Bleach Accident

[ForEverOnTheRoad]

Thanks in advance. So I had a devastating weekend (Late Saturday Night). I have a 2 year old Red Sea 750 XXL. Medium Stocked, 120 lbs live rock, mostly softies and leathers, 1 small sps.

This is totally all my fault and I feel terrible and ill. It began when I accidentally contaminated my salt with some vinegar and I noticed it instantly so I disposed of 30 gallons of salt and none got in my system. Was starting to make new RO water, and within a few minutes again through my stupidity I accidentally dumped some bleach into my sump (It was low and I thought it was salt water. With my sinus congestion I could not smell it and I was just not paying attention). By the time I realized what I had done it has circulated and all the fish were in distress. No Salt water...No RO Water. Could not do anything. As soon as I had 2 gallons of ROI, I made salt and stated taking out fish, but it was too late. I poured 5-6 times the recommended amount of Prime into the system, but again, it was too late. Lost a lot of beautiful fish - so sad... Only survivor is a large 6" porcupine Puffer.

I did three 35 gallon water changes in the next few hours
Added Prime Immediately
Have been Running Charoal, changed out twice already.
Continue to dose prime.

All counts are now good
Amonia -0,
Nitrates 40 (were 80 last week)
Nitrites were 7 on Hanna ULR (very low)
Alk 10.6 - Hanna
Ca 482 Hanna
Mg 1320 Red Sea
salt 35.5 Neptune Probe and verified by my refractometer
ORP 233 and climbing (Neptune Probe). Was as low as 175 Normally ranges 260-280.
temp 79
Monitoring all daily.
Adding a bottle of Instant Ocean BIO Spira to bring up active bacteria that were lost.

Question 1: Puffer is not eating...probably in shock. He is swimming and acting well, more active than usual, he usually plops himself under a ledge and vegetates. Not sure but his eye sight may not be as good IMO. Anything I can do for him other than watch?

Question 2: Anything else I should be doing to stabilize the tank?? Should I be looking for another mini cycle?

Thanks Again in advance.

 

[Justin Cook]

I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. I don't have any first hand experience with anything like this but I'd get my hands on a chlorine test kit to make sure you're system is clear of it. Obviously the Prime should have taken care of it but I'd like to be certain. As far as the puffer goes, I'd give him time to get his head screwed back on straight, I'm sure it was quite a shock. I don't think there's anything in particular you can do at this point beyond what you are doing. I would expect a cycle of some sort. You can get the fish out of the system but there's got to be a lot of dead stuff in the tank that you can't see. My fear would be that it's more than a mini-cycle. It might be worth it to get some live rock or live sand from a fellow reefer to add to the tank or sump. RE the puffer's eye sight, is this something new or have you always suspected it's eyes weren't all that great?

Edit: One item high on the list would be to work out a better storage method for bleach. Not trying to kick you while you're down but that's one heck of a mix up. I keep bleach in the original container and far away from my system at all time.

 

[ForEverOnTheRoad]

I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. I don't have any first hand experience with anything like this but I'd get my hands on a chlorine test kit to make sure you're system is clear of it. Obviously the Prime should have taken care of it but I'd like to be certain. As far as the puffer goes, I'd give him time to get his head screwed back on straight, I'm sure it was quite a shock. I don't think there's anything in particular you can do at this point beyond what you are doing. I would expect a cycle of some sort. You can get the fish out of the system but there's got to be a lot of dead stuff in the tank that you can't see. My fear would be that it's more than a mini-cycle. It might be worth it to get some live rock or live sand from a fellow reefer to add to the tank or sump. RE the puffer's eye sight, is this something new or have you always suspected it's eyes weren't all that great?

Edit: One item high on the list would be to work out a better storage method for bleach. Not trying to kick you while you're down but that's one heck of a mix up. I keep bleach in the original container and far away from my system at all time.

Thanks for the comments. Good idea on the chlorine kit. Yes I have removed all bleach from any area near my fish. NO excuses it was stupid and careless on my part!

I think the Puffer has always had poor sight, but maybe just a little worse now. I will wait. He is big and healthier looking so we will see.

Thanks again.

 

[Justin Cook]

The only reason I don't have any more suggestions is because you're doing everything I'd do. More than likely the chlorine test will read zero but I'd still like to double check. Maybe someone else has had this happen or heard of it and there's something I'm not considering but I think you've done everything you can at the point. Obviously I'd make sure to have a new ammonia test on hand to measure for the cycle and I'd give you a big bag of matrix to throw in your sump if you happen to live in the Southeast. I think rebuilding the bacteria will be key. Don't worry about the puffer until Wednesday or Thursday, they can go a little while without eating and I'm sure it's still in a bit of shock.