Tank Fails!!

Kelz88 said:
rofl so Thats what a saltwater planted tank looks like :)
Click to expand...

Bah! who needs a refugium and mangroves when you got an entire kelp forest in your main tank?

BTW, I showed this picture one time to a guy running an LFS. I think all the tangs in his shop wanted to come home with me.
 
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RockStacker said:
DSC_0527.jpg
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I have a bad case of caulerpa as well. How did you solve this in the above tank? Did you just pull everything and start over?
 
T Fades said:
I have a bad case of caulerpa as well. How did you solve this in the above tank? Did you just pull everything and start over?
Click to expand...

The process took several weeks but eventually I got most of them out without a total teardown.

I started by carefully pulling out as many strands as I could get until it is just mostly the stems and holdfasts that are left.
Then I did two 25% water changes 2 days apart.
I also ran carbon in my canister filter during the whole time.

From then it was a matter of picking one rock at a time and removing as much caulerpa as I could.
The most tedious part was taking the caulerpa out of the sand/substrate. I was SO glad I was not running a DSB. That would have been a total loss.
I continued the carbon and water changes during this process too.

I was not able to physically remove 100% of the caulerpa, but over time I was able to get it under control and the small individual colonies are pruned regularly until they died out.

And now all that work seems moot because I moved to another house and had to do a total teardown anyway. I just made sure that this time I inspected the rocks and substrate to make sure I removed any remaining caulerpa that were hiding.

When you do remove caulerpa from your tank, I suggest you let the clumps dry out in the sun first to make sure they are absolutely dead before dumping them.
It is said that when damp, the caulerpa cells can survive up to several days out of the water.
I live in Southern California and several days is enough time for a caulerpa clump to make it's way to the coast via waterways.
 
RockStacker said:
The process took several weeks but eventually I got most of them out without a total teardown.

I started by carefully pulling out as many strands as I could get until it is just mostly the stems and holdfasts that are left.
Then I did two 25% water changes 2 days apart.
I also ran carbon in my canister filter during the whole time.

From then it was a matter of picking one rock at a time and removing as much caulerpa as I could.
The most tedious part was taking the caulerpa out of the sand/substrate. I was SO glad I was not running a DSB. That would have been a total loss.
I continued the carbon and water changes during this process too.

I was not able to physically remove 100% of the caulerpa, but over time I was able to get it under control and the small individual colonies are pruned regularly until they died out.

And now all that work seems moot because I moved to another house and had to do a total teardown anyway. I just made sure that this time I inspected the rocks and substrate to make sure I removed any remaining caulerpa that were hiding.

When you do remove caulerpa from your tank, I suggest you let the clumps dry out in the sun first to make sure they are absolutely dead before dumping them.
It is said that when damp, the caulerpa cells can survive up to several days out of the water.
I live in Southern California and several days is enough time for a caulerpa clump to make it's way to the coast via waterways.
Click to expand...


Thanks RockStacker. Great point about killing before throwing away, as to try to not let local waters pick this stuff up.
 
I guess this counts as a tank fail moment too, although it is more of a "Reefer Fail" :)
This just happened the other day too.

Since I am restocking my 55gal tank, I ordered a snail cleanup crew pack that is rated for my tank size.
It contains an assortment of Nerite, Cerith and Nassarius snails.
I figured that is more than enough for my main tank and also reroute a few to my small experimental "pod" tank in the garage that I am setting up.

Once the shipment arrived, I picked up the plastic bags and started acclimation procedure. I was multitasking around the house while waiting for the acclimation to run its course.
When it was time to put the snails in the tank:

First bag: Nassarius snails look OK and there were about 25. In they go to the tank and I saved 2 for the other tank.

Second bag: Oooh, beautiful Nerite snails with stripes, spots, and other cool patterns. In they go to the tank and I saved 2 for the other tank.

Third bag: Over 200 Dwarf Cerith snails. In they go... wait... over 200??? :shock:
As I was staring at a rain of snails into my tank I just realized that this bag I was holding should only contain about 50 of these snails.

Anyway, they are all in my 55gal tank and 10gal tank for now until I can figure out what to do with them. They all seem to be doing a great job cleaning up the tank but I am not sure I really need that many.

And I think a few of the hermit crabs were crying "Man, None of these are my size!"

-------------------------------------------------
P.S.
Oh man it just keeps getting better.
This morning the live rock is peppered with small white disks that were never there before.
Since only the snails were added recently, I did an image search for snail eggs and sure enough they matched Nerite snail eggs.
So in addition to a legion of Dwarf Cerith snails I now also have several broods of Nerite snail eggs.

I want to grow corals, Not start a local snail supply franchise!
 
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Man, talk about patience and perseverance! Good job cleaning it off, even though you ended up moving LOL Can you go trade them in at an lfs for store credit maybe? Or put an ad up on craigslist and give them away. if they run out of food, they'll just die off LOL
 
wontonflip said:
Man, talk about patience and perseverance! Good job cleaning it off, even though you ended up moving LOL Can you go trade them in at an lfs for store credit maybe? Or put an ad up on craigslist and give them away. if they run out of food, they'll just die off LOL
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll ask the guy at the LFS I frequent and see if he is willing to take in a few of them (like 150? lol).
Maybe he can even trade me a small, cheap coral frag :)
 
Since I can't remember where the pics went,y'all will just have to search for the thread. But Dino's was probably my biggest tank fail. Right next to a wayward BTA wiping out all my Acros in one night just because I adjusted a powerhead.
 
here is a pick of the first 10 gallon contest winner a year after a tank boil.....friggen heaters. I kept it running to save the rock for a later date. Also just couldnt see it go :bye2:
 

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