I'm just so MAD and SAD! WARNING TO ALL!

[jawwad2004]

HAHAHA, thanks bro, I understand what your saying.

 

[ShaunW]

Shaun, that looks like the cause of your problems.
FWIW, Sean had some large polyfilters if you need a lift there let me know, i think the store is open till 8PM.

Robert, thanks! I unfortunately didn't make it there in time! SUCKS!! So tomorrow I must go, but I made up RO/DI water for a massive water change.

OH SHEET! Shaun now that I think about it, my problems started after I added my chiller which is using an old MAG5 as a feed pump. I'll also try replacing the pump to see if my corals bounce back.

What pump are you going to use as a replacepmet?

Rich, it is so depressing my tank was kicking A$$! and now this happens. I don't have any replacement pumps and need to order some ASAP on Monday. I only have now my main pump and my chiller pump working! Keep an eye on any Mag drives since the screws are metal (why wouldn't they rust over time in salt water?, :banghead: )

Shaun,

Man, I dread that - I need to go and check all my pumps now since I exclusivly run Mag drives on my accessories.

Let me know if you need any frags of corals I have to replace ones that you lost. Also, I have the new one I got from Midnight Madness.

House

Thanks Jim! I lost the purple slimer because of this!

OMG!!!!! I was wiring my halides while it was in the canopy over the tank, and a small piece of wiring fell into the tank! I cant find it! What should I do???!!!!!!

Depending on the size you really should try and find it! You must run polyfilters as a bare minimum. The problem is the effects are going to be long lasting if you don't find it, since the metal will rust slowly overtime, being a "thorn in your side" for some time to come.

THANKS ALL FOR ALL THE KIND WORDS OF SUPPORT. This hobby can be so depressing at times!!!!

 

[herman]

Solby,
If youre anywhere in the city on Monday I can bring a Mag5. I have a spare one lying around. Just lket me know PM me

 

[ShaunW]

at least you found the cause. lets hope the coral will recover once any metal is out of the water.
scary, in a closed system it does not take much to affect things.

SPS are incredible sensitive to the effects of heavy metals!! i.e. iron toxicity, Cu also! etc.....

They are the canary in the coal mine for such things. Given time I am sure my tank would have crashed completely!

 

[ShaunW]

Solby,
If youre anywhere in the city on Monday I can bring a Mag5. I have a spare one lying around. Just lket me know PM me

Thank you for the offer, I do appreciate your help!

But I no longer trust Mag drives, so there is no way that I am putting another one of those in my tank!

 

[herman]

I hear ya man!! I hope that everything will turn around for you dude!! Just how did you ever discover that? It would never enter my mind to take apart my pump to check for rust cause I would not expext it to.

 

[ShaunW]

I hear ya man!! I hope that everything will turn around for you dude!! Just how did you ever discover that? It would never enter my mind to take apart my pump to check for rust cause I would not expext it to.

I basically tried/checked every thing else! Process of elimination! I have been doing repeated water changes every weekend, 40 gallons of a 160 gallon system for the last month. I would see some benefits from the water change for about 3-4 days and then my tank would go back to it's problems after every water change that I did. That was a tell tale sign that it was a mechanical problem! IMO

Test kits are not as sensitive as just visual observation of the life in your tank. If you know what is normal behavior for them (SPS) you can easily see when something is going wrong. Also SPS bleach from the tips when water toxicity is an issue.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Hey Shaun,

Sorry to hear about those Mags and your tank. I really hope it bounces back cause you know i was WoWed when I saw it. If you need help with anything let me know. I'll be around monday if you need anything.
-Kris

 

[cali_reef]

Most pumps use stainless steel screws to hold pump housing in place, SS will rust over time and salt water just accelerate the process even faster. The cheaper pumps uses chrome\nickel plated steel screws and they just rot thru faster. I have a few Mags and they all look like your picture after a year or two. The best thing to do would be not having any metal parts in contact with tank water if you think the iron is killing your corals.

As for the wire dropped in the fish tank, most wire are made from copper, it will leach into your tank over time. Pretty sure it is not good for the invertebrates. Not so sure about using a magnet to fish out the copper wire, most wires don't have enough iron in it for the magnet to work.

 

[spykes]

shaun, we can order Titanium replacement screws for the drives. the pump is a good pump just danner uses cheap screws =/

 

[House of Laughter]

Dave,

You should find/post a link to those Ti screws (deanos??) so that we can all benefit.

I have a Mag 12 and Mag 7 both brand new on my tank and will likely go with an external now to run my skimmer and feed my frag tank and fuge.

Shaun, lucky for you, I have another frag of that colony and things have really started to perk up in my tank since adding the TUNZE. I'll bring it for you to the frag swap unless otherwise told (if you're tank isn't bouncing back(.

House

 

[jhale]

The magnet will pick up the wire in the tank. Place the magnet in your hand then sweep your hand across the area where you think you dropped the wire and it should stick to the magnet. If you have strong current then sweep the entire thing. I hope that you dont have anything over 180g if that is the case. Youre right, I should sober up huh....

fwiw, I understood what you meant the first time.

 

[beyondnp]

Not to rip on Mags, but I just found that two of mine died... less than two years old! Not sure what happened, they werent rusted out and I tried to clean them every 6 months. Maybe some sand got inside and ultimately the motors burnt out... not sure.

Anyway, replaced them yesterday (diff brand this time) and my tank seems to be bouncing back.

 

[ShaunW]

Dave - I would be interested in the screws if you can point me in the right direction to order them (or Dean does his google magic).

Jim Thanks, I'm glad that your tank is doing well. I appreciate the replacement frag, I will let you know as the fragswap draws closer whether my tank is bouncing back or not.

 

[ShaunW]

Most pumps use stainless steel screws to hold pump housing in place, SS will rust over time and salt water just accelerate the process even faster. The cheaper pumps uses chrome\nickel plated steel screws and they just rot thru faster. I have a few Mags and they all look like your picture after a year or two.

If you experienced the same thing, did you suffer any SPS loss? do you think that the screws rusting may not cause SPS death?

The best thing to do would be not having any metal parts in contact with tank water if you think the iron is killing your corals.

Do you think that the company thought about this also? or they consider their screws benign.

 

[bad coffee]

Danner switched from black annodized to stainless because people were complaining about the rust.

Would plastic screws work? all you are doing is holding the impeller housing on. I think nylon/plastic screws would work just fine. I'd be concerned about breaking one though

What size are the screws on the mag?

BC

 

[zahner]

http://www.unitedtitanium.com/screws/

 

[Deanos]

This thread on RC has some solutions to the Mag Drive screw issue:

Rusty screws

 

[ShaunW]

THANKS Dean! Like always you come through with the link, !!!

Damn, it's not just me that has had problems! That thread is particular damning to Magdrives.

As an update:
24 hours after removal of the two Mag5 pumps, and a 1/3 total water volume change on my tank, my SPS are for the first time in weeks starting to have the polyp extention that I have observed as "normal" behavior.

Rich - is your problems (?) causing SPS bleaching from the tips? Good indication of slow toxicity due to leaching effects.

 

[ShaunW]

Its mindboggling that the company wouldn't use titanium screws! considering the evidence listed about stainless steel screw erosion in saltwater.