Always amazes me how many people post negative comments on such an honest video. Everyone has to start somewhere, and marine tanks are not exactly plain sailing. I agree a single dead snail should not crash a tank. BUT... the filtration system stock should also be able to handle that. Having read the majority of comments I find the most applicable to be the lack of rock. I was lucky enough to have an excellent LFS staff with abundant knowledge when I started - with this very tank. They suggested at LEAST 10% of total tank volume in KG of rock as it indeed is the single most important bio filter, combined with a good flow. I upgraded the standard media filters over time. I think this is a cracking video and I salute you on your honesty and willingness to help those getting into the hobby.
@Pletharoe hey pleth. 100% on the money. I made follow up videos acknowledging the lack of bio media was a crucial factor I missed. Like you said I was only sharing my experience and part of that experience was my own rookie mistakes. Honestly I didnt read every comment and look at them as negative. I read them as learning opportunities. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to watch and comment. Appreciate the support for the channel. Have a great day and enjoy the videos after the crash. It's been a pleasant journey
Sorry to hear about your loss. Similar happened to me 10 years ago, now just getting back into it in the last 6 months. Learning lessons are important but can stink. Peace
Thank you for your kind words James. More motivated now than ever before. Thank you for taking time to comment. Have a great day/night wherever in the world you are
Sorry to hear about your tank crash, as it seems like a perfect storm of events that occurred one right after another. We just got our first reef tank a couple months ago and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fear a situation like this happening to us as well in one form or another, as we really care about every living thing in our tank and try our best to keep them all happy and thriving. Surprised you have just over 200 subscribers with the quality of your videos. Looking forward to watching more from you to continue learning something new every day about reef keeping.
Thank you so much for the kind words. I wanted to share this experience so if it does happen to you atleast you will know what to expect. And ahh youtube algorithms are hard to crack. I only started the channel to share my aquascaping builds and to help people get into aquascaping. I honestly don't care for the views or subs. It's a bonus that I have even 200 subs. I'm just obsessed with creating planted tanks and in the last 2 years obsessed with corals. I'm still learning everyday about the complexities of reefing and now decided to share my reefing experience with everyone. Thank you for the support on the channel and taking time out of your day to comment. I appreciate it.
@@rtaquascapes My pleasure! Your video was definitely helpful to a relative beginner at keeping a reef tank like myself. I’ve had freshwater planted tanks for over 15 years now, and never saw myself getting into salt water, but once I started learning about it, I got hooked on the hobby, and still have 4 other planted tanks as well. Hoping to get a second much larger reef tank at some point if my wife will go for it (currently have a 26 gallon Red Sea MAX Nano Peninsula tank), as we’d love to be able to get a wider variety of corals and fish that we can’t accommodate in the 26 gallon tank. As a fellow RU-vidr in the fitness space, I definitely understand the frustration and difficulty with the algorithm, though I can’t complain as I’ve done fairly well so far given the fact that I’ve only made about 22 videos in 2.5 years. Quality over quantity is my motto, and it’s always worked well for me as adding value while keeping people interested & entertained is not only the most important thing, but also the key to success with the algorithm since it keeps people watching & wanting to see more. Looking forward to seeing more videos from you going forward and learning from your experience, as I certainly still have much to learn.
@@FitLabb wow just going through your channel now. Ive just recently started my weight loss journey and lost 10kgs through diet alone. I want to start exercising as well which will definitely help with further weightloss. great work on your channel so far. I will be watching your videos for tips on my own personal development. Good on you for inspiring other people !
Sorry for you loss.... this video scared the shit out of me. I had 3 dead snails laying for days in my tank. I got them out of there mid video. It is a 100 gallon tank, i hope there is no damage.
This is a very real reefing story I can relate to. I have been on the brink of losing my tank for 2 years. Something is always dying, going wrong or otherwise just isn't right. Still can't figure out what is wrong...this is the most frustrating and expensive hobby I have ever taken on. Just hoping someday in the near future I get to enjoy some success instead of constant failures
i definately know the feeling mate. Hang in there. It does get better. Sometimes its better to start from scratch and learn from all the mistakes you have made with the previous tank. Thats what i did and am experiencing success. What i found as i detailed in the video was mostly my fault with lack of bio filtration (needed more rocks), Not Quarntining fish and corals before adding to display. Its all part of the reefing journey. dont be too hard on yourself. If this was easy, everyone would have reef tanks haha. you got this !
Sorry to hear man hopefully you bounce back. Like others, doubt the 1 snail dying would crash a system. It was probably something else but u will prob never find out. Thats marine for ya, its a whole another level versus freshy/planted tanks.
Hey jk ! Spot on mate. I later also identified i did not have enough biological filtration to cope with the crash. I addressed this when I set up the flex again. New update video just posted yesterday. Check out the other vids as well before them on how I addressed the bio filtration when I upgraded the flex. New vid link below. Thanks for watching and supporting the channel bud. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TOtOP8iUtwo.htmlsi=ftO3iBl3oufYNMJJ
Sorry for your lose, that's never a good thing. But all seriousness now, all these AIO especially 120 Liters of it, how can half a hand full of media in that sponge can even begin to help in anyway !? i got the 120l flex and the first thing i did was remove the whole filter system on the back wall where the water runs on the side wall, idk what fluval were thinking....so i installed a Fluval FX6 with 4.5 kg of biohome ultra and my parameters are always %100. I hear your pain and sorry once again. Don't let it discourage you !! keep battling.
Hey Tony, I have addressed the bio filtration issue in the update video I did. I added bags of marine pure media in the in built sump as well as added an additional shark filter. Bio filtration definitely not going to be an issue in the future. Also added a skimmer. I'm back on the reefing horse. Definitely a lesson learnt. Thanks again for watching Tony. Appreciate the support on the channel. Appreciate all tips provided. You can check out the upgrade video link below: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yyy5e_nnnII.htmlsi=3_wm_JKa1OAj4J6h
Hey thats good to hear ! do u find that marine pure is very dusty ? i tried it once but i found a lot of dust just them rubbing on each other...keep up the good work !!
@Tony-yy9cc I find they are dusty when handling them but once they are placed in the media bag and kept in a low flow area of the sump no dust particles are noticed.
I'm thinking about purchasing the Fluval flex 32.5 this week and starting my journey in Salt water fish. What filter did you end up adding on top of everything else and any other feedback you could provide?
Hey dustin Link below of the upgrades I completed. Hope you enjoy. Most importantly I added a ton of rock for bio filtration. Hope the video helps and reach out if you have any questions. Enjoy your tank mate. I love the flex. Thank you for watching and supporting the channel
It's wild to me that a single snail did that to your tank. I don't even think I've ever removed a dead animal from my tank. Over time I must have had hundreds or thousands of snails die in my tank... I just let nature do its thing. I never water change and I have no skimmer, socks, etc... just a refugium and as natural of an ecosystem as I can create. That means I love algae and encourage its growth and have a robust system of invertebrates in a form of major CUC. Sorry for your situation and I hope your new adventures go smoothly.
Hey Matt, at the time I failed to take note of the lack of bio filtration in my tank. If I could re make the video I would definitely add this factor. But yes the crash did hurt but I got back on the horse and I'm 8 months into the restart with good success. Thank you so much for watching mate and taking time out of your day to support the channel. Good luck with your tanks mate.
I agree you're not going to crash a tank by having a snail or to die. I've got a 13.5 fluval and first thing I did was throw away that sponge filtration that was with the system. I just use a protein skimmer in chamber 1 and in-tank media filter in chamber 2. They say your media should be the last sing the water goes through or over in your fluval. Kind of defeating the purpose when you just use filter floss on the bottom rack and using media above it to control ammonia and nitrates. On the bottom of my intake basket I used that bonded white and blue filter media floss. Above it I have a small bag of bio gems and sitting on top of the Bio gems I use seachem carbon bag. I then after a couple months decided to buy a very open media bag and threw in a large amount of Bio gems. That sits directly on the bottom of chamber 2. I've got a super clean tank and my snail population has dropped off due to lack of food. So anytime my snails kick the bucket I just leave them in the tank and my blue legged hermit crabs and Scarlett crabs go to town and completely clean up the dead snail. Bulls filter sponges fluval include in their AIO should be banned! Sorry about your loss and thanks for the video.
Just sae you post this on a fb group. The snail 100% did not crash your tank. I had snails die off in a 4 gallon cube that was a couple weeks old and even in that there was no ammonia. I really hope you are testing your own water and not letting an lfs do your teating for you. What was the ammonia level during the crash?
Hi Knar, thank you for commenting. This is something i havent stopped thinking about and im definately open to suggestions. i initially tested my own water however started finding my alk readings were not right using my test kits. so started using my lfs every week. They use the Spin Photometer Test Kit which is way more accurate than my salifert test kit. I agree with you a single dead snail rotting away shouldnt crash my tank, however i believe the snail was the catalyst of my tank crash. I was running the flex stock filtration which came with minimal bio media. When i recently upgraded the flex i packed the inbuilt sump with a ton of marine pure balls to build better bio filtration just incase this happens again. The filter blocks i believe turn into a bit of a nitrate factory. Either way with the new upgrades i can definately rule that event out if it ever occurs. If you have any other advice, feel free to let me know. Im approaching this second go with patience.
Hey jooooi. No not at all but certainly was the catalyst of the crash. The bio filtration in the tank at the time was insufficient to deal with a dead snail. It seems my filter block wasn't running efficiently either. I discovered this when I broke the tank down getting it ready for the upgrade video I made recently. The above combiner with the rookie mistakes I made of not qt new fish and pests certainly all combined to crash the tank. Hope that helps clear things up. Thanks for taking time out of your day to watch and comment. Have a great day joi.
Hey reef, I was running stock at the time which clearly wasn't enough bio filtration in the event of a crash. I have upgraded the tank recently which I documented in a recent video. Tagged below for your convenience. Thanks for watching and have a great day mate. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yyy5e_nnnII.htmlsi=TqsY3kuXBPOpTlWy
Prime detoxifies ammonia in emergency situations. May have bought you more time.. also adding Beneficial bacteria in a bottle. But as you said perfect storm and every change you made caused more havoc. Bounce back my man we all been there. Subbed 💪🏾💯
Thank you cj you made a great point about prime and adding bacteria! Honestly in my haste there were small things like this that would have helped and bought me time. Definitely a great lesson learnt and won't be taking any short cuts going forward. Qt from now on and will be keeping a bottle of prime handy always. At the time I felt like I was doing everything I could to save the tank but it's only after the chaos do you get time to honestly reflect back. Haha ahh you live and you learn. Love reefing, will never master it but I'm sure as hell pumped up to get pretty damn close. Thanks for your support mate and taking time out of your day to share some helpful tips.
Right? I had a snail die, and my clean up crew cleaned the entire shell out in 2 days. I have an 8 gallon and my nitrates practically went down during that time.
Sorry about your loss, I have the same tank so it's a bit scary to see it happen. I have had a few snails die in my tank, but I have a sand sifting star fish which I believe ate the dead snails.
Hi Andre, thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately I did not have hermits or a cleaner shrimp in my display tank. At the time i only had the snail and a conch. The conch wasn't interested in cleaning up. At times he goes underground for a couple weeks before he's up to eat again. This was a great learning experience for me. No more shortcuts and will always qt and dip corals going forward. Clean up crew will be increased as well. When I upgrade the tank, i will be using a skimmer as well whixh i wasnt running previously. Dont stress about your tank. If you are running it stock, i would suggest never missing weekly water changes and adding additional filtration if ever required. The stock light is capable of taking care of softies and some lps. I am also upgrading my light as part of flex upgrade whixh is the new a.i blade grow light. I will upload soon once the light arrives.Thank you for taking time to comment. I appreciate it.
You have so little live rock in both tanks, they are the biggest and most important filter in a Marine tank, a dead snail should not have crashed your system, I suspect that was due to lack of biological filtration. I had a damsel die (got into a fight with one of my clowns) I couldn't get to it's body so it decomposed in my tank (Fluval 32.5G) and caused no issue to the water quality at all. I would recommend adding a lot more rock to mitigate against ammonia spikes but also for the well being of the fish, their natural habitats are full of rocks and caves, places for them to hide and to create territories with. I know the trend for minimal reef tanks looks cool but I think long term it's doing more harm to the fish (and the hobby) than it's worth.
Completely agree with you michael. When i upgraded the flex i added more rock as well as bio media. Hindsight is a beautiful thing. Definately learnt from my mistakes. thanks for your helpful tips. have a good day.
I'm really sorry to hear about your tank crash. Unfortunately I am very familiar with what you have been dealing with. Years ago, I got a kole tang and didn't quarantine it. It wiped out the majority of fish in my tank. Just late last year, I had a heater fail in the on position and it cooked ALL of my acropora, which included colonies that have been growing for years. I'm glad to see that you are not giving up. This is a great hobby, but there are just so many pitfalls that can get you. Keep it up. I'll be watching the channel.👍🏾
Thank you gwonk. This was a great learning experience for me. You are right ! This is an amazing hobby. Been keeping freshwater planted tanks for many years but reefing is such an awesome and demanding beast. This has spurred me on to take on the challenge and give it the time and respect it deserves. Sorry to hear about your crash and thank you for supporting the channel. Please feel free to comment and provide as many tips as I'm open to learning and sharing. Have a great day !
I feel your pain, my chiller died and I live in Queensland, entire tank was dead in a day. After that I turned into a freshwater tank and got cichlids again. Reef was great but you need cash / time - something only retirees really have.
I had my first crash not too long ago. Lost all my coral and my prized tang. as well as all the clean up crew. I had a refugium light yeet itself into the sump whilst i slept as a cat thought itd be a good idea to use my xr30 fuge light as a trampoline. (perfect nightmare scenario, sump doors open with fan in front to dry out a small spill from wc the night before. someone peeked in the room and didnt shut the door all the way when they left and cats snuck in) light fell in, skimmer overflowed. stray voltage and an ammonia spike is what did it in for the most part. BUT. i have to admit it was the greatest learning experience ive had as a reefer. Since then, the tank has risen like a pheonix from the ashes. currently stocking a whole bunch of acros, and other sps and a few bits of LPS. Can't wait to see where you go next as you reimagine your tank. I restructured a whole lot in my sump and such and did a lot of thinking of how to better my tank and which direction i wanted to go. Good luck to you and thanks for sharing!
Sorry for your loss but Thank you so much for sharing your experience. And loved the description of your tank rising from the ashes haha. Your story had me captured. Thank you for the support on the channel as well. Everyone who has watched the video have been kind and provided me with some thoughts to take away for my next build. Have a great day and catch you in the next vid.
The majority of nitrifying bacteria live on surfaces so you can always do a major (>50%) water change as long as you match temperature and pH in emergencies. Also having extra live rock in chambers can help too.
Thank you Thomas. You make a great point. In my haste to address the ammonia spike and visually watching the fish struggling to breathe I missed matching ph and temperature. This would have compounded on the issue for sure. Definitely a great learning experience and next time I will be better prepared for such an event. Appreciate the tip.
Ah mate it was heart breaking going through it but such a good learning experience. Qt is so Important and I won't be taking any shortcuts anymore. Lesson learnt haha. But yes upgrades coming soon. Bought a skimmer, new lid, new light (a.i blade grow) and going to use an internal filter for additional filtration. Just waiting for the light to be delivered. Thanks for the kind words and support ! 🙏
Thank you Jill. I appreciate you taking time comment and supporting rhe channel. This was a great learning experience for me. No more shortcuts. Qt from now on for me. 😀 thank you for subscribing to the channel.
Sorry for your loss. I'm lucky to have friends who almost always denied me every opportunity to buy non qt fish. My tank kills coral. It teaches me to love all corals. Lol I never thought I'd love leathers and mushrooms. Since nothing else grow. I love the survivors. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for your kind words. You are very lucky to have friends that watch out for you! No more shortcuts for me from now on. Qt everytime ! Its great to hear how passionate you are as I love reefing and its turned into an obsession now. Thank you also for commenting and supporting the channel. I'm looking to build a close knit community of tank obsessed friends haha.
Thanks liberty. When I watched it and realised the sound was too low in the beginnings I wanted to kick myself 🤣. And yes it was a great learning experience for me. No more shortcuts. Qt from now on ! Thank you for the kind words and support on the channel. I'm open to learning as reefing is still new to me and in a way I'm glad I experienced this early.
Thank you kranjit. It was actually Lenny, not Larry. Thank you for taking time out of your day to comment. Have a great day and hope you enjoy the channel.
Hey man really don’t want to be a hater but the snail death was not the reason for your tank crash. Hope you keep reefing though, this will just be a lesson
Thanks Brian. It's been a great learning experience for me. QT is definitely going to happen going forward. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. No more shortcuts. Thank you for your support on the channel.
No worries and I enjoy the channel. I just lost a 4 headed torch and hammer coral due to an issue on equipment from Red Sea. Issue was with a return nozzle holder. Red Sea was on top of it which was cool. I did the same as you by adding additional flow which helped the others survive tell I received the new part. As we know it’s all part of having a tank. Take care !
Every since I have done a Father Fish deep sand bed my reef tank has been permanently stable I'll never ever go back to gravel or shallow bed. I swear by it. Father Fish channel.
Thank you candy. I have already bought sand for a deep sand bed when I upgrade the flex for the next video. Appreciate your support and taking time out of your day to comment.
That guy claims to have kept pygmy seahorses 20+ years before they were discovered and doubled down when asked to clarify if it was dwarf seahorses he meant. There is a reason people don't use dsb anymore and I wouldn't take his advice on saltwater he seems to either be very confused or lies about his salt experience.
@@KnarBurger i wasnt even aware he did salt water. from my understanding DSB are bad in reef tanks due to he build up of toxic gasses that pool and if released or stirred up will kill most things. But i mainly get my advice on reefing from BRS and my LFS lol i might be wrong.
What's up G. I usually don't recommend my videos. But I had a real tank crash, probably most popular on RU-vid. I think you might benefit just by watching a few of my videos on how I do things. Your system is very similar to mine.
Thank you point I did look it up and how dangerous it could be. You raise a very good point. I avoided using it initially and waited until it was a last resort. Luckily I saved 2 fish. But yes next time I made a vid I will mention the dangers of using formalin. Appreciate you commenting.
@@HezamBBQ I medicated appropriately as per the instructions. Formalin is a very strong treatment however and if used incorrectly it could be dangerous to your live stock.
@@rtaquascapes sorry If this is annoying but I wanna learn from this. But can I ask why did they die from what? You seem to react fast and they were eating after the treatment but they still died even with treatment. Was it too late
@@HezamBBQ hey hezam. The clowns died from brooklynella. It's a parasite that lives under their skin. It is a fatal disease and will end in death. By using formalin it was a last ditch measure to try and save them. Yes they did start eating again however the symptoms never stopped. Symptoms( mucous slime on their body, white spots increased on their body). I only used formalin when I later diagnosed them with brooklynella. Weeks before when they showed signs of flashing I only treated by using freshwater dips and monitoring. I did not want to rush adding chemicals earlier on until I full understood what parasite I was dealing with. Does that provide some clarity ?
Very surprised your biological media and rock wasn’t able to handle the spike of a small snail dying! Perhaps you didn’t have any scavengers to eat it first?
Yea I was extremely surprised myself Matt that the bio couldn't cope with one snail. I also had 2 nasarius snails but they weren't interested. I've avoided putting hermits in the tank as I didn't want to have to worry about new shells and aggression between them but in hindsight they could have helped. Either way a very good learning experience.
