Need Knowledge

[blazzent]

I have a few questions that have been floating around in my head lately, I hope someone can give me a little bit of education.
I have been staring at my tank for about 11 months now and I have gone through ups and downs. I have fought a case of bryopsis, which to be honest I thought I never would win. I have also lost two fish, a foxface and a coral beauty. My setup is simple, I have a 55g with hob skimmer and hob fuge and 3 power heads, with compact flourescent. I have around 55lbs of live rock. my current stock is 2 clowns, yellow watchman goby, and a lawnmower blen. I have mushroom corals, yellow polyps, zoes, and xenia. I do a 5 gal water change every friday and test for amonia, nitrate, nitrite,ph and po4 every 2 weeks. Everything seems to be going well all parameters are good. I have a healthy coraline growth that I am pleased with. Over all I am very happy that I started this hobby( if thats ok to call it that?)

My first question is, what is meant by system crashs?

What causes them?

What Can I do to prevent them?

Is there something I should be doing or checking for that I am not doing now?

 

[Mr Miagi]

Stability Promotes Success (which abbreviates too SPS.....a good tip there )!

Your current regime is good. A nice constant water change, and your willing to test regularly. Id probably step those water tests up to once a week if you felt the need. Perhaps before each water change, to see how the week before went water quality wise.

A tank "Crash" occurs when a few things happen. It could be one, it could be a mix of several factors. Many occur due to deteriorating water conditions, water chemistry, and poor stability. Another common occurrence is poor stocking choice and the eventual death, and subsequent decomposition resulting in an overload of waste, killing everything. The last I can think of is pretty hard to predict, and thats mechanical failure of something, could be a skimmer, heater, lights, circulation etc.

There are some simple steps to prevent it too. Continually monitoring water parameters to make sure for decent and desirable parameters, being thoughtful about what stock you add, and regularly check your equipment.

All things you probably do.

 

[SkiFletch]

I couldn't have said it better

 

[steelhealr]

Ditto. Some classic cases of nano system crashes that I have seen among friends:

1) Death of a flame scallop..nuked the tank
2) Death of a sea star..they deteriorate quickly and foul the water
3) Caulerpa, a macroalgae, goes sexual secondary to poor lighting or poor water conditions....releases nutrients into the tank

Well done Mr. Miagi. SH

 

[blazzent]

Thanks guys, as always I treasure the information you give and look forward to learning more from this site.

Thanks

Terry