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Shadow's 16G Disaster. Fumigation Poisoned the Tank and Crashed It.

Snow_Phoenix

By Snow_Phoenix,
in Nano Reef Journals

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Snow_Phoenix

Snow_Phoenix

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We had a storm just a few hours ago - a big one. Lightning basically took out my tanks - I managed to disconnect the plug leading to my FW tank, but couldn't get to the marine nano Hex in time. Needless to say, I no longer have a pom pom crab, hi-fin blackbar goby, banded microbrittle star and one dwarf hermit. :(

 

But thank heaven for small mercies, both my folks had an off day today so everyone put on rubber gloves and scrambled to get whatever that was alive out of the tank. All the corals (after being pissed off for a while) and remaining livestock made it through. Dad suggested I transfer everything into the 30G at a go, but I knew the tank isn't that ready to hold such a huge bioload just yet, so I only shifted my remaining CUC, shrimps, one lone YCG and all the live corals into the 30G. I temporarily set up another QT tank to house the clownfish. My other YCG, Comet, is in recovery in an old betta tank.

 

I'll give it another two more weeks or so before I introduce the remaining two fish to the 30G. I honestly didn't expect this. :(

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Snow_Phoenix

Snow_Phoenix

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Oh crud! That sucks so bad. :(

 

Tell me about it. :( I'm just grateful that my parents were around to help since today is a public holiday. Otherwise I don't think half of the tank load would have made it through.

 

I decommed the nano Hex immediately though. The water is still slightly charged, but otherwise not too bad. Hopefully by tomorrow everything will settle down and I can clean the tank. I managed to get some extra LR pieces out to place in my sump of the 30G. This was of course, after extracting several fried bristleworms. Not a fun evening. :(

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Snow_Phoenix

Snow_Phoenix

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1. Added some Chaeto that was seeding my previous nano tank with pods to my refugium basket and placed it in the sump. Am picking up a Chaeto light from my LFS tomorrow:

 

 

 

2. This is how the fuge partition of my sump looks like with a bunch of Chaeto in a fuge basket, some random pieces of cycled/cured LR and a second-hand Pod Condo. It's quite a mess in there actually.

 

 

 

3. My new skimmer is breaking in, hence the overflow, as usual. Hopefully it'll behave in a day or two. Otherwise I'm giving it a vinegar bath.

 

 

 

4. Since the nano Hex is literally charged with lightning bolts right now, I had to shift whatever I could to the 30G without overwhelming the tank. These are some random shots of Winston, my Blood Fire Shrimp, my Pagoda Cup Coral and Cosmo, my YCG.

 

 

 

 

 

5. I managed to save most of my livestock although there were several casualties when the lightning struck. Nevertheless, I've began investing in a surge protector so that the same thing won't happen again. Here's a FTS of the present.

 

 

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Tamberav

Tamberav

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Dang, sorry for the losses. At least you had quality rock in your new tank so you could get some of the inhabitants in there. The YCG looks great in there with his neon yellow.

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Snow_Phoenix

Snow_Phoenix

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Dang, sorry for the losses. At least you had quality rock in your new tank so you could get some of the inhabitants in there. The YCG looks great in there with his neon yellow.

 

I still miss my Pom Pom and Hi-Fin Goby. Those two little guys were my favorites. :( Yes, mercifully the rock was cured and cycled - just in the nick of time. I'm using established LR (around 10 months old) to seed the tank further from the sump. And yeah, he looks stunning. Love to see him perch on the corals.

 

I've decided to give Comet, my other YCG away. I have a friend willing to take her in once she's healed up.

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Tamberav

Tamberav

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I still miss my Pom Pom and Hi-Fin Goby. Those two little guys were my favorites. :( Yes, mercifully the rock was cured and cycled - just in the nick of time. I'm using established LR (around 10 months old) to seed the tank further from the sump. And yeah, he looks stunning. Love to see him perch on the corals.

 

I've decided to give Comet, my other YCG away. I have a friend willing to take her in once she's healed up.

 

My goby of 4 years now is still missing :( It sucks!

 

Good call on finding the other a new home.

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Snow_Phoenix

Snow_Phoenix

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My goby of 4 years now is still missing :( It sucks!

 

Good call on finding the other a new home.

 

Don't be surprised if that goby suddenly pops up after a while lol. They're like little Houdinis in the tank. Sometimes you see them, sometimes you don't. :P

 

I didn't want to take the risk of her getting beaten up again. Although she did come as pair with Cosmo (the male), and the tank now is larger, I still don't wish to see her getting hurt. She'll be going to a 4 foot long tank very soon though, so hopefully she'll be happy there. :)

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Tamberav

Tamberav

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Don't be surprised if that goby suddenly pops up after a while lol. They're like little Houdinis in the tank. Sometimes you see them, sometimes you don't. :P

 

I didn't want to take the risk of her getting beaten up again. Although she did come as pair with Cosmo (the male), and the tank now is larger, I still don't wish to see her getting hurt. She'll be going to a 4 foot long tank very soon though, so hopefully she'll be happy there. :)

 

yeah, he will be out all the time then disappear for weeks and suddenly re-appear so I am holding out.

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andi.rahl

andi.rahl

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Get some super glue gel and cover them up. See if they pop up in a different spot and cover that one too. If you just have a few that would work.

that or a single peppermint shrimp would work. I think they're cute and like them even without aiptasia present.

 

Ugh, I'm sorry that you've lost stuff again! :( I am glad you were able to save some stuff, though.

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Snow_Phoenix

Snow_Phoenix

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yeah, he will be out all the time then disappear for weeks and suddenly re-appear so I am holding out.

 

See, told you! That's the fun part of having them in the tank, I feel. They're like ninjas. Invisible ninjas. :P

 

that or a single peppermint shrimp would work. I think they're cute and like them even without aiptasia present.

 

Ugh, I'm sorry that you've lost stuff again! :( I am glad you were able to save some stuff, though.

 

I've been trying my best to get a Pep shrimp for some time now, but my LFS didn't order any. :( I'll see if I can drop a word to the manager directly - he's the one usually in charge of ordering livestock.

 

I'm upset too, but glad as well that I could save a good portion of my livestock. The livestock alone was worth several hundred - I think I'd have died on the inside had they all been fried. I just love the little critters so much. :(

 

That SUCKS! Sorry for your losses, on the plus side your 30g looks nicer than mine lol

 

Don't sell yourself too short - your tank looks amazing! I'd daresay it'll look way better than mine once the corals start propogating. :D

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andi.rahl

andi.rahl

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I've been trying my best to get a Pep shrimp for some time now, but my LFS didn't order any. :( I'll see if I can drop a word to the manager directly - he's the one usually in charge of ordering livestock.

 

I'm upset too, but glad as well that I could save a good portion of my livestock. The livestock alone was worth several hundred - I think I'd have died on the inside had they all been fried. I just love the little critters so much. :(

 

 

Don't sell yourself too short - your tank looks amazing! I'd daresay it'll look way better than mine once the corals start propogating. :D

Doh, I hope the manager does what you want. :/

 

Yeah, I almost quit when I had an electric issue back in April...I lost everything in my tank. The live rock just started to recover in the last 6 weeks or so, from that.

 

i hope your stuff grows quickly for you

 

What's your tank Llama? (link pretty please.)

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Snow_Phoenix

Snow_Phoenix

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Doh, I hope the manager does what you want. :/

 

Yeah, I almost quit when I had an electric issue back in April...I lost everything in my tank. The live rock just started to recover in the last 6 weeks or so, from that.

 

i hope your stuff grows quickly for you

 

What's your tank Llama? (link pretty please.)

 

Don't worry, we're good friends so usually when I drop a word, he'll somehow try to squeeze in an order for me. ;)

 

I can imagine how devastating that is. Luckily not everything was killed instantly in my tank. Until now, I still don't know how some of my livestock made it. The ones that were in the sand were affected the most for some reason. Hmmm...it's certainly puzzling, but I'm trying my best not to focus to much on it and move on. Have to keep an eye on/maintain my 30G now. :)

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FlowerMama

FlowerMama

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Oh man- yours is a good example of always having some kind of plastic storage bin or another tank on hand for the what ifs- what a freak accident. It's unfortunate you lost the guys you did and it was just a blessing to have your parents around to be able to help in this emergency. YEY Parents!!

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Snow_Phoenix

Snow_Phoenix

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Oh man- yours is a good example of always having some kind of plastic storage bin or another tank on hand for the what ifs- what a freak accident. It's unfortunate you lost the guys you did and it was just a blessing to have your parents around to be able to help in this emergency. YEY Parents!!

 

Tell me about it - I always keep two spare tanks up and running in case of emergencies. Only flipside is that they're tiny, so I can allocate a max. of 2 nano-sized fish per tank (and even that is pushing it). And yes, thank goodness both my parents were around at the same time. There was a lot of yelling and shouting though when the lightning struck, and thankfully all the electronic equipment were safe/not affected. Happens to my nano shared the same outlet as a stand-fan and the piano, and the over-surge zapped that outlet. We're getting it fixed though.

 

On an unrelated note, I booked a Toadstool Leather Coral and Elegance Coral. Will collect them on my birthday, which is during mid-December. :P

 

Also, I spoke to my LFS Manager, and he's actually ordering a Clown Blenny/Bicolor Blenny and another Hi-Fin Blackbar Goby for me. Shipment should arrive within a few days to a week's time, and I can pick up another spare tank/plastic bin to QT the new arrivals before introducing them to the 30G. :)

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andi.rahl

andi.rahl

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Thanks, and they're stunning based on my past experience. I love nano-sized fish. :wub:

I was thinking that a blenny would be pretty in my new tank, too. :D stunning is a good description. :wub:
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Snow_Phoenix

Snow_Phoenix

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To keep everyone updated, I double-checked my saltwater at my LFS (they're using Salifert, which is more accurate than API) and my dKH was only 6.1 whilst my nitrates were 10ppm, nitrites and ammonia being 0ppm. I did a 40% water change to slowly increase the dKH to approx. 8ish and my SG to 1.022, but I was told not to do anymore big changes for the next 24 to 48 hours since it could 'shock the system'. Apparently increasing the SG should be done gradually and not quickly, to which I agree.

 

I've also turned on my skimmer and gave the fella a vinegar bath. It's still overflowing, but I hope it'll settle in quickly and start pulling out some skimmate as usual.

 

Other than that, all remaining fish and inverts and corals are doing fine - I managed to pick of a very cheap colony of brownish-greenish-silverish Palys today, and after giving them a quick dip and acclimatizing them, they opened up within a matter of minutes. :)

 

P.S. I found Comet, my YCG, a new home! Her new owner wants to see her in person and doesn't mind nursing her back to health. I know him personally, and he's a really good reefer, so I'm happy she's going to be taken care of. Cosmo in the meantime is still busy exploring every inch of the tank and perching on random things including the powerhead (gasps!).

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