Massive Tank Disaster; Now what?

[Big Vine]

Aw man, sorry to hear about this, Jeff.
I'd try to give some insights as to what happened, but I'm not familiar at all with pressurized CO2 setups. (I keep picturing the DIY bubble-counter, which is designed such that this type of scenario is virtually impossible).

What TheMainer wrote sounds like a good theory though, so I'd bet that that's likely what took place. I just hope you get it figured out so that you can make doubly sure that this doesn't happen again down the road.

Best of luck in your tank recovery efforts.
BV

[NJmom2002]

OMG I can imagine how upset you are.. Im sorry for your loss. I have no idea on how to fix that stuff but good luck getting it back on track.

[Toam]

I'm really sorry to hear of your loss Jeff, but I must say, I have respect for you for not throwing in the towel. These mistakes happen, and it's best if anything to learn from it, and be better prepared for the future, which is obviously what you are doing. I wish you luck in locating a new L-134.

[VirgoWolf]

I don't even know what to say. I know you must be completely devistated as I would be if the same had happened to me. Gives me a little weary feeling about hooking up pressurized CO2 being that this is the second major disaster I have read about this week concerning them, but I am not put off just yet. I'm glad you can see the silver lining in all of this, I am not sure most of us could be so upbeat about it. I hope it's an easy fix for you and that you are even happier with your revamped tank than you were with the way you tank was pre-disaster.

[IDunnoWhy]

Sorry for your losses Jeff

I've not much to contribute here, but I'm glad to read your not going to "throw in the towel".

I've no doubt once you've got it all figured out, your tank will be back to beautiful in no time.

[burnt]

ouch man, its never good to loose a fish

[051009]

I'm curious too as to what could have caused this?

And what are your KH levels? I can't imagine that much CO2 getting dissolved into the water and plus, the bubble counter can't be the culprit cause it doesn't do anything but count and you'd still get the same CO2 injection rate with or without it.

[iamcowboy]

Condolences and wow sure makes me rethink the prospect of getting a pressurized system.

[FreshwaterJeff]

Well, here's what I learned today. I ran the CO2 again, and the "furious bubbling" had not happened as of the time I got home.

But it appeared that it was about to happen - the water in my bubble counter had once again almost completely evaporated.

I've been running the CO2 for about 5 days now on a 5 lb tank- I don't think this could be an "end of tank dump." Also, I watched the bubbles when i first switched it on this morning for a good 20 minutes - nothing but steady, single bubbles every 1.5 seconds or so.

It is very possible that the water simply went up the hose - but in that case, what normally keeps water from going up the hose? And what could have changed yesterday that pushed water out when it had been working correctly for 3-4 days?

Is this CO2 regulator/solenoid/needle valve/bubble counter completely shot, or is there some chance of making it function properly again?

[TheMainer]

Hmmm, I don't know then. If you have only been running the newly filled tank for 5 days, it definitely shouldn't be a tank dump. Could be that your needle valve is shot, not sure what else could cause such a huge release of Co2. I would keep an eye on your bubble rate for a few days and see how it goes. Definitely need to figure out the problem before more fish are brought into the picture.