tank crash

[surferdude141]

hey all, havent posted here in a while. well a little over 2 weeks ago i went on a 5 day vacation to the river. i checked both of my tanks and fed them before i left. everything seemed to look fine. When i came home i gaggged from the smell all over my house. i ran in my room and sure enough my 60 gallon reef tank was ruined. I had a tank crash. Everything and anything died! the tank water was bright green and white sheets of stuff. My house smelled so bad. i had to empty the tank and ill i have left are the equipment and the rock in a tub with a power head. just tohugh i'd share my tragedy. im going to restart it sonn when i get some cash. i also have a quick question to ask, what should i do bare bottom are a small sand bed. also some new fish suggestions would be great.
thanks
Kevin

[Anemone]

Kevin,

Sorry to hear about your crash. Any idea what happened?

Kevin

[raskal311]

mannn i taking off for two weeks soon :(

[pookstreet]

Sorry about your loss, surferdude. I always worry when I go on vacation, even just for a few days. A friend helps with the topoff but knows nothing about reef tanks.

Let me know when you get your tank back up. I can give you some freebies to help you get started again.

[Entropy]

Man that sucks! I hope your tank bounces back soon. :(

[Brian Koyama]

Did you find out the cause of the tank crash Kevin? Did a powerhead melt down, heater get stuck on the "ON" position, etc? Was anyone watching the tank during those 5 days?
Once I get my tank up and running like I want it to be, I'll send you some softies to get you back on your feet.
Brian

[bennyinca]

I had that happen to my 10g QT, all I had in it was LR snails and a candy cane I needed to isolate. After a weekend all was dead, the water foul green with a thick slimy film on top. Water had gotten to the 90s, from powerhead heat I think. Heater was cold.
Luckily that was setup in my garage and air cleared up after I tossed it all out. Sorry to hear you had to go throught that.

[gjh289]

Sorry to hear about your tank let us know what happened when you figure it out. I dread what you are going through and would be interested in what went wrong.

[JellyTheory]

Hey Kevin,

That really sucks to hear. When you have it back up and running, let me know and I'll give you some SPS and Softies. :)


-Chris

[treylane]

I sold my skimmer, unplugged the chiller, quickly showed my mom how to top off, and then went on vacation for five days.

Got back in town yesterday, and the tank looks better than it's looked in a couple months. Freaky stuff.

[surferdude141]

thanks for all the support guys. i actually have no clue what happened. everything was normal. i think that a fish may have died and caused a spike killing everything else. im not really sure. but what i do know for sure is that when i re do it, im going to do it right. i was new to the hobby when i started and i rushed it. im going to take it slow because i had an algae problem throughout this tanks life. again thanks everyone for the comments! also i was not very smart because i had no one come and check on the tanks. the mistake may have even been my own, but when i do set it up, i will do it right.
kevin