- Location
- Bay Ridge, BK
A couple years ago, Prattreef gave me a tiny little bleached anemone from his sump on his anemone tank. That tiny anemone grew and grew until it became the largest thing in my tank and host to a pair of clowns. After initially finding its spot, it had not moved in over 2 years. A couple of months ago, I upgraded my tank. Even during the move, the anemone never moved from the rock it was attached to.
I am not sure why but 2 nights ago the anemone moved to the other side of the tank.... I was concerned and contemplated taking it out. Last night I came home and it was still in the new spot. I went to sleep a little uneasy knowing I have my overflow and MP40 on that side of the tank. Wake up in the morning and check on the tank, the water is cloudy and the anemone is gone... I look into the mp-40 and still see some part of the foot attached on the inner part of the powerhead.
I look into the sump and see frothy bubbly grossness caught between baffles all in the chamber with the overflowing skimmer. The smell is awful and the majority whats left of the anemone are clearly here. I started to scoop out the big stuff with a net when I realize I should just cut the sump off from the main tank and work on water quality up there. I turn the heater off (I know the water I get will not be at temp so I would rather the drop in temperature be more gradual. I take the carbon out from the reactor and put a fresh (triple) bunch in and turn that on in the display (ran it through a filter sock a little late as I was rushing and got some carbon in the water column but that is the least of my worries. I post on MR knowing I will need a huge water change as I rack my tired brain for where I can get a lot of water fast. All of this is about 5 minutes from me waking up.
I got in the car thinking of heading to costco to see if they have it but then I remembered that home depot has RODI water. I pulled up to the exit of the home depot with the hazards on (clearly a huge emergency) and get an employee to help me get twenty 5 gallon plastic jugs of RODI (or just distilled, the label doesn't specify). The great part about this is the store is pretty warm and the bottles are at (I would later measure) 73 degrees. The not so great part is that I cried a little as I payed $16 a jug plus tax which runs me $350.
I worry about my little car's suspension but it handled the drive home like a champ and I then began to lug 100 gallons of water up to my apartment. I asked my wife to start measuring out 1.5 gallons of salt and add them into each jug and to mix them around a bit... ESV is a life saver in this scenario, it mixes so quickly and easily. By that time, Jonny and Rich had both arrived with more water, salt and an extra RODI unit. We have a 1 minute conference on whether or not we should just change the display or the sump and bring it to temp and then turn the return back on. We decided to just change the display and leave the sump alone for the time being. We empty all but 2 inches of water in a few minutes using a 2 inch hose and start pouring the fresh saltwater in. Fish are scared but looking better as time passes. Corals were sliming before and right after the change but stopped soon after. Fish hiding during the change but have since started swimming like normal (wrasse does circles around certain rocks). It appears that disaster has be averted.
Lessons learned:
A lot of people that make up this site are some of the best, most thoughtful people on the planet. I really appreciate those of you who stepped up or offered to. Situations like this really make me appreciate MR. It is more than just a forum if you let it be.
Anemones are not kept in long term successful reefs for this reason. I hesitated to get rid of this one and I shouldn't have. My two reasons for that were the clowns hosting it and the fact that I had it from a tiny baby into this monster beautiful anemone. My wife also loved watching the clowns interact with it (this is a strong reason).
ESV salt is amazing in situations like this. For emergencies alone you should have ESV in your reef closet.
RO/DI Units are useless in an emergency situation like this unless you have the water already made. I know I don't have room for much extra water to be sitting around in my apartment, if you do have the space, having a lot of extra water on hand would be a really prudent decision. Home depot is your friend if not.
Lastly and perhaps the easiest thing... I should have had a cover on my MP-40. I am not sure if it would have prevented it but it seems like it should have... but then would the anemone have gone and clogged up the overflow causing a flood and making things worse?
Thanks for reading, hopefully someone can learn from this. The saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure comes to mind here. Don't try to be the reefer who goes against accepted common practice because you think you are special... I knew the anemone was dangerous but I justified it to myself... stupid.
I am not sure why but 2 nights ago the anemone moved to the other side of the tank.... I was concerned and contemplated taking it out. Last night I came home and it was still in the new spot. I went to sleep a little uneasy knowing I have my overflow and MP40 on that side of the tank. Wake up in the morning and check on the tank, the water is cloudy and the anemone is gone... I look into the mp-40 and still see some part of the foot attached on the inner part of the powerhead.
I look into the sump and see frothy bubbly grossness caught between baffles all in the chamber with the overflowing skimmer. The smell is awful and the majority whats left of the anemone are clearly here. I started to scoop out the big stuff with a net when I realize I should just cut the sump off from the main tank and work on water quality up there. I turn the heater off (I know the water I get will not be at temp so I would rather the drop in temperature be more gradual. I take the carbon out from the reactor and put a fresh (triple) bunch in and turn that on in the display (ran it through a filter sock a little late as I was rushing and got some carbon in the water column but that is the least of my worries. I post on MR knowing I will need a huge water change as I rack my tired brain for where I can get a lot of water fast. All of this is about 5 minutes from me waking up.
I got in the car thinking of heading to costco to see if they have it but then I remembered that home depot has RODI water. I pulled up to the exit of the home depot with the hazards on (clearly a huge emergency) and get an employee to help me get twenty 5 gallon plastic jugs of RODI (or just distilled, the label doesn't specify). The great part about this is the store is pretty warm and the bottles are at (I would later measure) 73 degrees. The not so great part is that I cried a little as I payed $16 a jug plus tax which runs me $350.
I worry about my little car's suspension but it handled the drive home like a champ and I then began to lug 100 gallons of water up to my apartment. I asked my wife to start measuring out 1.5 gallons of salt and add them into each jug and to mix them around a bit... ESV is a life saver in this scenario, it mixes so quickly and easily. By that time, Jonny and Rich had both arrived with more water, salt and an extra RODI unit. We have a 1 minute conference on whether or not we should just change the display or the sump and bring it to temp and then turn the return back on. We decided to just change the display and leave the sump alone for the time being. We empty all but 2 inches of water in a few minutes using a 2 inch hose and start pouring the fresh saltwater in. Fish are scared but looking better as time passes. Corals were sliming before and right after the change but stopped soon after. Fish hiding during the change but have since started swimming like normal (wrasse does circles around certain rocks). It appears that disaster has be averted.
Lessons learned:
A lot of people that make up this site are some of the best, most thoughtful people on the planet. I really appreciate those of you who stepped up or offered to. Situations like this really make me appreciate MR. It is more than just a forum if you let it be.
Anemones are not kept in long term successful reefs for this reason. I hesitated to get rid of this one and I shouldn't have. My two reasons for that were the clowns hosting it and the fact that I had it from a tiny baby into this monster beautiful anemone. My wife also loved watching the clowns interact with it (this is a strong reason).
ESV salt is amazing in situations like this. For emergencies alone you should have ESV in your reef closet.
RO/DI Units are useless in an emergency situation like this unless you have the water already made. I know I don't have room for much extra water to be sitting around in my apartment, if you do have the space, having a lot of extra water on hand would be a really prudent decision. Home depot is your friend if not.
Lastly and perhaps the easiest thing... I should have had a cover on my MP-40. I am not sure if it would have prevented it but it seems like it should have... but then would the anemone have gone and clogged up the overflow causing a flood and making things worse?
Thanks for reading, hopefully someone can learn from this. The saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure comes to mind here. Don't try to be the reefer who goes against accepted common practice because you think you are special... I knew the anemone was dangerous but I justified it to myself... stupid.
