A Stupid Mistake - The Accidental Dsb
I usually run about 5cm of substrate and because it can become a nutrient sink, I vacuum it when doing water changes and often stir it up with my hands too. I was doing this yesterday.
I wasn't paying attention while stirring up a reasonably rock free area, with my hand. I suddenly had the impression something didn't feel right but it was too late. What didn't feel right was the amount of substrate in my hand and to cut a long story short, over time sand had built up against the weir. The stink hit me straight away - a deep sand bed had formed in my tank and I had just stirred it up. I knew what had happened as soon as I smelt the rotten egg stench, I had released all sorts of toxins into the water column.
Totally stupid because I've warned others about this very thing happening to a well known reefer in MASA.
I run AC, Purigen and GFO but it wasn't enough. Overnight I lost most of most of my corals, in fact I've just taken a break to get away from it whilst I write this. At least I don't appear to have lost any fish.
The damage may not be over yet and in honesty I'm fairly philosophical about it....fete will have its way. Unfortunately though I lost 'Brian', my supersized brittlestar. Given his size and the years I've had him, it may have been just about his time anyway.
Every hurdle is an opportunity so...
Over the next 3 months I'm going to actively try to reduce nutrients, which won't be easy given it has been a high nutrient tank for years. But it will give me a chance to experiment a bit and see if it can be done. If successful Resurrection #3 will be a low nutrient tank (goodbye gonis) and I might have a dabble in SPS, a new frontier for me.
I wasn't paying attention while stirring up a reasonably rock free area, with my hand. I suddenly had the impression something didn't feel right but it was too late. What didn't feel right was the amount of substrate in my hand and to cut a long story short, over time sand had built up against the weir. The stink hit me straight away - a deep sand bed had formed in my tank and I had just stirred it up. I knew what had happened as soon as I smelt the rotten egg stench, I had released all sorts of toxins into the water column.
Totally stupid because I've warned others about this very thing happening to a well known reefer in MASA.
I run AC, Purigen and GFO but it wasn't enough. Overnight I lost most of most of my corals, in fact I've just taken a break to get away from it whilst I write this. At least I don't appear to have lost any fish.
The damage may not be over yet and in honesty I'm fairly philosophical about it....fete will have its way. Unfortunately though I lost 'Brian', my supersized brittlestar. Given his size and the years I've had him, it may have been just about his time anyway.
R.I.P. Brian
Every hurdle is an opportunity so...
Over the next 3 months I'm going to actively try to reduce nutrients, which won't be easy given it has been a high nutrient tank for years. But it will give me a chance to experiment a bit and see if it can be done. If successful Resurrection #3 will be a low nutrient tank (goodbye gonis) and I might have a dabble in SPS, a new frontier for me.
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