What is your worst tank disaster?
- Thread starter Sticky90
- Start date
Palytoxin is a toxin contained by zoanthid and palythoa corals. It usually isn’t deadly, but would often cause coughing and a metallic taste in the mouth, among other things.
A number of years back I had to purchase 100 zebra plecos to get 30 more expensive and rarer fish I really wanted. Since i had been breeding zebras for some time, I knew I could sell them. I did intend to keep 10 for myself. I was down to the final 23 for sale.
I normally do most of my tank work on the weekend. One this particular weekend i was bleaching plants which had become algae covered. I used a 5 gal, bucket for this. I left the bucket in a part of the batroom away from all other containers. I broker for Lunch amd then went on cleaning tanks. It got late and I had one more tank to clean, the one with a breeding group of wild caught L173 and a few offspring. At the time the fish were not mine. the owner had sent them to me to try and spawn them and I had. the deal was any fry would be half mine. But I was tired and decided to wait until the next day.
The following day I threw out the old changing water and refilled the comtainers with new cahnging water and i went to work on the 173 tank. This is an under tank and I sit on a stool to work in it. I need to get somthing and I stood up and turned around. This left me facting a stang wotj a 50 on top and rhose 23 zebra under it. I had a buyer ask me on Friday would i sell him all 23 fish. I said let me think about over the weekend and I will let you know.
When I stood up and turned around, I was facing the two tanks. the 50 held about 100 amoano shrimp and i would put algae coverd planted into it and the srhimp would clean them for me. I notice there were pink things laying in the sand and that set off alarms. When I got to the tank I realized the amanos were all dead and had turned pink. And then I realized I had change the water in the zebra tank at the same time I did the amano tank, UH OH.
I dropped to my kness to check out the zebra tan. I saw no bosies and no floaters. But i saw a zebra under some wood. I puicked up the wood and the zerba rolled over and floated ti the surface. Yep all 23 zebras were dead. The buyer had been prepared to pay $150 each. They were 2 inch fish. Those fish were the difference between profit and loss. and were worth $3,450. The amanos were worth another $150 or so as they were decent size.
No water flooded though and no tank broke. Only my heart and my wallet.
p.s. It took me a couple of years to realize my mistake had caused it all.
I normally do most of my tank work on the weekend. One this particular weekend i was bleaching plants which had become algae covered. I used a 5 gal, bucket for this. I left the bucket in a part of the batroom away from all other containers. I broker for Lunch amd then went on cleaning tanks. It got late and I had one more tank to clean, the one with a breeding group of wild caught L173 and a few offspring. At the time the fish were not mine. the owner had sent them to me to try and spawn them and I had. the deal was any fry would be half mine. But I was tired and decided to wait until the next day.
The following day I threw out the old changing water and refilled the comtainers with new cahnging water and i went to work on the 173 tank. This is an under tank and I sit on a stool to work in it. I need to get somthing and I stood up and turned around. This left me facting a stang wotj a 50 on top and rhose 23 zebra under it. I had a buyer ask me on Friday would i sell him all 23 fish. I said let me think about over the weekend and I will let you know.
When I stood up and turned around, I was facing the two tanks. the 50 held about 100 amoano shrimp and i would put algae coverd planted into it and the srhimp would clean them for me. I notice there were pink things laying in the sand and that set off alarms. When I got to the tank I realized the amanos were all dead and had turned pink. And then I realized I had change the water in the zebra tank at the same time I did the amano tank, UH OH.
I dropped to my kness to check out the zebra tan. I saw no bosies and no floaters. But i saw a zebra under some wood. I puicked up the wood and the zerba rolled over and floated ti the surface. Yep all 23 zebras were dead. The buyer had been prepared to pay $150 each. They were 2 inch fish. Those fish were the difference between profit and loss. and were worth $3,450. The amanos were worth another $150 or so as they were decent size.
No water flooded though and no tank broke. Only my heart and my wallet.
p.s. It took me a couple of years to realize my mistake had caused it all.
It works either respiratory or in blood. The corals release the toxin in a liquid when stressed. When working on fragging and gluing them, they can release it. If out of the water, some of the toxin can get in the air. It usually is not enough to cause lasting damage, just mild cold like symptoms.
When I was working with them it got in the air and I guess I breathed some in without noticing. That was with a mask.
Best to wear a mask and gloves when working with these corals. Too beautiful not to keep...
This one wasn't enough, I had to top it:
650 gallons and a shotgun blast of glass shards!
What the...??? Twice in one month???
What's the story on that second fiasco? Is that a plywood tank with a metal reinforcing frame? How did it end up broken like that?
Finally, one question aimed not at M MinuteMan but rather many other posters on this thread: when you have a tank with huge volumes of water squirting/pouring out of it onto your finished floors and other interior furnishings...how on earth do you decide to grab a phone to snap a pic? That would be the last thing on my mind at that point!
No... THREE in one month, but the thread title was "worst tank disaster". Night after the 650 blew, one of the kids smacked a broom into the corner of a 75 gallon and... well:
As for pictures. The situations were as under control as I could get them before the thought of taking pictures crossed my mind.
Even with 1000 gallons having spilled into the floor this month, the only things damaged were some books, pictures and my ego!
As for pictures. The situations were as under control as I could get them before the thought of taking pictures crossed my mind.
Even with 1000 gallons having spilled into the floor this month, the only things damaged were some books, pictures and my ego!
