[tcmemphisbbq]

Through doing alot of reading I keep hearing/reading about "my tank crashed and I lost everything". I also know the manager at the local petco here in town and one week we were talking tanks, and two weeks later he asked me if I wanted to buy his tank stuff that "his tank crashed" and he lost everything.

My question is this - Do reef tanks just mysteriously crash all of the sudden? Are tanks crashing because of poor husbandry of the reef?

I am just curious about it, my 55 gal is a few months old now, coming along VERY nicely and is teaming with life and several different corals - I am afraid of my tank crashing, I give it a once over daily and check parameters 2 times per week, I do weekly 5 gal water changes and weekly clean all prefilters in the sump -

Guess Im just scratching my head as to why tanks crash...

Tom

[pogodzib]

No, a reef tank doesn't usually "crash" on its own if everything is in good shape. Usually, it is caused by poor tank husbandry, a poor setup, or a chemical getting into the water.

Poor husbandry can cause your nitrates/nitrites to rise until they get to the point that livestock start dying off. Once that starts, it decays, making the problem worse, until eventually most things may die.

A improperly set up tank can cause loose of livestock as well because of many different factors. This can cause a quick and massive die off as well.

A chemical getting in the water is the other factor that can lead to quick and rapid death. This can be a chemical getting into the tank through the air, dumped in, etc... or nitrogen gas being quickly released from a DSB after it is disturbed. The most common reason that people give for their tank crashing is because of there DSB. IMO, this is because the DSB finally got so full of gunk due to overfeeding that the owner got so used to relying on the DSB to keep the parameters in check. Once the DSB was full, it couldn't handle the load so the water parameters quickly degraded.

Because any of these reasons can make a tank crash very quickly if the levels get out of control, it is often viewed as having the tank crash, due to owner neglect or other. Often the crash may kill off a great deal of the livestock within days to a couple weeks.

[jimw369]

Pogodzib is a moderator so he has to sugar coat everything lol but I agree with all that he said.

Pogo calls it neglect while Ill call it stupidity, laziness and overall lack of maturity and commitment.

Sometimes things do happen that are tough to swallow. A short in a heater or powerhead is one...very common...just buy good equipment and you can eliminate this.

Power outtage for an extended period is bad. Once again just be prepared.

Cant stress QT ALL fish and corals enough. While corals and fish dying from unwanted pests and deseases isnt considered crashing your tank it is a major reason for many that leave the hobby.

[tcmemphisbbq]

Thanks :-) Kinda what I was thinking, just kept hearing "my tank crashed" but hardly ever a real reason for it.
Tom

[BLKBRDTA]

Originally Posted by jimw369

Pogodzib is a moderator so he has to sugar coat everything lol but I agree with all that he said.

Pogo calls it neglect while Ill call it stupidity, laziness and overall lack of maturity and commitment.

Nice Jim. Reeeaaal nice.

"Tread softly, and carry a big stick" hahaha

Watch out! He'll put the whoopin on ya!

[pogodzib]

I'll agree with Jim. Way too often someone that is referring to their tank crashing knows that they did something stupid, but there are also plenty of sometime when they really don't know why the tank crashed.

[RyanG]

I agree, when I read these threads where people say that their "tank" crashed as in it being some anomaly that "just happens".

Truth is it just doesn't work like that, something caused it to do that...I better go back to blogging before Brian kicks me out of the forums...