Aussie Sea Apple Nuked My Full Tank. Help!

[OliverBeckham]

Well after 2 years of having a healthy vibrant flourishing tank i added one of these to my aquarium over 6 months ago, as soon as i put it in 1 hour later it let off toxic mist, which then poisened and killed my full tank.



I have not been able to come to terms with the death of my tank after 6 months but now i would like to start all again.

I have live rock still in there what should i do to use it again or will nothing ever grow on it or live?

Also i have the fine sand should i change it all to new ones or can i wash it in RO WATER?

I have a RO machine which is very good. I also have just this week bought a huge filter for the tank triple the size of my old one, also i am this week buying a T5 ibar by arcadia and a top of the range protein skimmer, my tank is a rio 240, i think 4 feet.

Can someone please tell me step by step what they would do after this disaster and if the toxic water is harmful to humans?

Thank you.

[jonathanws]

damn, sorry to hear that. i always wondered what kind of damage those things did

[Macimage]

I don't know from your post if your tank has been sitting fermenting for 6 months or been running nicely but just emtpy? It depends on what the current status is whether you will want to remove and clean everything or if you can empty and refill with clean salt water.

Joyce

[OliverBeckham]

It has been fermenting for 6 months, i would like to clean the tank and put fresh RO saltwater in there but clean the fine sand and live rock?

[aninjaatemyshoe]

This is probably something you should post in the Advanced forum. My guess is that the toxin has more or less run its course by now. The toxin is no doubt protein-based and has probably broken down by now. But I wouldn't trust this assumption. You might do well to place the liverock in a holding tank with new saltwater and filter heavily with carbon. The liverock will need to reestablish a cycle when you put it into a new system anyway. I would bet you'd be safe afterwards, but you should definitely pose this in the Advanced forum.

[SDguy]

The toxin only kills fish. It doesn't last long in the tank either. I did some water changes, ran carbon. Added fish within weeks.

[OliverBeckham]

My tank has been left not running for 6 months now so basically i need to clean it out and start over with fresh RO water?

What is the quickest way to get the tank back up and running?

[erendon]

That's why I hate all of these LF's that sell you animals that MIGHT do negative things to your tank and dont warn you, HE/SHE should of told you that this might happen IN your tank, or did you know off hand?

[jnc914]

Originally posted by erendon
That's why I hate all of these LF's that sell you animals that MIGHT do negative things to your tank and dont warn you, HE/SHE should of told you that this might happen IN your tank, or did you know off hand?

I second that, these things should not be sold in a LFS, they should stay in the ocean. There have been other hobbyists that this has happened to. They are cool to look, but not worth the possibility of a spontaneous tank of death. Sorry about your loss.

[davidryder]

Just clean it, do a ~30% waterchange and let it run for a few weeks. Once you get all your levels where you want them you should be fine

[pledosophy]

After so many months of not running I would cahnge all of the water and the sand bed.

JMO

You will have to start the cycle from scratch.

[uscharalph]

I'd dump the sandbed. Maybe wash / scrub the rock. Rinse the tank and start it back up.

[dendro982]

Welcome to the club! I had tank crash an year go, starting with blue sponge and Cromodoris sea slug, eviscerating cucumber followed as a victim, not the cause.

It was a lesser case - smaller tank, seen it in time and removed all inhabitants and LR to a separate containers, was possible to take water from the big tank.

Tank was cleaned, including by table salt (hypersalinity), final cleaning by peroxide, the shallow sand bed was thrown off.

What I would do, if I was on your place:

Safer, but more radical way:
- remove LR from the tank in containers, heated and with water flow - just as for curing LR, change water every 3 days, 3-4 times. Add carbon and (if you already have it) Purigen, in this container. Skimmer would help too.
- clean the tank, do not use the old sand again, disinfect tank by any available way,
- start to set tank from the beginning, cycle, test, add bottled bacteria, small pieces of really LR to seed the dead rock. Gradually add invertebrates, corals and fish.

Faster way:
- clean the tank without disassembly,
- add one frag or macroalgae to see its reaction on environment.
- if not good - remove the sand, run carbon, skim aggressively, wash the LR, wait for a couple of weeks.
- add bacterial culture and start cycling again. Then again add frag or macroalgae to check environment, and so on.

I feel your pain.

[davidryder]

Let me guess, the sandbed will be 'dirty'?

I've learned after working at Petland and being in the hobby for a few years that it's not rocket science and more often than not hobbyists over complicate things to the extreme - usually causing either burnout or headache. Good luck whatever you decide!

[OliverBeckham]

I am looking for the quickest way to get my tank back up and running, yes and they told me it was safe to put in the tank even after i asked "i have heard they have toxins?" the person replied "not this species". so i said ok.

[OliverBeckham]

SEIO 250/m250 is this good for my RIO 240?

[davidryder]

Well lesson learned

SEIO 250 - 250gph? What size is your tank?

I would personally recommend a hydor koralia powerhead for circulation but I'm partial as I own one

[landy]

Originally posted by OliverBeckham
My tank has been left not running for 6 months now so basically i need to clean it out and start over with fresh RO water?

What is the quickest way to get the tank back up and running?

Let me get this straight ... you have a tank that has been sitting for six months with stagnant water? If this is true, I would defiantly drain, clean and restart. As for the live rock, let it dry up then cure it in the tank before adding livestock. Trash or clean the sand (I would just go BB).

Landy

[fishysteve]

erendon & jnc914 - So it is the LFS's fault that you bought something you knew nothing about or bothered to do any research on before you bought. That is why you don't impulse buy.

[erendon]

I personally never bought one, the LFS that I shop at has people that care about the hobby and not just the money that you spend, but since you asked.
When you invest money and time to this hobby, impulse or well reseached plan. I would be nice to be warned before you have to RE-SPEND on your tank. I'm pretty sure Oliver could be spending his time and money in better ways for his tank.
But good looking out.

[Kreeger1]

Id start off, clean everything and start back slowly...nothing good comes fast in this hobby

[tinmanny]

#1 turn on your skimmer for an hour then clean it don't kill your self as you will do this several times

#2 put a nylon stocking on the down spout to catch the crap as you work, change it daily during the week it will help the skimmer by releiving the load

#3 mix plenty of salt water

#4 start at on end and move all rock to the other end of the tank

#4a option 1 scrub the rock real good and replace it as you would like. Now vacume all the sand as best as possible to about 50 % or even 75% water change. Replace water with fresh mixed salt water and let run for a day or two. Do a 50% water change. Clean skimmer as often as possible but at least daily for the next couple of days. let the tank run with no other inhabitants after one week test all your peramiters if ok then you should stir the sand in a small spot take water fron that area and test again compair the results if still good or acceptable then let it cycle with a couple pcs of shrimp and you are on your way

#5 Option 2 dig out all that sand and put it in a bucket or tub to be cleaned later

#5 start scrubbing the rock and then put it at the other end where you removed the sand when they are all done remove the rest of the sand and put it in buckets

#6 use a tub and rinse the sand in ro water if you find it is too much discard it and buy new if not then rinse and pour from the top in the tank slowly to remove any other crap

#7 reposition the rock and do a large water change 50% to 75%
and then let it run and do a water change again in a fiew days

#8 test and decide to keep doing water changes or just let it cycle

this is going to take time but it will be worth it
Good Luck
Manny

PS the first thing I would let go in the tank after it is cycled is a fiew snales and hermits if a problem very easy to find and remove
But hopefully all will be well

[surfjeepzx]

Originally posted by dendro982
Welcome to the club! I had tank crash an year go, starting with blue sponge and Cromodoris sea slug, eviscerating cucumber followed as a victim, not the cause.

Was the cause of your crash the blue sponge or it was nuked in the crash?

[dendro982]

Was the cause of your crash the blue sponge or it was nuked in the crash?

I can't be sure, bit it seems so. I bought all available sponges in hope to feed the sea slug. The Haliclona blue sponge had necrotic parts, I hoped, that if sponges easily regrow themselves even from the cell blend, it will be OK. Not so, within days it died, last two days it was in separate container.
Then found the dead slug, sea stars started to lose legs. Hours later, cuke eviscerated...

[jnc914]

Originally posted by fishysteve
erendon & jnc914 - So it is the LFS's fault that you bought something you knew nothing about or bothered to do any research on before you bought. That is why you don't impulse buy.

First off, I did not buy a sea apple, I merely commented on an LFS offering specimens that are poisonous and can kill off a tank. I think that both the hobbyist and the LFS are at fault. I have always researched every purchase I have made for my tank. However there are alot of hobbyists that don't, and opportunistic and greedy LFS's take full advantage.