Catastrophic Failures

[snowmansnow]

In my journey into the world of amateur marine biology (HA!), I am CONSTANTLY looking and heading off points of failure in my system. Even with fantastic equipment, and a fair understanding of the biology, things can still go wrong.

so...

What are points of failure that you guys have seen / experienced?

I THINK the one I see most often is a heater getting stuck on and frying everything....

Anyone else? What is it CRUCIAL to keep our eyes on?
0 B

 

[bulkrate]

IME - Powerheads getting stuck (either due to gunking up over time or a devil-may-care daredevil snail).

Depending on how the fail happens one in this state can easily become an unregulated heater or simply melt itself down.

 

[eric b]

Chiller staying on after a false reading and lower tank temp.
Cheap power strips getting salt creep and tripping or just burning up.
Snail/hermit crabs getting in return pump impeller and cutting down/shutting off flow.
Heater sticking on.
That is some of the major stuff that comes to mind!

 

[jj ocean]

To add to the list ...

- Excessive skimmer overflow draining tank and ATO replacing at high rate eventually brining down SG to unsafe levels
- Clogged drain pipes and/or no emergency drain pipes
- No siphon breaks or failed siphon breaks overflowing sump
- Unclamped hoses connected to pumps coming loose and spraying/draining water

Already mentioned, but heater/chiller malfunctions are the largest "whole tank" killers I hear about

 

[darren24]

Some people will laugh but I have kept a nice growing system for several years (I did take a 6 month break) and keep it very simple. I have an RODI unit but I top off "by hand". I use Kent Tech A and B that I add manually everyday. (I work from home). I add a few ounces of Tech M each month. I have a very undersized heater as the room pretty much keeps the temp in the good range and this heater would take a long time to overheat my tank. I am in no way against new gadgets but have been successful keeping it simple....

 

[jdavid]

What can be don to prevent a skimmer overflow/ato refil scenario?

 

[ringo®]

Float switch on the lid if you're running a controller.

 

[mcphock]

All of you forgot the most important one: Electricity.

How are you going to power your tank if it goes out? Something to think about, given the huge ice storm in the midwest.

 

[hiimsean]

Ringo®;917012 wrote: Float switch on the lid if you're running a controller.

This. I had a skimmer go crazy while I was out of town. The drain was connected to a gallon bottle and kept overflowing. Dumped about 5g of RODI into the tank.

 

[just josh]

Water...gotta have some water in there!



I had my power go out for 5 hours today. Tank temp dropped one full degree from 80.

everythings fine now. I arreated the water by hand a few times and just did a feeding and everything is happy!!

My frogspawn I thought had a problem but its just splitting at every head now.

had my first ATO mistake today resulting in a spill. The pump was not secured to the ledge it was on n got knocked off ...the lines fell down and siphoned what was in the top off ( maybe a gallon if that).

worst case scinario it coukd have been alot worse....WHOOPS!


lesson learned. The ato wasnt even hooked up at the time for worry of overflowing! Lmao

 

[jdavid]

Ringo®;917012 wrote: Float switch on the lid if you're running a controller.

Well dang, add controller to the list

 

[jj ocean]

JDavid;917051 wrote: Well dang, add controller to the list

The float switch is the better option, but the cheap "safe skimming" method is to have your overflow drain/cup pour back into your sump. Your not really skimming at that point since the skimmate is going right back in your water, but more importantly it is not draining your ATO and potentially killing your tank. You just need to be diligent about emptying the cup if you employ this method - which most of us aren't.

There are some skimmer float switch configs that don't utilize a controller. When the float pops up it cuts off the air supply to the skimmer - stopping the foam production & overflow. Obviously, not all skimmers can employ this though.

 

[mvm]

From a chemistry perspective-mainly pertaining to SPS-I'd say alkalinity. It can get pretty low with no problem, but when you reach the "tipping point," things go south quickly. I had a tank RTN in a matter of hours after the birth of my second when I was neglecting the tank.

 

[spete0203]

Heat and ac on the house! Several years ago the ac went out in the month of July while on vac for a week and the neighbor checking on the tank never noticed the house at 100+. Well that was a great smell to come home to with EVERYTHING dead corals and fish.
Yesterday we had the coil replaced in the heat/ac unit all seemed fine after the guy left this afternoon the heat kicked in for who knows why as it should have been off but the house is 89. Thankfully I had a chiller this time on this tank.