Poll: Old Tank Syndrome- Fact Or Fiction

[reef-lover]

The Majority Of Reek Keepers Know The Cause Of New Tank Syndrome, Elevated Levels Of Nitrites And Ammonia, Until The Tank Has Time To Cycle. It Is A Proven Fact That A New Tank Takes Time To Cycle, Or "break In". If You Have Been Keeping A Reef Tank For An Extended Period Of Time, Chances Are You Have Heard Of Old Tank Syndrome Or "ots". You Might Even Know Somebody Who Said That It Was The Root Of Their " Tank Crash". Everyone From Anthony Calfo To Julian Sprung Has Penned Articles On "ots". Evryone Has Different Reasons For Why Ots Happens, But Yet It Is Not A Proven Syndrome. Some People Blame It On Neglect To Old Sand Beds And Everything In Between. I Am Curious To Know The Experiences And Thoughts Club Zoa Members Have Had With "ots", If Any, And How They Dealt With It.

 

[fiction]

Never heard of this before. how old of tanks are we talking about here?

 

[LorenK]

Definitely real, but how many folks have the same tank long enough to be a affected by it?

 

[vetteman]

My 125 has been up for 6+ years now...... I have a deep sand bed.. a remote deep sand bed with a UV on the feedline.. a wet/dry with bio balls still in place.... I run a Turbofloater multi 1000 skimmer... maybe a 100 to 150lbs live rock mostly covered in zoa's..... One Sailfin Tang 6 years, One Rabbit Fish 2 years, assorted damels and chromis totaling 8, a few LPS and a patch of Xenia.... I have not completed a water change in 3 years only top off provided by a "Nurce" top off system.... I feed heavy with emerald entree and keep nori on a clip.......... I submit water samples to my LFS to verify my own readings and they are aways astounded by the low levels of nitrate,nitrites etc.... very little suppliments are used some calcium and I add some araganite to the tank sand bed maybe once a year ...

 

[reef-lover]

Never heard of this before. how old of tanks are we talking about here?

3+ years

 

[Steven Pro]

I think it does happen, but usually because of neglect or alleopathy or other causes that are not readily tested for/apparent.

 

[Rickyrooz]

If you keep up with monthly water changes will "old tank syndrome" still occur years down?

 

[Pufferpunk]

I believe this to be very true with FW tanks but with the supplimental filtration we have for SW tanks (DSB, refugium, etc), lack of WC (OTS), isn't as big of a deal.

 

[Steven Pro]

If you keep up with monthly water changes will "old tank syndrome" still occur years down?

That will certainly help as does other nutrient export mechanisms, but one cannot overlook that corals that were 6-12" apart initially in a display could be on top of one another a few years down the road. Corals are animals and behave as such. We should not be surprised therefore when one kills another for room to grow. It happens in nature all the time. Ever see a picture of a reef where for as far as you can see there is only one type of coral? How do you think they got that way? Mono-specific stands of coral happen via warfare and aggression. Alleopathy (chemical warfare), stinging, and overshadowing are all employed in an effort to kill surrounding corals to make more room. It happens in nature and in our aquariums as well.

 

[Biertrinker]

IMO, if someone says that their tank crashed from Old Tank Syndrome, that just means they don't know exactly what caused the crash, but something did.

Just like when old folks pass away and they say they died from old age, technically something specific, or multiple specific breakdowns caused the death.

I agree 100%. OTS is the long term aggregate of small mistakes in husbandry that individually would be no prob.

 

[coral88]

I've done aquarium service work on and off for years. I've seen tanks that were neglected, but never one that was in bad condition just because it was old. I took over an account for a tank that had been with several different companies and could be traced back to almost 18 years. (Oceanic tank still holding water as far as I know) I've also taken over accounts where the tank was several years old and just had fallen into a state of neglect. (Stagnant sand bed, dead spots under rocks, basically places where bad stuff can build up) The closest thing to ots that I would believe is someone who has a deep sand bed that has gone anaerobic gets disturbed and kills everything in the tank. I wouldn't say ots exists, because no one seems to have an exact definition of what ots is.

 

[Paintguru]

Real IMO.

 

[Paul_N]

I think it does happen, but usually because of neglect or alleopathy or other causes that are not readily tested for/apparent.

I agree. I think it's more like neglected tank syndrome.

same dsb for 5 years.

 

[aaronlovesshel]

I am familiar w/ systems that have crashed from DSB age, I think that the fix is relatively simple . . . rotate out DSB in modules, that is to say have a tupperware dish w/ your several inches of sand, at the end of given period of time, place new set of sand (could even be seeded) in the sump, later pull out the old. you could also plumb DSB buckets in line (a la Anthony Calfo) lots of ways to do this and prevent heart bread / ache

 

[DiscoReefRover]

I would say myth I to have done some service work in my days and have seen my fair share of well matured tanks some that even I looked at in amazement at the lack of moderized filtration ..yet they thrive and continue to do so ...so with proper maintainence I think it can be avoided ..esp since how far this hobby has came in the last 10 years Its like night and day ....lol

 

[steve99999]

T AKE IT FROM A 30 YEAR REEFER OTS IS REAL .....W HAT HAS BEEN SHOWN IS THAT CORALS TAKEN FROM A TANK WITH IT WILL NOT stop there decline when but in a healthy tank.....even frags of the effected corals decline the same whey.......2 members in my club with very nice systems are going through this now......both bare bottom systems.....TRYEE has a great article in a old coral mag about rtn and ots and how it lead him to his system he has now......I THINK foods like oyster eggs and mud/sand systems can keep your system clear of both of these problems when done correctly......IF you think barebottom large waterchanges are the key to long term coral heath you should have had a tank 20 years ago it did not work for most in the long run....

 

[acanman]

sounds like a myth too me also from what i have been reading.. i didnt know bout this till i read this thread my oldest tank is 1 year... and just because your tank is matured to 3 or so years means that its going to crash? from what? i wont just crash because of age... if anything an older tank is far better than a young one.. more stable, sceduled maintance.. because your use to messing with it all the time.. i think also it happens because of neglict.....

 

[SeaSlug]

Put me down for a NO.............I have a 54 gallon courner unit going on almost 12 years now . IMO neglect is what causes this , but reefers will debate this subject for many years to come .

 

[kateater]

+1 for neglect.