I'm not sure what went wrong...

Salt1972 · Apr 30, 2018

Appreciate the responses. I am beyond meticulous and take a great deal of pride in providing and maintaining the appropriate environment for our reef critters. I failed. Somehow chlorine made its way into our salt mix barrel. Tests today show more concentration than a pool in the balance of the water change. There was zero to trace amount left in the tank water today and none in our RO/DI.

All of our shrimp died overnight. Tiger Pistol, Blood, Scarlett, and 2 Peppermint. Our Sally Lightfoot crab was out this morning. We haven't seen the emerald crabs. The corals are retracted, but clearly alive. Hopefully, they'll recover.

I'm sorry... for the reef critters and being a poor steward for the hobby. We appreciate your help and direction. We'll see what the next few weeks leads us to do.

Salt1972 · Apr 30, 2018

chipmunkofdoom2 said:
How long did the mixed Reef Crystals sit? From your post, it sounds like you initially mixed it 4 weeks ago and just started circulating and heating recently? Per Randy Holmes-Farley (post 1, post 2) Reef Crystals contains organics that can degrade over time and should not be stored mixed for long periods of time.

I'm sorry. That was poorly written. Our salt mix barrel leaves about a 1/4" of water in the bottom that cannot be drained short of using a shop vac. It was that water that sat for 4 weeks, not the freshly mixed Reef Crystals. With today's tests confirming the chlorine, the remnant water is not the source. RO/DI is fresh with new carbon filter on Jan 23 and showed no chlorine or chloramines.

Salt1972 · Apr 30, 2018

Reefer1978 said:
By any chance are you on well water?

City water. I called today and they say they've done no work in the area nor used any special or differing amounts of chemicals in the last 6 months.

Maritimer · Apr 30, 2018

From someone who's been through teenagers, they can be ... difficult. (I don't know your daughter's age or maturity, but having met some of my kids' friends . . . ) Unpleasant to think about, but is there any possibility that someone could have introduced bleach to your mixing station?

~Bruce

Salt1972 · Apr 30, 2018

Maritimer said:
From someone who's been through teenagers, they can be ... difficult. (I don't know your daughter's age or maturity, but having met some of my kids' friends . . . ) Unpleasant to think about, but is there any possibility that someone could have introduced bleach to your mixing station?

~Bruce

Unlikely. It's more likely there was a cleaning accident or oversight. My daughter started this hobby for us 5 years ago. On her own accord, she saved her money and bought a used 55g on Craigslist. She's loved it since she was 11... She loves the urchins (much to mine and coral's chagrin). They appear to have made it BTW. She also loves our red fromia starfish. She would never do anything to harm the tank or inhabitants. She was in tears as the fish were dying yesterday.

Brew12 · Apr 30, 2018

Salt1972 said:
Unlikely. It's more likely there was a cleaning accident or oversight. My daughter started this hobby for us 5 years ago. On her own accord, she saved her money and bought a used 55g on Craigslist. She's loved it since she was 11... She loves the urchins (much to mine and coral's chagrin). They appear to have made it BTW. She also loves our red fromia starfish. She would never do anything to harm the tank or inhabitants. She was in tears as the fish were dying yesterday.

I could only imagine how heart breaking that was for her.

I think I would still test the next batch of RODI before I used it.

Maritimer · Apr 30, 2018

Salt1972 said:
My daughter started this hobby for us 5 years ago. On her own accord, she saved her money and bought a used 55g on Craigslist. She's loved it since she was 11... She loves the urchins (much to mine and coral's chagrin). They appear to have made it BTW. She also loves our red fromia starfish. She would never do anything to harm the tank or inhabitants. She was in tears as the fish were dying yesterday.

Your daughter sounds like a wonderful young woman.

The kind who makes me want to read of your tank rising from this disaster to new heights of vibrancy.

~Bruce, who's glad to hear that her favorite urchins made it through!

dopey · May 1, 2018

Do you have a cleaning service by any chance? We have a cleaner come every two weeks. A fear of mine has been them ever using my mixing bucket or any tank eqipment for their cleaning purposes. Even though it's labeled and stored in a closet away from cleaning supplies.

Sorry for your loss

Salt1972 · May 1, 2018

Maritimer said:
Your daughter sounds like a wonderful young woman.

The kind who makes me want to read of your tank rising from this disaster to new heights of vibrancy.

~Bruce, who's glad to hear that her favorite urchins made it through!

You're kind. The corals are looking better each day. I'm sure we'll want to rebuild / restock. We're just not in a hurry. Guilt pervades for now.

Victoria M · May 2, 2018

Such a weird thing to happen. People usually attribute this kind of sudden loss to a sulphur release. I am sorry for your loss.

Salt1972 · May 3, 2018

Meet Copper & Mocha. They're a mated pair of Mocha Misbar Clowns my wife brought home today for our anniversary. I guess we're back.

Brew12 · May 3, 2018

Salt1972 said:
Meet Copper & Mocha. They're a mated pair of Mocha Misbar Clowns my wife brought home today for our anniversary. I guess we're back.

Very nice! I feel better knowing that you will be staying with the hobby.

Salt1972 · May 5, 2018

Not sure I can take this... I checked the tank on the way to bed and the female had jumped out of the tank. I held her in front of a powerhead for a couple of minutes and she came to. She's ben swimming erratically for about 10 minutes. Is there ANYTHING I can do to help or just hope for the best?

Robink · May 5, 2018

So sorry to hear this! Hopefully she will be ok. I don't think there is much else you can do. I'd get a lid, even some screen from home depot or lowe's, you can get a roll of screen for about $6 and attach it to eggcrate.

don_chuwish · May 6, 2018

Salt1972 said:
Not sure I can take this... I checked the tank on the way to bed and the female had jumped out of the tank. I held her in front of a powerhead for a couple of minutes and she came to. She's ben swimming erratically for about 10 minutes. Is there ANYTHING I can do to help or just hope for the best?

How'd she do overnight?