What happened?

[moreey]

I have had water and sand in my tank for about 3 weeks, filter system not running yet. Last night added 100#'s of LR to the tank and turned on my 1800 and 2500 power head. It's now 8:30am about 16 hours later and there is black stuff floating on the water a burnt rubber smell and both power heads are dead. What went wrong?

 

[Ryan22]

Are the powerheads Rio's?

 

[danmhippo]

I am guessing your powerhead shorted. Was it RIO?

It's good this happened early in the setup stage, and no one was hurt. BTW, did you install a GFI circuit breaker on the wall outlet?

I would disconnet both Powerhead, clean up the tank, and make large water change. Smell both powerhead and determin which one was the culprit. If the powerhead is rather new, try to get a refund from the LFS or the manufacturer.

 

[npaden]

Sounds like one of your rio powerheads went out and tried to take the tank down with it. I would suggest getting the rock out of there and putting it into separate buckets with freshly mixed saltwater. Hopefully it is salvagable.

Rio's have a VERY poor reputation for doing this exact thing. Maybe the only positive is that you didn't have the tank fully stocked with fish and corals when this happened.

FWIW, Nathan

 

[LA-Lawman]

npaden,

how did you get all that cool info next to your info when u post.....

 

[npaden]

I added it all under my "location". Took a little tweaking with spaces, etc. to get it to look right.

Heh. FWIW, Nathan

 

[moreey]

They are actually Azoo power heads. Both have about 1/8 inch hole in the same place and they are both dead. There is a black substance floating on the surface with a smell of burnt rubber. I just got home from work and was told to put activated carbon in the water that the burnt power head should not affect the rock negatively, but my rock smells like burnt rubber now. I definately needs some professional help.

 

[Will C1]

get the rock out quick. the oil in the water will harm the rock dont listen to who ever told you this. i have rio power heads that i am currently replacing just to be safe. i usually run mag drive pumps but they were cheap so i tried them out. i havent had a problem yet but i have seen to many bad story's to take the risk.

 

[moreey]

so the rock and the sand smells like burnt rubber, is it all trash?

I took a scoop of sand out and it smells, and took a few pieces of rock out and it smelled, is there any hope?

 

[danmhippo]

I am afraid that almost everything in the tank is history. Well, not quite, they may be still good as flowerbed fillings.

Consider sensitivities of the corals, I wouldn't trust chemical soaked seawater, and anything simmered in there.

 

[moreey]

even the sand?
can I wash the sand, it was southdown.

 

[moreey]

This is it?

 

[Anonymous]

It's gotta be hard to take. You might be able to get some kind of compensation from the manufacturer, I really don't know. I would put the live rock into large tubs (like 33gal trashcans) and hook up a righteous protein skimmer. If anything's gonna survive that's the easiest method. Let it set in there for 4-6 weeks.

The sand, that's a real bummer. Thing is, we can't tell you in good conscience that you can use it. It would be worse if you tried to squeak it, and went and put expensive animals in there and they croaked, right? Maybe, possibly, with time and lots of rinsing you might be able to salvage it, but it's really much better to be safe than sorry.

I'm bumming out with you, this is no good and not at all fun.