CRASHED Tank! Pls Help!!!!

[rhudgins]

Hey MReefers!

Its been 3 months since Ive added Kent Marine activated carbon to my tank. I added carbon in a Two Little Fishies phospban reactor and had it drip into my tank. Immediately all the corals reacted to the change in environment and shriveled up. I initially set the flow rate too fast so I readjusted the flow in hopes that the corals would acclimate and come back from their coma.

Since then, none of the corals have opened up and 90% of my fully-stocked reef has died. I've done 50% water changes every week and nothing has seem to come back to life.

All of the levels are fine. Please help me! It's a sad scene to witness coral genocide. I miss my beautiful and pristine tank. :-/

Any suggestions? Advice?


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[emmanuel]

it has to be something else unless the carbon was contaminated did anyone spray anything around the tank? perhaps you are using one of bhose plastic pos salt level testers and your salinity is too high or low?

 

[Dre]

There is a saying that say ''If it's not broken don't fix it''.Sorry about your tank man you must have put in too much of the stuff.What kind of corals do you have in there for us to make an assessment?

 

[rhudgins]

Salinity is fine. I have a refractometer.

In regards to what corals I have.
NOTHING LEFT, but a few polyps and mushrooms.

I did have:
Amplexidiscus
Ricordea
Acans
SPS coral
Colt coral
Green star polyps
Dendros
Tubastrea sun coral
Clams
Clean up crew
Fromia starfish
List goes on...


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[Dre]

Sorry bro.I'v told people that activated carbon can cause corals to bleach because of the sudden change in water clarity.What were you trying to achieve?

 

[Killerdrgn]

did you remember to let the first few gallons that came outta the reactor to go down the drain? usually when you add in fresh carbon it's really dusty.

 

[prattreef]

Sorry to hear this. While it is true that too much carbon too quickly can cause light shock issues for corals, this does not sound like what is going on here. Too many things (many of them very hardy) perished too quickly. (reacted immediately???) Sounds like contamination of some kind.

 

[ming]

Did you rinse the phosban? I've read the dust from it will harm corals so it needs to be rinsed first.. and since you just set up the reactor, not sure if you knew you had to do that

 

[Reefs Creation]

Dust from carbon doesnt harm corals even if it gotten out of the reactor. It must have been something else that caused the problem.

Question... Was the reactor running on your system before you added new carbon?

 

[rhudgins]

The reason for adding the carbon was because I was mixing SPS with my softies and I wanted to avoid any issues with the release of toxins.

The phosban reactor was new. I also rinsed the carbon before setting it up with the tank.

Any ideas for other possible contamination issues? Has anyone ever heard of carbon being contaminated?


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[NYreefNoob]

u got kids or a wife ?

 

[rhudgins]

Lol no but a housekeeper. I dont think she got anything in the tank though.


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

i feel your pain! I feel like that maybe something feel in your tank. Try getting a poly filter pad ASAP and see if it changes color. you might have some harmfull metel in your water

 

[rhudgins]

I have two metal hose clamps inside the tank. Could that be what's contaminating the water?


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

are they rusted? Did you add any copper fittings ?

 

[Awibrandy]

Sorry for your losses!

I agree with others, I don't believe the activated carbon had anything to do with the issue at hand.
Have you checked your heaters? Or stray voltage? Could your housecleaner cleaned the glass on the tank with Windex? Do you have an exterminator that may have sprayed near or around the tank?

 

[cnotes999]

Or maybe your uv bulb exploded and leaked into the tank. That happened to me.

 

[KathyC]

I have two metal hose clamps inside the tank. Could that be what's contaminating the water?


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

In underwater applications, plastic hose clamps should always be used.

I would speak to everyone in the house, including the housekeeper to see if anything was sprayed in the room the tank is in.

Also a good idea to get a poly pad and see what color it turns to discover if there is any trace of metals in the water. It seems you will need to start eliminating the possibilities of what went wrong here as the addition of carbon would not have the affect on a tank that you describe.

Sorry for your losses.

 

[rhudgins]

The hose clamps have a little rust on them and I did not add any copper fittings. They are just standard hose clamps from the hardware store I will buy a poly filter pad this afternoon and see what color it turns. I know in the past the housekeeper has cleaned the glass with windex but I doubt that a significant amount of windex could have gotten into the tank.

 

[rhudgins]

Wow. So I have two phosban reactors on my tank. I have a copper/or brass looking tee splitter that directs water from the pump to both of the reactors. I installed this tee splitter the exact same day that I added the carbon in the new reactor. There is green stuff accumulating around the edges of the splitter. Could this be an issue?