Help! Overheated Aquarium!

[danimgale]

Had to spend a couple of days in the hospital with my son and came home to a very sick tank. We had record heat while I was gone and my AC wasn't turned on because no one was home for 3 days. The tank is usually about 78° and right now is about 84°. My cleaner shrimp is dead, frog spawn is nothing but a white skeleton, hammer is all shriveled up along with some other corals, and my fire fish is missing. Can I do a water change with cooler water to bring the temp down or do I just wait for the AC to cool everything down more slowly?

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[Mike J.]

Put some ice in waterproof bags and float them in your tank for now.

 

[aslmx]

84 sure doesnt seem high enough to do that much damage.

 

[Ricks Reef]

84 sure doesnt seem high enough to do that much damage.

Agreed,My reef stays at 83-84 through the majority of summer.Doesn't seem like it should have done that kind of damage.

 

[Reef Pets]

I would guess that something else went wrong. 84 should not cause anything to die. Do you know if 84 is the hottest it got or that was the temp when you got home?
To cool it down tirn on your AC, turn off the lights, place a fan on it and float some ice in a ziplock or any sealed container.

 

[danimgale]

That's what I would normally think too but today is cooler than the last couple of days so I'm thinking it probably got higher than it is now.

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[mike007]

Sounds like something else went wrong. Did you have someone feed tank? I keep frozen bottles of water on hand for emergencies.

 

[danimgale]

Nope. No one touched the tank. That was the last thing on my mind with a sick baby. I will run tests and see what results I get.

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[danimgale]

Phosphate .03
Ph 8.2
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
Calcium 420
Dkh 5.8
Alkalinity 2.06
Sg 1.025
Temp 86

I don't usually have any ammonia so I'm thinking it could be from the deaths that happened while I was gone. I really don't see anything that would cause that much harm unless it's all from the ammonia? My clowns are swimming around like everything is fine and dandy and my star fish, cucumber, feather dusters, coco worm, zoas and BTAs also seem fine. Gsp is all closed along with leathers, hammer, and mushrooms all shriveled.

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[glb]

You could use seachem Prime to neutralize the ammonia so it won't do any further damage while your biofilter recovers. Good luck and hope your son is ok!


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

 

[danimgale]

I do have some ammonia neutralizer but I'm not sure what kind it is because I've never had to use it I just have it just in case. Should I try a water change before using chemicals or just go for it?

Thank you he is on the mend. He is 21 months old and we had an appendicitis scare but it turned out to be a bad viral infection.

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[eliramos]

84 isnt the problem what it is, is the drastic change from 74 to 84 thats a huge temperature shock, its probably also changing a lot throughout the day. So 84 throughout the day then 80-79 at night! thats the killer!

 

[danimgale]

That's what I'm thinking too. It's not really that high it's just a big difference from the usual temp.

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[glb]

I do have some ammonia neutralizer but I'm not sure what kind it is because I've never had to use it I just have it just in case. Should I try a water change before using chemicals or just go for it?

Thank you he is on the mend. He is 21 months old and we had an appendicitis scare but it turned out to be a bad viral infection.

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Glad your son is ok! Definitely do water changes as well. The chemicals are good in an emergency to detoxify the water quickly, but water changes are better for regular maintenance. Good luck!


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

 

[danimgale]

So I treated the tank with ammonia remover and did a water change and the temp is back down to 76° but I don't see much deference....

Here is my poor hammer coral and you can see the gsp all closed up in the background.



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[eliramos]

Try your best to maintain that temp also check your ph alk sal and calc levels. Stay on top of it for the next few days that's a bad to the bone sized hammer, Probably pretty resilient give it some time!


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[danimgale]

Thanks, I hope it comes out if it. It was one of the first corals I got and I would be sad if I lost it.

Did you see the stringy white goo coming out of it? Not sure what that means other than just it being irritated?

Also, my water is now starting to get cloudy white. If that means anything?

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[danimgale]

Now my BSJ isn't looking so hot... He goes in his hole but this is as far out add he will come and he seems very weak as you can see in the picture.

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[eliramos]

He looks petrified in that picture lol
Hmm what are your most current parameters?
Also could you give us a list of what you're running in the tank? Filter media, sump, bioballs, etc what's the volume of your tank too?


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[danimgale]

As of last night I had

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
temp 76.4

My tank is 3 years old 28 gallon nano cube with about 32 lbs of live rock and 40 lbs of live sand. I have a small protein skimmer, run phosgard, carbon and poly filter pad at all times. Yesterday I did a 6 gallon water change.

Before the incident my tank was at the best I've ever seen it. Everything was huge and multiplying like crazy. Now everything is shriveled and dead.



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