Devastated :(

[Rybren]

Thanks @terri_ann . You're such a sweetie.

I hope that all is well with you and the family.

 

[Forsaken77]

I had to go out of town for 3 weeks because of a family emergency, so I left my hubby in charge of taking care of the aquarium. He usually helps out when I do regular maintenance etc., so between that and the fact that he had called several times to get the "honey do" list, I thought my aquariums would be okay.

He tried very hard, but I just returned to find out that things have gone to ****. He forgot the cylopods in the food mix, so my filefish died (it was the only thing he would eat). I had a beautiful copperband in QT that was destined for my softie tank - he was eating when I left (small mysis) but the hubby kept feeding him jumbo mysis (it was a small juvenile fish) which he couldn't eat... He starved to death my nitrates were at 0.2 and my phosphates at .05 a few days before I left - even after I cleaned the sump, cleaned the skimmer, changed all the filters and did a 45g water change, my nitrates still tested at 40 and my phosphates at .88. I've lost most of my SPS by the looks of it, save perhaps 5 of them... as for my softie tank, my nitrates are past 80 and although most of the corals and all of the fish/inverts look okay, my zoanthids have all closed up. Sigh.

... but there's more... my freshwater tank also suffered. I did a 50% water change, siphoned the substrate and cleaned the filters... my nitrates are still at 80 and 2 of my fish have disappeared.

How much food does it take to increase my nitrates and phosphates by this much?? Not only did he overfeed and not use the right foods, but an entire large bottle of reef roids is completely gone. So I ask how often he was feeding the corals... once every day or two... OMG :O

Since I can't yell at the hubby whatsoever (he thought he was doing a good job) I figured I'd come on here to vent... it's amazing how quickly downhill something can go when you aren't there to keep an eye on it

I'm going to have to do many water changes to fix these issues... I hate to do it to my reef since stability is key, but I can't afford to keep the nitrates this high for too long... now it's a matter of finding the balance... maybe a 45g water change every 2-3 days till I see better numbers??

I'd yell at him anyway, out of frustration. Did you leave written instructions of what to feed and when?

 

[PeterG]

I feel so badly for you and for your hubby as well. I’m sure he’s feeling guilty as hell over this. My wife travels way more than I do so I’m usually the one following feeding instructions for our assorted canine, feline and avian family members. I measure out portions for my tank and also my Koi pond on those rare occasions I have to be away.

I’m pretty new to reefing but when I inherited my 90 gal tank with equipment & water the nitrates were thru the roof and the guy who moved everything did three or four water changes to get the levels down somewhat. Then he suggested NoPoX to finish the job. I followed the directions and got my numbers down in fairly short order. Your results may vary

Good Luck and don’t be too hard on him. We’re all pretty fortunate to be here to commiserate over these issues.

 

[CanadianReefer]

Way to go Jer (@Rybren )

@CanadianReefer, Rybren is trustworthy. He's been in the hobby for years...I would trust him with my systems and I am a retailer As far as not seeing any algae growth with the high increase in your nutrients, that is not surprising to me. Please watch Richard Ross MACNA presentation as Richard has great ways of handling his tank while away:

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/richard-ross-the-right-kind-of-lazy-macna-2017/

@eyecandycorals, Bill- go on vaca! Your GF is out of the picture. I'm sure there is someone who can tank sit.;Playful

@Rybren - thanks for the offer!! Not often I run into anyone on here that lives in my hometown we've likely bumped into each other a gazillion times since there's only a few places to shop around here...

@terri_ann - thanks for the note. I will check out the link

 

[CanadianReefer]

I'd yell at him anyway, out of frustration. Did you leave written instructions of what to feed and when?

Not written - no. It was an emergency so I had to rush out of town. I just gave him verbal instructions.

 

[Forsaken77]

Not written - no. It was an emergency so I had to rush out of town. I just gave him verbal instructions.

Wow! That's a very tough situation to deal with. Aside of the troubles with the tanks, I hope your other emergency worked out for the best.

Sometimes life drops other priorities on your head without warning and we do what we can. All you can do is pick up the pieces and go from here.

You know everyone here has your back.

 

[Rybren]

@Rybren - thanks for the offer!! Not often I run into anyone on here that lives in my hometown we've likely bumped into each other a gazillion times since there's only a few places to shop around here...

We probably have. Did you make it to the frag swap a few weeks ago? I was the oldest guy in the room

 

[CanadianReefer]

We probably have. Did you make it to the frag swap a few weeks ago? I was the oldest guy in the room

No, unfortunately... my family emergency had me in Toronto for the past while so I missed it entirely. I was looking forward to it too - a friend of my husband had told me about it when I caught up with him at one of the fish stores... he also told me about all of the local Facebook groups that I had known nothing about, so I joined those too. I'm never on Facebook typically...

Unless your name is Jerry.... if it is, then it was you that told me ... in that case - don't tell my husband about all my venting! Lol

 

[Rybren]

Yeah, I'm Jerry. What venting?

 

[CanadianReefer]

Yeah, I'm Jerry. What venting?

Lol... exactly... What venting???

Though I have to admit that I am suddenly glad I had mostly nice things to say about Ryan and all his efforts despite my tank disaster!!! Small world...!!!

Another 45g water change this morning... vacuumed out the sump again and used a powerhead to blow the rocks. No change whatsoever in nitrates - they are still at about 40. Not much in terms of negative ongoings with the exception of one - I had a 2 head utter chaos frag that died

Everything else is okay thus far, but I'm very baffled that my nitrates haven't moved at all. It's about 220g of water that has been changed out now.

 

[Rybren]

I like having dirt on people, you never know when it might come in handy

I wouldn't worry too much about the nitrates. 40 isn't horrible and it can be dealt with without resorting to more water changes. At best, they're a temporary fix anyway.

I've got some utter chaos growing; when the colony is big enough, I'll frag some for you.

 

[CanadianReefer]

I like having dirt on people, you never know when it might come in handy

I wouldn't worry too much about the nitrates. 40 isn't horrible and it can be dealt with without resorting to more water changes. At best, they're a temporary fix anyway.

I've got some utter chaos growing; when the colony is big enough, I'll frag some for you.

I think I spoke too soon. Looks like I lost half of a very large goni colony and my large cup colony is rtn'ing.... my acans and blastos are also looking a little unhappy.

Now I'm getting worried - my rocks are already looking bare on top and I'd hate to start losing all my LPS as well

I won't do anymore water changes for a bit - if it's not lowering the nitrates then it might be doing more harm than good.

I think I'm going to dose with NoPox at this point. I'm not keen, but it's probably my best option....

 

[Rybren]

I use a DIY NoPox and find that it keeps my nitrates fairly low (between 0 and 2 ppm). It did, however, take a while to kick in.
Here's to hoping that your losses will be minimal.
Best wishes for the family situation, and if you have to leave again, I can give Ryan a hand if needed.

 

[CanadianReefer]

All the dead coral so far

 

[Joshua Kerstetter]

I too have a spouse that has the best intentions.. but doesn't honestly know what they're doing if I ask them to help. Of of few things I've directed her to do, I only give her direct "if then X" directions always written down, which I go over with her in person before I expect her to do anything alone. Everything is labeled, and I plan on making laminated flow charts to diagram what to do in case of emergencies. My general rule that I've learned at work is, never ask anyone to do anything for you, unless to tell them exactly how you want it done, with no possible deviation for them to do it any other way.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hey was just following up on your tank and kinda skimmed some of it. How are things and are they looking better etc worse etc? The offer is still on the table that once your tank is stable and normal again, I don’t mind we sending you some frags. Let me know how it goes.