I am so frustrated that I want to quit...

[Anonymous]

Oy Ernie. I am so sorry.

I guess the lesson to consider yet again is getting the best person you can to sit the tank, and then not trusting them anyway. I am lucky to have the most responsible person I know sit the tank, but I call him every other day to double check - and he knows to call me for any reason at all.

Again, so sorry for the losses Ernie.

 

[Markymarklar]

i recently had a near disaster myself. had a freind takin care of my tank for a week and aclamp came loose on one of my pumps, so the tank emptied down to the overflow. since the friend ihad takin care of it was so paranoid about my tank, she would check to see if everything was ok frequently. since she caught it in time, i didn't lose anything. i called my local lfs, which does house calls. to take care of the lost water and re-setting everything back up. i guess the moral of the story is to get a person you know and make them really paranoid about your tank so they are almost scared to touch anything. that way they will call you if anything remotley wrong has happened. kinda goes along with your quote ernie. sorry to hear about your losses just know the only real mistakes are those that were not learned from.

 

[Mouse]

Ouch, man thats gotta hurt.

 

[Anonymous]

Emithii, that stinks man. Sorry to hear about your loss. If this kid had taken care of your tanks before why was he so lax this time? Make him cut your grass for the rest of his natural life as punishment.

In light of this I think I'll hire a professional to take care of my tank next time I'm out of town for an extended period of time or someone I trust from the local aquarium society.

 

[ReefRian]

From what I've seen with my tank so far is that the water evaporates so fast when it's not covered compaired to how slow it happens with it is. Why not see if you can get a piece of glass for the top of the tank and sump or anything else that is so open and add a bubbler or something to bring in air while you are gone so you don't have to worry about evap.

Rian

 

[Carpentersreef]

That bites, Ernie....

I hope you're not serious about quitting! 8O

You are a GREAT resource for this board! I understand your frustration, though - I went away for 10 days and had a flood happen. A pipe had come off of my closed loop set-up, and the person looking after my tank was supposed to unplug the new $350 pump I had bought.....she unplugged a heater instead, and the pump ran without any water for I-don't-know-how-long......! :x

...sometimes I think our systems are too complex for their own good.

I wish I could send you some frags as well, but from Canada to the U.S.....it ain't gonna happen.

Anyways....Good luck with your new set-up! :wink: I look forward to some pics!

Mitch

 

[Mogo]

Sorry to hear that Ernie. I have also been there. Had the kid next door watch my tank after some exlpicit directions and a bunch of "what if" notes. Came back from vacation to some dead fish. He phoned me in the bahamas to tell me that he put the dead fish in the freezer. Then that helpless feeling set in. We got home and had tang for dinner Skimmer malfunctioned.

 

[Vixyswillie]

OMG - does that suck. Very sorry for your losses, Ernie, as little consolation as that is.

As horrible as it is to say, it only seems a matter of time before the law of dismal averages catches up with all of us in one way or another. And as expensive as this hobby already is, redundancy and failsafe mechanisms are not something that most of us willingly entertain up front. But right now, I'm wondering a lot more about the "wisdom" of that hasty dismissal.

What can/should we be doing differently??

 

[esmithiii]

Update:

List of corals lost:

A. millepora (neon purple, 4" in diameter)
m. digita (purple, 10" in diameter)
Acropora (tricolor, 5" in diameter)
Acropora (tricolor, 3" in diameter)
A. millepora (bright yellow, 4" tall)
Acropora (neon yellow, 4" in diameter)
Acropora (bright pink/purple 4" in diameter)
A. millepora (blueish grey, 6" tall)
A. valida (blue tips, 4" tall)

SPS that are healthy:
M. capricornis (orange)
M. digita (yellow-green)
M. capricornis (light brown)
M. capricornis (green w/ neon green polyps)
M. digita (orange)
Porites (burgandy)
Porites (tan)
Porites (bright green)
Pocillopora (tan)
Hydnophora (neon green)


Photos: Coral Cementary