BoringDave Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 So last night I did my usual and topped of the sump by hand. I haven't got around to installing all of my ATO yet. It was the usual 3 scoops of ro/di from my holding container with a 1 quart water pitcher. About 10 min later I walked by the tank and for some reason opened the cabinet door to look at the sump. It was full of bubbles! I thought what the hell? Maybe because I'm in between skimmers? (Have one in order at cuttlefish) so I pick some out to smell. Don't smell like sea foam, but don't smell right. So, I tasted it what could that hurt? Soap!!!!! So I turn off everything but the light and start investigating. I go check the top off water container, kinda agitate the water with my hand. Bubbles!!! So I taste them, what can it hurt? Soap again!!!!! What the hell? I start asking around the house. Come to find out when I was moving my ro/di water container from the laundry room (where I have to make ro/di) a curtain fell into it and I immediately removed it. Didn't think much of it, thought what could it hurt? Well, it was soaked in fabric softener or laundry detergent a few months ago when one of the kids spilled some and was never washed. Was just left to dry. My wife doesn't like looking at the washer and dryer so she hung curtains in front of them. In order for me to do my work in there I have to hang them off to the side. One of them came unhung and fell in. Just a split second! But I guess it was enough. In order to remedy the soap in aquarium problem. I Immediately dumped the storage container and rinsed with vinegar and water several times with a garden hose. I filled it back up to the maximum of 25 gallons with water from the sink matching the tanks temp as close as possible. Sink water was my last ditch effort. But it is from my private well with a TDS reading of 58. Mixed up a water change as fast as I could. Drained the sump and did a 25 gallon water change. 25 gallons was all I could do, that's the largest container I have right now. I removed my bubble trap foam in my RS-75 sump and packed as many bags of activated carbon I could in there so every gallon of water would have to pass threw it. Fired everything back up hoped for the best and went to bed. To my surprise everything was still alive this morning when I got up. No more bubbles no more soap smell. So hopefully everything still the same when I get home tonight after work. I'm planning on doing another 25 gallon water change then if everything looks good. What a way to get back into the hobby! By the way sorry for any misspellings poor punctuation also bad grammar. My younger life was not so good and I missed a lot of school. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) For years I also made water in the laundry room...never had this happen, but I always wondered if soap or softeners would wipe everything out or not. So maybe just consider this an experiment lol. I hope everything does ok, please update! What kind of corals do you have? Edited May 21, 2015 by Mandinga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Wow! I bet your tank is super clean now [emoji6]. Seriously though nice save. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Yeah amazing save man. When I use to do freshwater back in college I had a friend give me his fish while on summer break and store his tank in my storage unit. Soap got dumped into the tank while it was stored. Kept his fish alive for 2-3 months before returning after break. Day 1 after he fills the tank and puts all the fish I just babysat all summer back in, they die in a matter of hours. He says "I was wondering why it was bubbly on the surface...." So don't start a tank and go to bed right away LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoringDave Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 What kind of corals do you have? Just what came on the rock when I got it from Jesse. Soft stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoringDave Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 I'm not chalking it up as a save yet. I won't be home until four so we'll see then. Most I'm worried about is the rock and sand bed. If the soap got into that to deep I maybe screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bevo5 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I once messed up the freshly painted back glass of a new tank and decided to just do some quick touch ups. So I spray paint it and everything is ok....I set the tank up and grab a paper towel to wipe some dust off the inside glass - paper towel comes up black...covered in specks of spray paint. Yeah, I didn't cover the top when I sprayed the back. I filled up and wiped down the tank 3 times (180g)...until I could wipe a paper towel around the entire thing without a single speck. Ran ultra heavy carbon all night and had to keep fish in a rubbermaid..... It was all ok though. But close to being pretty dumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I don't think you're an idiot.. and you're certainly not boring. You didn't know there was detergent on the curtain and you acted quickly. That's all you can do. Softies have a chance to make it. If it was sps I would be worried about them slowly rtn'ng. I grabbed the wrong dobie sponge to clean the acrylic and it had dish soap on it. Not much got in the tank and it was over 300 gallons of water so it didn't make much difference at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softy Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I hope everything is just fine for you when you get home! That would suck.... I would be thinking about it all day at work! oh man... sorry that probably didn't help! Best of luck! keep us posted! And at least your fish should be nice and shiny now!! Maybe some stains came out!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteRock Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) Yikes! We've all done one bonehead thing at least once (if your lucky) during this hobby. Sounds like you had a pretty swift and solid recovery. Well done. Edited May 21, 2015 by PeteRock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoringDave Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 Well I'm home and everything's still alive, does not look like anything had ever happened. I have had the ro unit cranking along since this happened last night so I have good water again. So I guess I'll mix up another batch of Coral pro. I think this time I'll let it mix longer then 20min before doing the water change. Well, we now know you can use Coral Pro instantly after mixing if you really really have to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoringDave Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Well, I just got done with the second water change. I mixed this batch up as soon as I got home. I know that I should wait 24 hours but I think this is the lesser of two evils. This time I drained off the 25 gallons then added the new really slow not to disturb even a grain of sand. During the entire process the few corals that I have didn't even retract and the two fish just looked at me funny. I left the carbon packs where they are for now. But, When should I remove them? I don't currently have a skimmer. Should I just leave them until my new one shows up next week or just pull them and go back to my bubble foam and water flow? Each one is pretty good sized. They were meant to be used in one of them Rena (sp?) canister filters. Currently not so BoringDave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Well I'm home and everything's still alive, does not look like anything had ever happened. I have had the ro unit cranking along since this happened last night so I have good water again. So I guess I'll mix up another batch of Coral pro. I think this time I'll let it mix longer then 20min before doing the water change. Well, we now know you can use Coral Pro instantly after mixing if you really really have to. Great news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swoop Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 When I first started in the hobby I would ump the old water into a garbage can and add some bleach to clean my coral decorations. Well I messed up and pumped the bleach water into the tank instead of the new saltwater. Noticed most of my fish acting really weird then it dawned on me what I did. Managed to save all the fish but that was one mistake I NEVER made again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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