I'm stumped
- Thread starter wmboots
- Start date
Yes it is, I'm hoping I can spend this weekend doing the work I need to accomplish so I can do the change over the following weekend. Now if I just could convince those deadbeat customers that owe my company 10's of thousands to pay up so I could get a paycheck to help pay for all those incidentals I really can't afford right now.
Went to attorneys office today to sign papers authorizing another lawsuit and asked her to write a letter to another customer demanding payment in excess of 15k.
Went to attorneys office today to sign papers authorizing another lawsuit and asked her to write a letter to another customer demanding payment in excess of 15k.
Well on goes the saga. I noticed a beautiful duncan colony of well over a hundred heads hasn't been opening quite the way it has been for the past few days. Upon inspection this evening I find a half dozen or more heads that are completely gone just big holes in the arm where they had been.
I'm really getting to the point that I wonder if I shouldn't find another tank to put all my remaining corals in until I get my large tank setup.
As to what the problem with my system is, I have gone thru everything I have done or changed with my setup in the past 6 months and the only thing I have changed is salt.
Is it possible this problem could come down to salt?
I wouldn't think that would be the answer since I am using reef crystals and my last my last purchase was 3 - 160 gallon boxes in a power buy and I would think if there was an issue with the salt there would be others having issues with reef crystals since that time.
I'm really getting to the point that I wonder if I shouldn't find another tank to put all my remaining corals in until I get my large tank setup.
As to what the problem with my system is, I have gone thru everything I have done or changed with my setup in the past 6 months and the only thing I have changed is salt.
Is it possible this problem could come down to salt?
I wouldn't think that would be the answer since I am using reef crystals and my last my last purchase was 3 - 160 gallon boxes in a power buy and I would think if there was an issue with the salt there would be others having issues with reef crystals since that time.
does salt goe bad?
Reason I bring this up, I had 3 - 50 gallon bags of IO I had sitting in my shop for nearly a year and when I opened up one it was clumped together in large clumps. I broke it up as much as possible but used it mixed with salinity once and RC the next couple of times. I tested water before I put in my system and it tested OK.
This is something I just thought of.
Reason I bring this up, I had 3 - 50 gallon bags of IO I had sitting in my shop for nearly a year and when I opened up one it was clumped together in large clumps. I broke it up as much as possible but used it mixed with salinity once and RC the next couple of times. I tested water before I put in my system and it tested OK.
This is something I just thought of.
Most definitely not an expert here but..........
It seems to me that if it were clumped it indicates that moisture got in. Only way that could have happened IMO is if there were a pinhole in the bag. While doubtful, I suppose something could have contaminated the salt through that pinhole but seems like a stretch.
pulled out all of the skeletons of blue tip acro, pink birdsnest and other sps skeletons.
took pictures of 1 blue tip and 1 birdsnest colony will post sometime. the blue tip was 14"x12" with branches bigger across than my little finger and the birdsnest was 12"x8".
I was headed to Jenn's this afternoon to pickup several bags of sand with the intent of completely tearing apart my 90 and replacing all substrate with the hopes of stabilizing my tank while I ready the 150 for a swap next weekend.
Turned out I didn't have to purchase 6 bags of sand thanks to a call I received half way to Jenn's store.
I have decided to pull all rock, surviving coral and fish out of the 90 and put them in an old 55 I have in the shop and strip all substrate out my the 90 display and sump. The sand and mud in the sump must be at least 7 years if not 9 years old and sand in 90 is same with a couple bags added over the years. I don't know if this is part of the problem in the crash but I have come to the belief the only way to put a stop to the die off is completely tear tank down and replace as much as I possibly can. When you kill of kenya tree you have a bad problem going on, I mean thats like killing crab grass.
took pictures of 1 blue tip and 1 birdsnest colony will post sometime. the blue tip was 14"x12" with branches bigger across than my little finger and the birdsnest was 12"x8".
I was headed to Jenn's this afternoon to pickup several bags of sand with the intent of completely tearing apart my 90 and replacing all substrate with the hopes of stabilizing my tank while I ready the 150 for a swap next weekend.
Turned out I didn't have to purchase 6 bags of sand thanks to a call I received half way to Jenn's store.
I have decided to pull all rock, surviving coral and fish out of the 90 and put them in an old 55 I have in the shop and strip all substrate out my the 90 display and sump. The sand and mud in the sump must be at least 7 years if not 9 years old and sand in 90 is same with a couple bags added over the years. I don't know if this is part of the problem in the crash but I have come to the belief the only way to put a stop to the die off is completely tear tank down and replace as much as I possibly can. When you kill of kenya tree you have a bad problem going on, I mean thats like killing crab grass.
Well I tore down the 90 today and found the problem and it wasn't a penny or screw although there sure were alot of pockets of sulfur and so much nasty in the sand and under the rock I wonder what in the world my powerheads were doing except moving water across the upper 1/3 of the water column.
Anyway back to the problem I found, it was a heater in the sump, I thought there were times when I was feeding or doing something in the tank I felt a tingle but when I would put another finger I wouldn't feel anything so I chalked it up to a small scratch or something that was just feeling the sting of salt water.
In any case the stray voltage was so slight it wasn't noticeable until I was sticking my hand in the sump close the heater and I sure felt it then.
In any case the 90 is down all my rock and livestock is in a 55 with a couple powerheads and heater and I just hope they will be ok until I get the 150 in place which I figure will take at least 5 days.
Anyone have any thoughts on everything hanging in there until next weekend or am I looking at losing even more than I have already
Anyway back to the problem I found, it was a heater in the sump, I thought there were times when I was feeding or doing something in the tank I felt a tingle but when I would put another finger I wouldn't feel anything so I chalked it up to a small scratch or something that was just feeling the sting of salt water.
In any case the stray voltage was so slight it wasn't noticeable until I was sticking my hand in the sump close the heater and I sure felt it then.
In any case the 90 is down all my rock and livestock is in a 55 with a couple powerheads and heater and I just hope they will be ok until I get the 150 in place which I figure will take at least 5 days.
Anyone have any thoughts on everything hanging in there until next weekend or am I looking at losing even more than I have already
As long as you have some good flow, lots of rock, maintain temp and put some light on the corals you should be good. I would do frequent tests and be ready for some partial water changes throughout the week but I think you will be good. Couldn't be any worse than what they have lived through so far.
Just in case anyone wonders what this guy who has spent his entire adult life in the electrical trade was doing with an ungrounded system, I did have a grounding probe in my sump but it seems the wire was pinched and broken behind the tank where I couldn't see it. My guess on why I didn't notice stray voltage is it just worked out that I would be working in the tank during those times when the heater wasn't on.
Grounding probe wouldn't fix the underlying problem anyway, Bill. Would keep YOU safer though.
Smelly pockets in the sand indicate that either the sand was too deep and/or not vacuumed properly. This is why we recommend putting the rock on bare glass and not putting rock on top of sand because it can trap those pockets of detritus.
Hope everything goes well from here.
Jenn
Smelly pockets in the sand indicate that either the sand was too deep and/or not vacuumed properly. This is why we recommend putting the rock on bare glass and not putting rock on top of sand because it can trap those pockets of detritus.
Hope everything goes well from here.
Jenn
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Crossing my fingers for you but it sounds like you uncovered the problems!!
A good electrical contractor would have known better. hehehehehe Glad you found the problem. I am not a fan of a grounding probe myself. Seems to me that it inserts a means for constant current flow due to a difference in potential. But what do I know.
rock was originally put on bare glass but I guess over the years of adding sand and rock I wound up with plenty of rock on a 1" - 2" bed of sand.
It wasn't so much smell as it was finding areas of deep purple to black colored beds under the top layer of sand which lets me know there was something chemicaly going on.
In any case I believe the problem/s were found and now its time to get busy getting the 150 ready to take over if for no other reason than the fact I have a 55 gallon tank completely filled with rock.
going through some boxes in my shop I found a sea clone 'hob' skimmer so now I'm feeling a little better about chances of everything I have left surviving 5 days in a 55 gallon tank. I have powerheads for movement, lights and now some filtration.
Now I get to spend the next couple days redoing floor with cement board and tile. Then roughing plumbing for sump, closed loop, top off and water change.
My intent is to setup tank next saturday.
Oh yea I guess I need to mix a couple hundred gallons of water too.
Now I get to spend the next couple days redoing floor with cement board and tile. Then roughing plumbing for sump, closed loop, top off and water change.
My intent is to setup tank next saturday.
Oh yea I guess I need to mix a couple hundred gallons of water too.
I was just giving him a bit of a hard time because we are friends and competing electrical contractors.
But, in my opinion, ground probes are not the best solution. The best solution is to have everything on a working GFI receptacle. However, mine is all plugged into a standard grounded outlet. I keep telling myself that I really should change that.
When the technology was new, they were extremely sensitive and would trip at a drop of a hat. The technology has improved immensely. The way they work is to interrupt current flow in a very short time frame. As is the case with everything, they are not fool proof but they are well worth it. For your own personal protection (and the the tank livestock) I would recommend it. While Bills experience was not very harmful to him, it does have the potential to be life threatening. Water and electricity don't mix very well.
went by the house this morning to pick up my wallet I had left on home office desk found another casualty.
Appears the powder blue tang I've had for I don't know how many years but well over 6 didn't handle the move. Found him (her?) wedged in some rocks, couldn't have beed dead for too long as all colors were still sharp. I can say this is a time when I was glad I could see all sides of the tank, if he had died in my old setup it would have been in the back of tank and could have been there for a day decaying before I would have found him.
Appears the powder blue tang I've had for I don't know how many years but well over 6 didn't handle the move. Found him (her?) wedged in some rocks, couldn't have beed dead for too long as all colors were still sharp. I can say this is a time when I was glad I could see all sides of the tank, if he had died in my old setup it would have been in the back of tank and could have been there for a day decaying before I would have found him.
