. Everything dead, main fw supply valve wide open. I immediately introduced a salt slurry into the aquarium to bring the SG up to normalish as well as changing out some water beforehand (hours and 3:00 in the morning).
Next day was mostly removing jelly from the tank as well as any LR that smelled like sulfur. Almost 8 years of happy aquarium literally down the drain. I wont list the deceased except to say that an original Sarcophyton I acquired at 3" across when open was about 16" on its demise.
There were 2 immediate options. Dry-wall the tank hole in the wall in and turn the fish room into a gym, or start again. With every encouragement from my wife, I am re-starting. 50% water changes every day for the last 3 days. Not done yet. First time in many years where I had to buy ammonia and nitrite test kits.
Moral.
Never do major maintenance on your aquarium a day or 2 before you go away. Bad things can happen such as detritus clogging equipment, falling rock, malfunctioning equipment, etc, etc. Doing maintenance A FEW DAYS before you go away allows you judge if everything is running ok before you leave.
Question.
Is my live rock still ok after at least 2 days of nearly 100% fresh water?