Need support because I’m about to quit!

Tham121988 · Jul 14, 2019

Have had my nano tank up for over a year and had it fully stocked and exactly how I wanted it. Have been watching it grow out for a long time. I went out of town and before I did I bought some more ato water. The local fish store apparently gave me saltwater instead of ro/di (I should have double checked it) and so it skyrocketed my salinity while I was gone and resulted in a complete loss. It was even marked ro water. I’m talking about 7 inch diameter montiporas, a hammer I’ve had for 9 months, all my fish, rare yellow pistol shrimp, zoas. I’m heartbroken honestly! I’m looking at a tank of death and contemplating quitting the hobby now. What a disaster that could have been avoided. [emoji20][emoji20][emoji20]

Mjrenz · Jul 14, 2019

I'm very sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope we don't lose you but that is one of the unfortunate things that can go wrong so quickly in this hobby. I would recommend talking to your lfs about the situation, a reputable store should be willing to help you get your tank straightened out and restocked

Mastiffsrule · Jul 14, 2019

Really sorry. It sounds like you did a great job growing it. I would start over and look forward to growing another nice tank. It is ok to take a break also.

Either way I would be at that LFS and used the jugs like Thor’s hammer. At minimum I would tell them they owe you. I would never think to check it either. Not hard to read difference between Rodi and salt.

Peace River · Jul 14, 2019

Wow - I'm truly sorry for your loss. I think that your reaction demonstrates how much you care about the animals and livestock in your care and suggests that you are the right type of person to be in this hobby. Take care of you right now and when you're ready we will be here cheering you on and doing what we can to support the next part of your adventure. All the best!

Irishman · Jul 14, 2019

I’d be at my LFS already, with the SW they put in it themselves.

Sorry for your bad luck though.

Paleozoic_reefer · Jul 14, 2019

@Tham121988 that's horrible! I would definitely raise hell at your LFS. These store rely heavily on repeat customer business (especially if there are other local comparators) so they should be all over this issue. If it was their fault they should be bending over backwards to help fix the situation. I can't imagine what would have happened if one of their customers lost an even larger system to such a big mistake!!

BadPanda · Jul 14, 2019

I know its nasty but, I usually do a quick finger lick for both RO and SW before going in the tank/ATO container. I could use a cheap hydrometer but there's no need. Sorry for your loss. Livestock for some are irreplaceable and I'm one of them. It sucks to see them grow and then one day just have gone the next day. Take a breather and reassess. I do hope your LFS can make it right for you.

Mjrenz · Jul 14, 2019

BadPanda said:
I know its nasty but, I usually do a quick finger lick for both RO and SW before going in the tank/ATO container. I could use a cheap hydrometer but there's no need. Sorry for your loss. Livestock for some are irreplaceable and I'm one of them. It sucks to see them grow and then one day just have gone the next day. Take a breather and reassess. I do hope your LFS can make it right for you.

That's actually very smart to do

Tham121988 · Jul 14, 2019

Thank you everyone so much for the support. I’m still taking it all in. I am going to contact them first thing in the morning. I hate to bring any issue to them because they have been very nice to us including the guy who filled the jug. I have to take some blame because I should have double and triple checked the water. What a terrible mistake. It sure will take some time to get over it. I hope I can get it corrected and rebuild it back up slowly. Thanks again everyone. Means a lot!

DarthSimon · Jul 14, 2019

Still, they need to take responsibility somewhat. They should offer you some sort of credit in livestock to get you back up and running...

amazongb · Jul 14, 2019

I just had a recent tank crash, so I kind of know how you feels (in my case it was a bad batch of salt, won't mention company names). And I completely understand not wanting to take it out on your LFS, they are human too and we are all prone to mistakes, plus they are friends if you visit as much as I do

That's the thing about this hobby, it happens once, you learn something new, and hopefully never happens again and you pass on the experience so it doesn't happen to others... in a million years, I never could've predicted this one, so glad you posted.

Jonathan Troutt · Jul 14, 2019

Wow so sorry to hear this. I do not trust the majority of LFS’s. In the end they do not care about your tank.

I would recommend you spend the money and purchase a Ro/di unit. Wont ever happen again. Take it as a lesson learned. Dont quit the hobby.

bsn_rn_cen · Jul 14, 2019

Jonathan Troutt said:
Wow so sorry to hear this. I do not trust the majority of LFS’s. In the end they do not care about your tank.

I would recommend you spend the money and purchase a Ro/di unit. Wont ever happen again. Take it as a lesson learned. Dont quit the hobby.

I agree, don't quit. Get yourself a rodi system so you dont have to rely and trust in someone else.

Tham121988 · Jul 14, 2019

amazongb said:
I just had a recent tank crash, so I kind of know how you feels (in my case it was a bad batch of salt, won't mention company names). And I completely understand not wanting to take it out on your LFS, they are human too and we are all prone to mistakes, plus they are friends if you visit as much as I do That's the thing about this hobby, it happens once, you learn something new, and hopefully never happens again and you pass on the experience so it doesn't happen to others... in a million years, I never could've predicted this one, so glad you posted.

That's exactly how I feel. This guy is very nice to talk to. Last time he cut me a huge piece of pandora protopalys for $15. I was shocked. He has sat and talked to me for 30 minutes + on just a peacock mantis shrimp they had. Super friendly. I feel like the responsibility falls somewhat on me. I should have tested. It wasn't malicious on their part and I'm sure they will be sad about the situation too. I hope they will be willing to cut me a few pieces at a decent price to get me back up and running. I do have one good thing to say, I located one fish that survived. The hifin goby. So I am getting the tank back to the right parameters for this guy!

I am sorry about your recent tank crash

. Hopefully we will get it up and running again and have an even nicer tank in the future. Hurts now, but like you said, I certainly learned a very tough lesson and hopefully I can improve for the future inhabitants.

Tham121988 · Jul 14, 2019

Jonathan Troutt said:
Wow so sorry to hear this. I do not trust the majority of LFS’s. In the end they do not care about your tank.

I would recommend you spend the money and purchase a Ro/di unit. Wont ever happen again. Take it as a lesson learned. Dont quit the hobby.

I have a really nice one, but when I started medical school, I moved all my tanks into my parents house and set it up for them to take care for me. They inherited a red ear slider turtle and 3 saltwater tanks lol. Then I got tank hungry and had to get a nano tank for my office. I missed the hobby.

The place I moved to in Knoxville TN has a LFS which is new for me. I've always had to purchase online. I'm enjoying having the conversations with other reefers in person and supporting a local buisness. We didn't have any in oxford, ms. I figured it would be easy enough to take care of while I was in school. Seemed easier with the size tank to go and get premade water from a LFS, but I might have to get another RO/DI for here. It is a lot cheaper than replacing all of this.

BadPanda · Jul 14, 2019

Mjrenz said:
That's actually very smart to do

Thanks. It was actually due not marking my 5gal jugs going to the LFS for water.

KrisReef · Jul 14, 2019

My wife did this for me, taking top-off water out of the salt-mix bucket and filling the ATO. I was supposed to be away for a month but weather delayed the project I was working on so I came home early. We were able to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary while I was home. Had a really nice time.
So before I left to return to the remote job I checked the tank salinity and it was soaring. (The system is 150g so it had a little more room for error than in your tank.) We figured out what had happened and I fixed that before I left again and I didn't lose everything.

The moral of the story is no-one will suspect you if you firebomb the shop that sold you the bad water. If it was your spouse of 30 years who destroyed your system then you couldn't get any satisfaction or revenge. Right? Talk to the store and see what they might do to help you get back on track. You missed your tanks when you did not have them so don't let a simple mistake destroy your enjoyment of reefing. Reefing is like a bad marriage that you can't leave, so you can't leave!

Not a bad moral for on the fly

FYI, If I'm moving a lot of water around, or if I am not certain what water bucket is what because I forgot what bucket is which or if I got water from the store, then to be sure I will dip my finger in the water and let my tongue decide if it's mix or DI top off. It tastes kind of good when it's fresh and it has saved me from making this same error more often than I'd admit if I could remember the number of times, but I can't.

hth

Tham121988 · Jul 14, 2019

Congrats on 30th wedding anniversary! That is awesome. We just celebrated our 6 year anniversary in June.

Glad you were able to save your tank! I think I am just going to let them know what happened and ask if they can help me out on some deals on some corals or what they can do.

I usually do taste test it, but I was really rushing to get out of town because it was a 12 hour drive to get to where we were going. Normally I would have noticed something like this I think. I will never make this particular mistake again.