Son Crashed Coral Tank

[Rick.45cal]

Sorry this happened. Probably a great time to make sure that all the reef related additives and food are somewhere that can‘t be accessed by tiny people who don’t know better.

 

[andrewey]

In addition to kiddos, make sure your reefing chemicals are secured away from your pets. It might not sound appetizing to you or I, but when I used to be a vet tech, I had to deal with a few dogs that got into some reefing chemicals with disastrous consequences. Many of our chemicals can be extremely caustic, so hopefully the OP's disastrous experience might help to prevent further tragedy!

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Holy cow that’s a huge list of lost corals I feel so bad for you sorry dude

 

[rhastareefer]

In addition to kiddos, make sure your reefing chemicals are secured away from your pets. It might not sound appetizing to you or I, but when I used to be a vet tech, I had to deal with a few dogs that got into some reefing chemicals with disastrous consequences. Many of our chemicals can be extremely caustic, so hopefully the OP's disastrous experience might help to prevent further tragedy!

Is it weird that I know a dog that LOVES stealing dead coral skeletons? I guess it's like a bone?

OP, I just want to offer my condolences for your losses. Like others have said, it's hard to imagine how you must feel right now but I guess look at it as an opportunity to redesign and change anything you might've wanted to change. Local reefers probably have a LOT of the pieces you lost and once they hear your story they might do you a kindness and hook you up for cheap. As for good commercial sources, @Battlecorals would be my first and strongest suggestion. He might not have all of what you're looking to replace but the selection is superb, as is the quality/size of the frags AND his customer service is just... beyond. I wish you the best and hope the kiddo learns proper feeding/dosing techniques soon

 

[fishface NJ]

Sorry to read. I had a similar event happen to me. I went out and left my husband, a neighbor and the neighbor's 4 year old son here at our house. The little boy was going in my office which is off our kitchen. The guys were in the kitchen having some beer/wine for 2 hours. The neighbor wasn't keeping tabs on his son. The 4 year old decided to feed the fishies! He opened the storage closet in my office. He fed my tank Tide Pods(detergent)...two bags. When I returned home they were just leaving. I walked into my office, and I found the mess. I called the neighbor, told him what happened, he asked his 4 year old if he did it, & the little boy said no. It was the three of them in the house and he stands by his 4 year old son's word

 

[Fernthereefer]

As a father of a 3 year old.... I feel your pain.

I am paranoid on safe - proofing everything. But even then, kids are smart, and find their way to what they want.

For now I have the access to the basement (aquariums) closed. But when that is not an option anymore, I will have to find options. I will probably post in my thread about it.

For now, I did put kitchen child secury locks in the cabinet and keep all products (alk, cal, coral dip, etc) out of reach in another room. Keeps the kids and the reef safe.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Cook]

Wow. I thought I was upset with myself for having my son help me move a rimless tank 2 feet last night and "we" dropped it. (It wasn't really heavy just awkward, he's 12, and completely unhurt thankfully).

The love between a parent and a child can overcome pretty much everything and I hope that he will continue to share your love of reefing from a more respectable distance. You need to childproof everything especially the chemicals.

I agree with @rhastareefer 's thoughts. This is an opportunity to re-evaluate and hopefully your local club can help with your restocking plan. What I can say is this, with my son, I found that for him to find joy in my tank, I had to be more flexible in what my vision of a successful tank was and balance that with what he enjoyed. Of course your son is 4, so he's not going to contribute much to that yet, but he will as he ages. I have a snowflake eel and a Valentini puffer that I otherwise would not have in my diplay. I started a frag tank in my office that has additional room for growing out a couple of small SPS colonies so that I can enjoy those separately from that SPS coral munching puffer.

 

[EntitledSushi]

Wow, sorry to hear about this. Hope you have a speedy recovery.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Whatever you do. First thing is take out the sand and go bare bottom or replace, other than that once everything is stable start restocking. If you leave the old sand in, you will have nothing but problems, guaranteed.

 

[tehmadreefer]

And use these on your cabinets. I have mine drilled in as the stickers suck.

Baby Proofing Magnetic Cabinet Locks Child Safety - VMAISI 12 Pack Children Proof Cupboard Baby Latches - Adhesive Magnet Drawers Locks No Drilling (White)

 

[Henryb9]

Hey there, if your in Jersey I can give you a free birds nest frag... things happen so I understand. Shoot me a message if your in Jersey.

 

[pledosophy]

How did a 4 year old reach the tank ? He pour from sump ?

8 months old my kid was sliding books across the living room floor. Cute I thought. Then he stacked those books so he could try and crawl onto the coffee table.

My 3 year old....he can get onto/into anything. They have this super human little climbing ability. Nothing would surprise me anymore. And yes, I have seen my kid climb up and stand on my tank stand, in about 3 seconds, so he could look over the lip of the tank to see the clams "pretty blue face".

Kids are cray cray

 

[mkwarner77]

Mam I feel for you. I got lucky a couple years ago when I caught my then 5 yr old grandson trying to "help". I agree with several posts massive multiple water changes. Use then same rock work. Remove obviously dead coral, but be careful about what you remove. Sometimes what we think are dead aren't really. You really don't know what will survive. Corals are more resilient than we think. After a major tank crash 3 years ago, I thought everything was dead. I was surprised to see a mushroom, hammer and several zoas start reappearing after a month.

 

[Billldg]

I am sorry for your loss, but as I am sure you already know, he was just trying to help daddy. I would think a 100 percent water change will work. Maybe add a few pieces of live rock to help speed up the process. Good luck in your recovery.