Back from vacation problems

[SkinnyPete]

So, I was away for 2 weeks and had my brother in law feeding and topping off while I was gone.

Pitfall one - somehow the heater was unplugged and my water is now at 76. I guess I just need to slowly bring that up. I usually keep it at 79ish.

Also, by the looks of it, he was overfeeding. I got back yesterday and my glass and sand is covered in algae. Not really a huge disaster. I'm going to do a blackout and a few large water changes to get things back in check. I'm going to test Nitrates today, but I'm sure it will not be pretty.

But, the real problem is - I fastened eggcrate to the openings of my canopy. I have a zebra moray, so instead of placing eggcrate over the top which blocked out too much light for my taste, I nailed some eggcrate over the openings. It's been working great. Well, somehow - while feeding - my brother in law tells me that a nail fell out of the eggcrate. Basically, there is a black coated metal U (staple-like) nail somewhere in my tank. Damned if I can find it.

So, my question is - exactly how bad is this? Maybe it's not a huge deal - but, I figured I'd ask. I know there should be no metal in the tank, but I'm not exactly sure why. Does this highten the danger of electric shock, will it negatively affect water chemistry? I'm going to use a turkey baster to blow on the rocks to see if I can find it, but I have about 170lbs of rock and a 4 inch sandbed - it's not going to be easy.

Thanks, all. At least nothing died.

- Skins

 

[pots1964]

nail in tank

hi , had similar problem a few years back, luckily it was a galvanized screw, it was buried in the sand, so i used my magnetic algae cleaner to find it, and then renewed my polyfilters to strip an impuritys out and did a bigger wc than normal. An oxsidising metal is very poisonous especially to crustaceans and corals, even humans can suffer from lead poisoning. Anyway happy hunting.

pots1964-

 

[SkinnyPete]

Thanks. I actually did find it using the mag-float algae cleaner shortly after my post.

I'm concerned though because I have a big algae bloom and my nitrates are 5, my PO4 0. I never have algae and I'm wondering if the nail had something to do with it. I'm just going to mix up about 50 gallons and do a couple big water changes this week - keep off the lights and hope for the best.

I haven't seen my peppermint but my pistol shrimp and mushrooms are alive and well.

 

[pots1964]

Glad you found it, are your lights on timers? if not, it could be they have been on for to long whilst you were away. I think i worry more about my tank when i am away than anything else !

pots

 

[SkinnyPete]

Yeah, they are on timers - but, the timers do get flakey sometimes and the lights get stuck on or off. My brother in law did mention that the lights were on early in the morning when they should have been off - so, it could have just been that. As I said, I'll keep them off for a few days, do some water changes and see what happens.

 

[melosu58]

After you come back from vacation, a PWC is always the first order of business.