All tanks will crash

[Miniwhinny]

I was reading some older posts on one of the national boards this week and I came across a post where someones tank had crashed. The responses summed up to this...that all tanks will eventually crash and that it's not a case of "if" but "when".

 

So I have some questions ..is this true? Why? Are our tanks all doomed from the day we start them? What are the major causes of tank crashes and what can we do to avoid these situations before they happen.

 

Thanks.

[impur]

I donno. But i've read about ppl with tanks that haven't crashed for 10-15 years and still going strong.

[Miniwhinny]

Awesome...then whoever made this statement (can't find it now) was maybe tainted by a previous crash or two.

 

Sure hope my tank lives that long.

 

Does anyone know if BB, SSB or DSB would be more likely to survive long term?

[JManrow]

Here's a thread about a tank running for 35 years. It has been moved into different tanks, but still has much of the original setup. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=727454

 

I have heard a few people brag over the years how they never have to change water, but eventually they had an excuse for their tank coming down. (boredom, moved, etc.) (whistle)

As long as regular maintenance is done, along with regular partial water changes, a tank does not have to crash.

[oxx155]

Here's a thread about a tank running for 35 years. It has been moved into different tanks, but still has much of the original setup. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=727454

 

Actually if you read the last few pages his tank crashed a couple of months ago and he lost most of his corals.

I do think its inevitable, just depends on how good you are, you can't completely recreate nature, eventually you will make that small mistake that causes a major crash.

 

Sorry to sound like an ***, I surely hope I am wrong (for my tanks sake).

[andy]

Depends what you mean by 'crash' I guess. If you mean that semi-superstitious 'my tank was perfect, then out of nowhere everything just died' thing, I don't think it's inevitable. If you mean 'one small mistake and *boom*' type crash, then I suppose we're all at risk all the time -- $#!+ happens.

[mister crabs]

I agree. After all we ARE trying to play mother nature to some effect. We have done well at recreating a natural environment in a confined space but nothing lasts forever. Even real reefs are continuously crashing and rebuilding due to unforseen events (toxins, hurricanes, etc....)

[reefboy]

With proper maintenace you should never have a biological crash there are things that happen that can cause a die-off that we eithier cant control do to a buget(like chillers) or power outages or plain man or woman made errors( gota keep it equal in this hobby lol) the only time ive seen complete system meltdowns is when people went cheap didnt have right equipment to maintain a tank long term and they crash this usaly happens within a year or two on these systems and its usaly the folks that say they do low to none at all maintenace on there tanks.