Heartbreak...

[Sherri]

Well, it finally happened. I think we all expect "something" to happen to our tanks thru the years, but for the last 6 years of having salt, I've never had anything serious other than red slime. And in the last 4 months it seemed to be kicking my butt...but at least was being "controlled." I'm not one to add chemicals to my tank and had used Chemi Clean years ago in my 100 gal. Would take care of it, but would always come back. Even bought a Phos Reactor, water changes, suctioning it out, but couldn't eliminate it, just control it. Some other members had had some good luck with RedSlime Control so I thought I would try it. I under dosed since I'm leery of chemicals...kept my lights on, turned off protein skimmer and made sure I had oxygen bubbles going (major I might add). The next day I get a call on my way home from work from my husband to tell me the tank was cloudy, all my original fish of 6 yrs (Blue Regal, orchid dottyback, six line wrasse, yellow tang, Flamehawk) were dead. Only fish survivors are my two clowns of 6 yrs also. Not even breathing hard. ALL my hard corals totally bleached out and most of my soft corals were either dead or shrunk. It looked like a atom bomb had gone off in my tank. I called BIGBIRD (Steve). We all take for granted sometimes as to the closeness our hobby brings us. But when trouble comes calling...so does help. Steve & Cheri go out of their way to haul 75 gals of saltwater (thank you Alamo!) and a large container of carbon over at 8 o'clock in the evening and help me do a large water change and get carbon running. And I thank them...as I couldn't even think at that point. In talking over the incident...I don't know of anyone that has used RedSlime Control that have softies. Could it be that the softies put out toxins or basically went to war with the chemical? It looked like the Blue Regal had been burned almost. Understand me, I am not blaming the product. Maybe just a heads up if using it in a tank that has softies. This happened Tuesday...my larger softies (very large toadstool & colt) are coming back out...green star polyps...mushrooms. ALL hard corals gone. Also, could it be that the clowns have this special slime coat that the toxins from softies won't kill them? They're happy as can be living in their hosted colt.

The heartbreak comes from the fact that these were all my original fish. Blue Regal was the size of a quarter when I got it back Feb 2003. What a character...and yes, IT had a name...Dori...and had grown to about 4-5". When my 100 gal had leaked and I transferred "everything" over to the 180 Brick...I lost nothing...not even a mushroom. And that was 3 yrs ago.

The thought of rebuilding everything is frustrating at the least. But I will. Just gotta get my heart back into it. Steve and Cheri - I just want to thank you from my heart for what you did that night. I do know you kept me from walking away from all of it. And Ace (hobogato), thank you for your quick call offering your help also. Support is everything.

Thanks for the ear....:heart:

Sherri

[gjuarez]

Wow... Sorry to hear about that Sherri.. Its actually happened to me twice, the second time I gave up on the hobby. To me it happened when i was on vacation, the AC broke while i was gone. I had no chiller and my tamk temperature was above 90 degrees, lost everything. Its very discouraging, you just have to keep you head up. Good luck with everything.

[Captain Jack]

Sorry for you loss. I recently used the red slime control on my 30 gal tank without any problems. I have lots of xenia and kenya trees, some zoes, palys, mushrooms, star polyps, a couple LPS and SPS.

[Sherri]

Thanks Jack...nice to know. Just trying to figure out what happended. Maybe it wasn't the softies after all. The temp in tank at the time was 80*

[ErikH]

whoa! I used that stuff with great success!!!! So sorry about your losses!

[SoLiD]

Whoa is right. I'm so sorry, Sherri. I don't like to use chemicals for the same reasons. I will have to make you some special frags when you get you tank back in order. I think you'll really like them... Softies and some Palys mainly... but really nice ones. That's the least I can do for a VERY Special Someone who does so much for Our Club. Cheer up, you'll see, everything will turn out just fine. :bighug:

P.S. They are gifts, so you can refuse them. :D

[OrionN]

I am really sorry to hear about your loss. I certainly know how you feel. Keep your chin up. At least it was not a total tank wipe out.
I got out of the hobby for several years when it happened to me.

[MRSBIGBIRD123]

Sherri, you know if you need anything else, we are here....

[mikedelgado]

Sorry to hear about your tank. I had the same thing happen to me when I tried some flatworm exit. And that was about a year after a three day power failure that wiped me out. I pretty much gave up after the flatworm exit wipeout. Im glad I didnt though.I have some big frags of valida you are welcome to If you are ever in the area or know someone that will be. the valida is pretty tough. even I cant seem to kill it.

[hobogato]

i am glad you decided to stick it out - i know how difficult that decision is.

if there is anything i can do to help, you know all you need to do is call.

[Texreefer]

this hobby wouldn't be near so great if it wasn't for great friends. If you need anything please let me know

[greenmako]

Ouch Sherri that is horrible! It's a surreal feeling to be in love with fish and to lose them is wrenching. If you need anything feel free to call. Anything in my tank is yours just let me know. I will ship it to you too if need be.
-Brian

[greenmako]

PS- A big thanks to Steve and Cheri for helping Sherri!

[JimD]

Ouch, Sorry to hear this Sherri, this isnt quite the tank update I was hoping for last time we spoke... You know you couldnt be in better hands than those here at maast. If you need anything at all or if you just need to vent, you know how to reach me...

[jrsatx20]

sorry to hear sherri. even worse that cheri called me but i didnt answer cause i was sick in bed. if u need any help let me know.

[cpreefguy]

Aww man! :(
That is terrible, so sorry to hear...

[Sherri]

Thanks everyone...I know I have friends here...I'm not going anywhere...gotten pass the emotional part...just trying to figure out the cause. The softies left in the tank are very happy and no hard corals at all. The 2 clowns are happy in their colt. No red slime...go figure...but it does look like there is a small green algae bloom on a few rocks. I've lost most of my turbos...yet the hermits are ok. My large toadstool has its tenacles out as does my other leather. The colt is still smaller than usual but could be the rough housing the clowns are giving it.

I'll prob keep an update from time to time as to my rebuilding. Thanks everyone again for the support. I knew already that it is there....:)

[Kristy]

Hey Sherri,

So sorry to hear of the tank losses. We have never used chemiclean but we've used Red Slime Control a few times and had no issues whatsoever. We do have mostly softys and LPS with minimal SPS. Kristy has been out of town, and she usually handles all that. This last time I dosed I left the skimmer going and the carbon in. It did help with the red slime. Who knows...

Don't beat yourself up trying to figure out why, most likely it was something you couldn't know, forsee, or control. Each tank and setup, water conditions, corals, etc are different, who knows what exactly caused it.

That being said, shout if you need anything. You do an outstanding job for MAAST as treasurer and I am sure we will all take care of you in your time of need. I have a free frag of candycane if you are interested. Shout if you need anything.
-Mike (& Kristy)

[TexasTodd]

Yuk. So sorry to hear this Sherri.

You might want to contact the company to see what they say....may save someone someday from doing the same.

Hang in there.

Todd

[DrMark]

Very sorry to hear of the troubles, Sherri.
I am very leary of using any chemicals in my two big tanks and simply dont.
I have used the blue Life Red Slime Contron in my 35gal a ways back. It had a mixture of softies and LPS at the time. It worked well and didnt phase anything.
mark

[brewercm]

So sorry for your losses. I don't have much as far as stuff goes other than maybe a head of Frogspawn, but with as much as you've done for this club you are welcome to anything I can get a frag out of as soon as its available. I'm really hoping these Blastos take off below. As soon as they get going you get the first frag off of this colony if you want one.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z303/brewercm/Blastos.jpg

[wesheltonj]

I have used that stuff twice, once without a problem the second time dead clam. Its just erythromycin, but it kills bacteria good and bad. Not sure what happened, but sorry for your loss. Now's the time to sit back, relax and start planning out your rebuilding/restocking plan and then start restocking.

[Sherri]

wes....yes, I lost my beautiful clam too. Well...and yes, it is time to start replanning. Funny how I want most of the same fish I lost...starting with a small Blue Regal and a Flamehawk. I enjoyed their personalities the most. Thanks for the encouragement. :)

Cliff...thank you. I do for the club what I love. You all do too. And I would love a frag - beautiful pic...Good luck in building the colony. I am starting to get a bit of excitement in rebuilding now that the shock is wearing off. I just keep walking up to the tank going "wow."

[apedroza]

Sorry to hear about the crash, Sherri. Glad your sticking with it.

[OrionN]

We do tend to stick to the same fish that we had in the past. I guess it is because we like them that was why we get them in the first place.

[Sherri]

We do tend to stick to the same fish that we had in the past. I guess it is because we like them that was why we get them in the first place.

Hello Minh...:) It was you that gave me info on the orchid dottyback back then...reason I got them...

[R.Allard]

Sherri, i dont know what happened with your tank but i had a similar instance with red slime. now this was 15 plus years ago and all i could thing of was my sand bed had gone
toxic. remember back in the day when we were still using undergravel filters... yea i have been doin it that long... wow i feel old!! anyway everything was going fine for about two years and bam one day red slime showed up. almost two weeks to the day after the red slime showed up CRASH i came home to a milky white tank all my fish were dead. the tank was 78deg, the salt was 1.022 and the ammonia was through the roof.
im thinking that was from the fish. but the one thing i do remember was that i had
used a algae fix which was recommended by the LFS. wish i had just done big water changes.
sorry for your loss i know and feel your pain. if there is anything i can do let me know
Robert