Help I've got a big problem

salttanklife · Apr 10, 2016

When I woke this morning I noticed some water on the floor. I assumed it was coming from my tank and while investigating the problem, I heard my ATO cut on twice. I knew there was a problem when I heard it shortly after the first time. My skimmer has been set on the same setting for a while now but was overflowing this morning for some reason. While overflowing it kept dumping freshwater back in. My ATO water reservoir holds about 15 gallons and had around 10 in it yesterday before going to bed. I've got maybe a gallon in there now, so I'm thinking around 9 gallons of water was changed out.

My salinity was 1.025 and is now between 1.019 and 1.020. My tank is a 30 gallon jbj rimless and I've got several different types of zoas, a ricordea, a hairy mushroom, dragon soal favia, frogspawn, and blasto.

How bad is this going to affect the coral? Can I expect it all to die with such a large change in such a short period of time?
What's the best way to raise my salinity back up? I figure through evaporation and topping off with saltwater until right.

rayn · Apr 10, 2016

You can do a water change with slightly higher salinity levels. This would/could/should get you back close. Then just top off till you hit the 1.025 mark again.

IF IF you have a spot on the JBJ where you can add salt without it flowing through and onto any coral or fish, you could try adding small amounts and monitoring your salt levels.

melypr1985 · Apr 10, 2016

salttanklife said:
How bad is this going to affect the coral? Can I expect it all to die with such a large change in such a short period of time?
What's the best way to raise my salinity back up? I figure through evaporation and topping off with saltwater until right.

You've got the answer right there. I can't promise the corals wont die or show the effects of this, but the very best thing you can do is start bringing your salinity back up very slowly. Let it evap until the water level is back to where it should be, then start topping off with saltwater. Nice and slow until your back to normal. Also, double check/clean your sensor for the ATO.

salttanklife · Apr 10, 2016

Alright thanks for the help...
I just started this tank and little over 2 months ago and everything has been perfect until now. I'll raise it back up slowly but everything in there seems pretty mad at me this morning. My plan was to hit the local fish store when they opened today to get my first sps for the tank. I was hoping for some Monti or birdsnest today. It was the first thing I woke up thinking about today.

melypr1985 · Apr 10, 2016

salttanklife said:
Alright thanks for the help...
I just started this tank and little over 2 months ago and everything has been perfect until now. I'll raise it back up slowly but everything in there seems pretty mad at me this morning. My plan was to hit the local fish store when they opened today to get my first sps for the tank. I was hoping for some Monti or birdsnest today. It was the first thing I woke up thinking about today.

Sorry about that. No birdsnest today.

Reef Junky150 · Apr 10, 2016

Don't let this ruin the hobby for you. Things like this will happen over the years. You will have failures and setbacks. All you can do is learn from them and push forward with a lot of patients. That being said get the salinity back up as stated above and be prepared for water changes if there is die off. Good luck.

Bdog4u2 · Apr 10, 2016

Very minor setback. Try waking up to a empty aquarium. I had a seam break on a freshwater 20 years ago

salttanklife · Apr 10, 2016

Thanks, this is definitely going to be a learning experience because I don't understand why the skimmer went all crazy like this. I had it set for a dry skim instead of a wet. The water has always stayed low in the neck with the foam pushing towards the top. I was out of town on a bike ride yesterday and didn't do anything to the tank. I only feed every 2 days and yesterday wasn't the day. I only put enough food for the fish and a cap full of live phytoplankton. I literally did nothing but look at it when I got back yesterday from the ride, so I'm puzzled

twilliard · Apr 10, 2016

Check the air inlet on the venturi for buildup.
Almost the number one reason why skimmers flood

salttanklife · Apr 10, 2016

Checked it and it seems to be fine. I installed the skimmer March 22nd, so almost 3 weeks ago. I've got a nice dry skim since installation and it has always stayed the same since the installation. Is there like a break in period or something to where they'll start producing more?

It's a coralife super skimmer 65. I think this might be the first big lesson. I got it over a reef octopus because it was about $80 cheaper and I figured a skimmer was a skimmer.

My last tank was a 90 gallon and I had a reef octopus inside of the sump. I never had a problem with it. I only had to take it apart for cleaning about every 3 months because of salt buildup in the air line.

salttanklife · Apr 10, 2016

Bdog4u2 said:
Very minor setback. Try waking up to a empty aquarium. I had a seam break on a freshwater 20 years ago

Ouch, I bet that was a heartbreak for sure

Reef Junky150 · Apr 10, 2016

I squirt a little white vinager in my air inlet lines once a month while it's running. Been doing it for years. Only clean the skimmer about once a year. Runs flawlessly.

twilliard · Apr 10, 2016

The two last things will be
Change in pump RPM (cavitation or lack of)
Increased organics

salttanklife · Apr 10, 2016

New question...

I've got a little 5 gallon rimless nano tank with nothing in it at the moment. If I fill it up with saltwater at 1.025 and transfer all my coral and a couple pieces of lr from my tank, would it cycle? Would this help to save the coral or has the damage already been done to the coral and there's no sense in stressing them even more? I've got leds for it but no filtration means yets.

Reef Junky150 · Apr 10, 2016

Imo would be more stressful. Need to bring salinity back up over time. Not instantly, and transferring to 1.025 may shock them more plus the move.

salttanklife · Apr 10, 2016

Alright thanks... looks like patience is going to be key

ReefQueen · Apr 10, 2016

Mine has been doing the same lately. I agree with using saltwater for your tipoff to slowly raise it back up. Luckily mine is only a 5 gallon container, so it didn't mess with my Salinity. I suspect the reason it's only happening at night is something may be spawning. You said yours has only been running for 3 weeks, perhaps it is just broken in now and needs fine tuned?

Reef Junky150 · Apr 10, 2016

Patients is the name of the game. It took me over two years after moving my tank from one home to another to get it running the way I wanted. Think of weeks months and years for changes, not minutes. Not much results overnight. A slight change in anything can do instant destruction. But something that should help or improve could take a lot longer. You may not see results from a new reactor for months. Doesn't mean it's not slowly helping and working. Patients is the key to success and like I stated before learn from little hiccups and improve because of them. May use a smaller ato container until you get your skimmer lined out just in case it happens again.

Sabellafella · Apr 10, 2016

I personally dont think your in bad shape at all, only corals that would be effected by the drawback, if even would be the favias and blastos. Your fish will be fine, just your alk calc and mag dropped suddenly. If this happened overnight and fixed it in the morning, everything should be ok. Ive seen 10 gallon kalk jugs pour in peoples tanks very often on the forums and the next day everything turns fine

salttanklife · Apr 10, 2016

I just plugged my skimmer back up and went to touch the water. I got a good shock out of it. I'm thinking something is up with the motor on it and it's the reason for the overflow problem. So not only have I had a sudden change of salinity, I've sent a electrical current through the fish and coral all night. Shut the skimmer back off and the shock is gone