MyCatsDrool
Aquarium Advice FINatic
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2006
- Messages
- 901
I am not an expert. I am not even an intermediate. I am on my third sw tank.
This 10 gal reeflet I have was born of necessity, not of will. I had a bigger tank, a 40 breeder...with a sump and a fancy schmancy skimmer. It was nice.
It was born a few weeks after my first 20 gallon. Because i quickly realized that 20 was far too small for what i really wanted. And the 20 asploded. That didn't help either.
Anyway, I went on a 2 day jaunt, came back and 90% of my 40 gallon reef was dead. Survivors? An orange dart firefish, a frogspawn, 3 mushrooms, a condy and 2 pink skunk clowns. Lost a lot of corals and livestock. I cried very hard. While I was crying, I quickly set up my 10 gal hospital/QT tank for the survivors until I could figure out what to do.
They have been there ever since. And I turned that little 10 gallon into the happiest home I could for them.
Until today.
For the 6+ months that 10 gallon has been happy, for all the water changes, and careful testing, days a condy anemone has been home to that surviving pair of pink skunks. And everyone was relatively happy. I even added a few more corals, and a shrimp and a starfish. Things had been well. The condy had a happy little spot behind a chunk of rock.
Today, that condy decided to take a gander around the tank. For the first time in 6 months, he decided to move. After knocking over 3 mushroom rocks, and stinging all the GSP, he found himself in quite a quandry. Stuck half inside the filter intake.
I don't know how long he was like that. I got home from work and saw what happened. I panicked. I pulled the filter apart in a hurry (A modified AC refugium), and cut the intake apart to see if i could save him. In doing this, all the schmutz and schmelm in the intake tube and filter bottom decided to dislodge itself into the tank. The anemone is still alive, but badly hurt. I know he won't make it. He has been moved out of the tank into yet another hospital, this time a 5 gallon with some clean SW, in hopes he will live. I doubt it.
My 10 gallon is fouled up. The water has schmutz floating all over in it and is cloudy. The fish are in panic. The corals have shriveled. I changed 50% of the water, and put some floss and carbon in the filter. Turned off the lights.
That is all I can do now. And pray it makes it through the night.
For the lesson: A 40, 55, 70, 100 gallon tank would have had this happen, and a small waterchange later, all would be right with the world again. A 10 gallon? This is catastrophe. I highly doubt the tank will be viable. I don't know if it is better to move the fish and corals ot the 5 gallon QT with the damaged and likely dying anemone or hope they survive the trauma and filth in their tank. Either is risky.
This is why small reefs are infintesimally harder than large ones. This is why we encourage new reefers to get a bigger tank. Because this much polution would be easy for a larger tank to handle. But for this little 10 gal? =*( I am so sad right now.
This 10 gal reeflet I have was born of necessity, not of will. I had a bigger tank, a 40 breeder...with a sump and a fancy schmancy skimmer. It was nice.
It was born a few weeks after my first 20 gallon. Because i quickly realized that 20 was far too small for what i really wanted. And the 20 asploded. That didn't help either.
Anyway, I went on a 2 day jaunt, came back and 90% of my 40 gallon reef was dead. Survivors? An orange dart firefish, a frogspawn, 3 mushrooms, a condy and 2 pink skunk clowns. Lost a lot of corals and livestock. I cried very hard. While I was crying, I quickly set up my 10 gal hospital/QT tank for the survivors until I could figure out what to do.
They have been there ever since. And I turned that little 10 gallon into the happiest home I could for them.
Until today.
For the 6+ months that 10 gallon has been happy, for all the water changes, and careful testing, days a condy anemone has been home to that surviving pair of pink skunks. And everyone was relatively happy. I even added a few more corals, and a shrimp and a starfish. Things had been well. The condy had a happy little spot behind a chunk of rock.
Today, that condy decided to take a gander around the tank. For the first time in 6 months, he decided to move. After knocking over 3 mushroom rocks, and stinging all the GSP, he found himself in quite a quandry. Stuck half inside the filter intake.
I don't know how long he was like that. I got home from work and saw what happened. I panicked. I pulled the filter apart in a hurry (A modified AC refugium), and cut the intake apart to see if i could save him. In doing this, all the schmutz and schmelm in the intake tube and filter bottom decided to dislodge itself into the tank. The anemone is still alive, but badly hurt. I know he won't make it. He has been moved out of the tank into yet another hospital, this time a 5 gallon with some clean SW, in hopes he will live. I doubt it.
My 10 gallon is fouled up. The water has schmutz floating all over in it and is cloudy. The fish are in panic. The corals have shriveled. I changed 50% of the water, and put some floss and carbon in the filter. Turned off the lights.
That is all I can do now. And pray it makes it through the night.
For the lesson: A 40, 55, 70, 100 gallon tank would have had this happen, and a small waterchange later, all would be right with the world again. A 10 gallon? This is catastrophe. I highly doubt the tank will be viable. I don't know if it is better to move the fish and corals ot the 5 gallon QT with the damaged and likely dying anemone or hope they survive the trauma and filth in their tank. Either is risky.
This is why small reefs are infintesimally harder than large ones. This is why we encourage new reefers to get a bigger tank. Because this much polution would be easy for a larger tank to handle. But for this little 10 gal? =*( I am so sad right now.
