Biocube 29 Crash please advise

psciandra9451

psciandra9451

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On Wed 10/26 I received a text from my daughter that tank was making weird noise and then stopped, she sent video and it was crackling really load. Came home to find the top popped off heater. Fish and inverts still alive but all corals closed up. Took out heater, did 10 gal water change, added new chemipure blue. Did 5gal water change Thurs and 5 gal water change today. Check params (Salinity 1.25, Nitrate 2ppm, PH 8). Fish (2 clown, 1 kupang damsel, 1 yellow watchman) and some inverts doing fine, have seen peppermint shrimp, pistol shrimp, snails, have not seen emerald crabs and my serpent star is out when light is on and pieces of legs falling off. Some corals slightly coming back(frogspawn, candy cane, scoly,some zoas)... Others not so much (mushrooms, elegance, hammer, GSP, some zoas, the mushrooms look really fried).

Any suggestions etc. Do I just keep doing water changes and testing water? Should I try and move as many corals as possible or will they come back slowly? I have another 10 week old 32 Biocube with 2 fish and some frags......

ANY advice would be great
 
So what happened exactly? Your heat broke. Did it overheat the water or do you think it put something in the water? What kind of heater was it? If it just overheated and it didn't completely melt the coral, they should come back. Water changes aren't a bad idea. Maybe add some carbon too. Keep the temp consistent.
 
I don't think it overheated the water I was in such a panic after pulling the heater out I forgot to check water temp but after first 5 gal water change the temp was around 76 and the water coming out did not feel hot, when I took the heater out it was filled with water, it was the Aquatop Aquarium Glass Submersible Heater, 300-Watt.
 
Maybe water change and carbon. Otherwise just keep things consistent and they should come back.
 
I agree, carbon, water changes, and keep it steady; surely the GSP will at least bounce back.

Also, 300 watts is a lot for a 29 gallon. 150 watts should be plenty. My heater of choice is an Aqueon Pro since it is not made out of glass and can be readily purchased at your local big box pet store. You could get a single 150w or a 100w and a 50w for redundancy (that's what I do). Do you have a temperature controller to prevent overheating? InkBird is only $35.

My corals were looking horrible for a couple of months earlier this year. Not sure the cause as I changed a lot at once to fix the problem (lights, wave maker, removed magnetic glass cleaner, switched salts, and got a new bottle of calibration solution), but most came back. I had a frogspawn and hammer and both looked dead. I threw out the hammer but kept the frogspawn because my yellow clown goby loved to sit there regardless. The frogspawn is looking great now and I wish I had given the hammer more time. Had GSP and zoas like you that all look good now.
 
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The heater breaking like that would essentially start pumping electricity in the water. If there is copper wiring in there it would start getting in the water due to the reaction with saltwater and electricity. You'll also get chlorine from that same reaction. I think you're on the right path of doing water changes and you added chemipure blue which is very good carbon plus a resin that will help absorb other components.
 
Yes copper wiring, it got rusted quick also. Is there anything else I need to test for? Thanks everyone, yes 5 more gallons today which will be total of 20 so far which is almost all the water in a 29 with live rock and sand. I will probably do another 5 tomorrow and 5 Sunday. I think my serpent star died, so far besides the fried shrooms and other stuff that seems to be kind of opening that is all I can find dead so far.

I do not have a controller but if I decide to put a heater back in will definitely invest in one.
 
if the star still moves his arms - he's alive and can recover.

I have one with 2 legs and 3 little nubs that does just fine. Took him 6 months to come this far but he's doing great.

Watch it closely - if it refuses to move whatever arms are left you probably need to get him out of the tank.
 
All his arms fell off to nubs and he was just laying in sand at front of tank, I took him out and picked up most of the arm pieces. I hope this is my only loss.....
 
If you're really concerned you can get an ATI ICP test from marine depot. They ship from atlanta if it says in stock on east coast. If you choose UPS you get it next business day ($5). I would be concerned with heavy metals, they may take a while to show and by then it will probably be too late. They could also be a reoccurring problem for a very long time if not removed. I'm gonna assume the heater has a mercury switch and a combination of windings of copper, nickel and tin at the minimum. You could just run detox for a few days and reintroduce carbon but personally Id want to know what I'm up against. Worst case you know you need a new tank, sand (if you use it) and rock asap.
 
i dont think heaters use mercury switches these days, most of the glass heaters ive seen use a bimetallic strip like this one so mercury shouldn't be an issue. but that being said there will most likely be other metals in the water so keep up the water changes and carbon and you should be fine.
1540644741120.png
 
i dont think heaters use mercury switches these days, most of the glass heaters ive seen use a bimetallic strip like this one so mercury shouldn't be an issue. but that being said there will most likely be other metals in the water so keep up the water changes and carbon and you should be fine.
View attachment 294
 
Water changes - I'd do 5 gallons daily for a week, don't wait just do it. As Jen says " the solution to pollution is dilution".

Seriously it's the best thing you can do to help the situation. The longer you wait the more damage that can come form something bad in the water.
 
I'm really sorry to hear this happened to you, but it sounds like you are doing all the right things! Sending good luck your way.
 
Thanks, and thanks for all the other comments. I lost a few corals and a few inverts but everything else is coming back stronger than ever. Knock on wood it also seemed to clean up all the hair algae and cyano.....
 
Well atleast the algae is gone. How's the tank doing now? Constant water changes should have fixed everything but i recommend changing out the Chemipure and other filter media faster than usual in order to keep the products from leaching anything in. Highly reccomend the Cobalt line of heaters they are very good.
 
The tank is thriving, seems everything has grown more than usual. I am back to weekly water changes and yes getting ready to change chemipure again
 
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