Phosphate remover gone bad... PLEASE HELP

[Shnabbles]

I had 2 2 little fishies Phosban Reactores set up.. 1 was running phosban and another was running carbon... because of inproperly mixed 2 part being added to the tank the phosphate remover completely binded up and basically turned to concrete, so i shut the valve off to that phosban reactor so all of the flow was still running through the 1 phosban reactor running carbon..

Well a couple weeks go by and i notice the hose going to the phosban reactor that is shut off has turned completely black and something seriously smells. So i removed that reactor right away.

But now its like a bomb went off in my tank... almost all of my inverts have died or a lethargic... the flesh from my frowgspan just blew right off the skeleton, there are dead or dying bristle worms all over the place.

I have changed out over 100 Gallons, and im skimming seriously wet... I have also replaced the carbon 2 times in a weeks time.

Is there anything else i should do... is there any hope of turning things around?

PS. all fish are fine... just corals and inverts doing horrible.

[Tang Salad]

Wow, that sounds awful. Was there water left in the reactor while it was off? Nasty stuff forms in stagnant water (H2S), and I wonder how the PO4-remover would react to all that. I guess you found out!

I'd continue doing your WCs, skim wet, and put in a Polyfilter. Remove dead stuff as soon as it dies.

[Shnabbles]

Crazy thing is my nitrates and amonia were all still 0 after this... but like i said i came home from work one day and was like damn i can smell the skimmate all the way in the basement.. which did need to be cleaned out... but even after it was clean i could still smell this funk.. .so i pulled out the not working reactor and WOW stinky stink...

Im actually out of salt right now, but sunday we are going to That Fish Place to stock up on salt with there buy 4 buckets get 1 free sale.

This is the worst thing that has ever happend to any of my tanks... Hope things start changing soon... iv actually noticed a few snails moveing when the lights were out.

[Tang Salad]

Sounds like the worst may be over. Pick up a Polyfilter when you can, there's no telling what got into the tank.

How much of the junk from inside the reactor got into the tank?

[Shnabbles]

I dont think any of the or at least very minimal of the actual phosphate remover because i had the flow valve completely shut off... but what was still in the reactor turned black and i guess rotted.

I just looked inthe tank (lights are off) i saw 2 fighting conchs moving, a couple hermits moving, and a jumbo nassarius i hadnt seen move in 2 days moving around alittle..

I was planning on restocking my clean up crew at That Fish place also while i was there... or do you think its to early to do that i dont want to spend 200 on inverts just to have them all die... but algae and funk on the sand is building up quick with all of them being ill or dieing off.

By Polyfilter do you mean just like a filter sock? How long is the carbon in the reactor good for? I last changed it on wednesday.

[Tang Salad]

Polyfilter is a namebrand white filter material that is chemically treated to remove many toxins. Any LFS will have it. It came to mind because it's hard to say what specifically nuked your tank. a,d a P;filter couldn't hurt, might help, and is cheap.

There's a lot of discussion about longevity of carbon, some say it loses efficacy quickly within hours of hitting the water. If I was in your shoes I'd be changing out small amounts twice daily. Again, it's cheap and it helps a lot.

[Shnabbles]

Thanks Tang salad ill pick up a Polyfilter ASAP and change the carbon first thing tomorrow.