% days in disney round two! dont get a fish sitter!

So I guess I didnet learn from my first trip! I went 6 months ago and came back to a nightmare this time I came back to a crashed tank! I dont get it! Seriously I just dont get how you can in 5 days destroy someones tank! All he had to do was add a bit of ro water that was already in a bucket right next to the tank! I want to yell. I lost my angel, My new sailfin tang, the hawk, my large blue hippo and 2 large yellow tangs are covered in ick! I dont know if I shoot him or myself! The ph is through the roof I am hoping its from the dead fish but im still new so I dont know. The nitrates are at 20 and the skimmer wasent working right and I asked him to turn the little dial on the side and put the bubbles to the little line I drew for him!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH I guess the gerbil is not spinning the wheel or something maybe its a monkey and its not clapping its cymbils! He is my GM for the co. Thank god he landscapes better then fish sitting. Sorry had to blow off some steam......

 

wow that sucks...and just in 5 days....

 

Sorry, it must be awful to come home to that.

 

Wow! That has always been my worst fear about going on vacation. You might want to take a look at one of my earlier posts on when I asked the members of 3reef what they do on vacations. http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/what-do-you-do-vacations-54303.html Last time I went on vacation I lost two of my fish, my dwarf voltare lion and a damsel that has been in my tank since the very beginning. I thought that bugger would never die.

Anyway, here are some my suggestions that you might want to consider for the future:

1. Don't use the person you used last time. ;D
2. Overfill your water level so that your fish sitter does not have to add water.
3. If your fish and tank can survive on flakes, use an automatic feeder.
4. Give your fish sitter the telephone number of your LFS so that they can call for help at the first sign of trouble.
5. Give your fish sitter your cell phone number so that they can call you.
6. Make sure that you have a back-up power supply in case the power goes off.
7. Since many kinds of fish can survive for a few days without feeding, consider not using anyone. (the cheapest way)
8. Consider using someone from your LFS to take care of your tank (the most expensive way)

I hope some of these help.

 

Very sorry to hear this as this is a nightmare that we all hope we would never experience.
So you lost absolutely everything?
What are you doing to the tank to get it back up and running before things get worse if they haven't reached the bottom of the doldrums yet!
That is unfortunate that so much destruction can play out in that short a period of time.
If their is one thing that we can gather out of your unfortunate nightmare...it is the fact that we can not take for granted the living animals we have in our aquariums.

Yes, they have the ability to do certain things on their own to help keep them healthy, such as grazing for food stuff, but in a closed system environment, these delicate animals are really at our mercy. Believe it or not they do rely on us for their success and being maintained in an aquarium setting and cannot be taken for granted!
If more of us can realize just how delicate an reef ecosystem is then maybe more regards for our living animals and a conscientious attitude towards protecting and ensuring that the plethora of diverse and delicate living organisms can have a chance at succeding, thriving and reproducing in life.
Hmmm, sounds similar to what we as humans would like to achieve, huh?
One more thing before I sound like a mother figure or to "preachy", This unfortunate series of events happened on a small scale, in a 220 gallon tank, which is serious enough, in and of itself, however as a good measure and learning/eye opener, think about our reefs of the world...this type of thing has been ongoing for years and unless education, realization and almost a sense of panic is not initiated and instilled in people and we become more conscientious in our protective efforts to preserve our delicate and beautiful reef biotopes, our reefs and the living animals that reside and rely on them for their survival are doomed. With this comes the harsh reality that our kids and their kids may never witness what was once, a truly remarkable, wonderous, important and beautiful element on this big round ball we call EARTH>
Hope everything works out in the end, and you are able to recover and continue to enjoy all that is associated with the marine hobby.
Karma to you!

 

I know how you feel! I work a lot, away from home during the summer. I can be gone up to 6 weeks at a time. I USED to have my son's watch my tank, but learned quickly, that every time I'd leave, something catastrophic would happen.

My mother-in-law now watches my tank. I have put the fear of Linda in her. Plus, I give here 50 bucks for having to drive into town. My closest fish place is an hour. I have a good relationship with them and they are there when I'm not, if the M-I-L needs. I also installed an auto top off for the water and timers for my lights. I make sure my filters are clean before I leave. I clean out my skimmer and have the one with the drain hole off the cup. I have tried to automate this tank as much as I can.

When I leave for a week, I leave detailed instructions.
1. Make sure this is doing this.
2. Make sure the temp is here.
3. Make sure you feed them this much.(and I watch her feed them)
I might even tell her not to feed them, and do it before I walk out the door.
4. If anything happens AT ALL, call this # and talk to ****.

Don't give up! Consider this a learning experience.

p.s. she now comes over just to sit and watch them, even when I'm home. she's picked out favorites too!

 

Hate to hear about the loss but YOU are going to have to take measures into your own hands. If this is your second trip to Disney then I'm taking it that you have extra money so why don't you invest in a ATO. For 5 days a mature tank can live on it's own without any food. There is equipment you can get to take care of a tank while you are gone. From the fish you have lost already you could have purchased some automated equiment.
Don't mean for this to sound like I'm battering you but I don't tend to icing the cake very well when I explain something. I have a tank full of hungry Tangs and I leave them with out food for about 5 to 7 days and they are fine.

 

I wonder what he did wrong? That seems like an awful short time to kill that many fish. They wouldn't even have time to starve to death. Did he accidently miss read your instructions and think it said "the bottle under the sink thats says bleach" instead of what it actually says "the bucket next to the tank that says RO/DI"

You said he is a gardener, maybe he was using some chemicals (weed or insect killer) and didn't wash his hands before feeding your fish.

 

My thoughts exactly - i dont see how not feeding them or topping the water off enough for 5 days could kill so many fish.
Sorry for your loss tho.
maybe you should run some polyfilter and carbon just incase its something else.

 

oach sorry to hear that. I was way from my tank for 5mths last year its always in the back of my head a crash, but keep positive learn from you mishaps
I hope you well