Not so fast with removing dead corals

jmichaelh7 · Apr 22, 2021

MikeyG said:
So...my protein skimmer was over skimming so i made a minor adjustment.
Went back to work ....from home on MS Teams/Zoom calls.
4 hours later i checked on the tank and 150gal eater gone.
Skimmer went crazy.
I started mixing new saltwater.
Added 100g of new water.
By now it was midnight. I added the lady batch of water.
Next morning i woke up to find everything dead.
Check and my salt level was 42ppm.
I typically maintain 34ppm.
I basically turned my tank into the dead sea.
I figured the salt was not fully dissolved before i added the new water to the tank.
Normally i mix my salt water 48hrs to do a water change but this was an emergency response.

Very, very costly mistake.
Not to mention some of these fishes and corals for over 10 years.

Needless to say i could not stop crying for 2 days.

dang heart wrenching’

Nhjmc · Apr 30, 2021

Wondering if the $300-$400 worth of dead tissue less hammers and frogspawn will come back?? With my luck lately it’s doubtful. I’m giving up on euphillas which sucks because they are one of my favorites .

blasterman · Apr 30, 2021

Those SPS colonies were severely stress bleached, but the skin is still there.

Ask anybody who has had RTN on acros that size. They dont grow back in 4 weeks.

fcmatt · Apr 30, 2021

elysics said:
Were they just bleached or actually dead, with bare skeleton without skin? 4 weeks seems super fast for a whole colony to be recovered, especially if there was no visible life left

But maybe you just got some super-corals lol

Yes. I think we are talking two very different things. Bleached is not dead.

mitten_reef · Apr 30, 2021

Maybe I should have left these in the tank.....

Arego · Apr 30, 2021

I've had a few come back over the years. Oddly enough I have a JF special porite that died a year ago. Since then three random patches popped up out of nowhere and started growing a month or so ago.

leave em alone if you can.

jmichaelh7 · Apr 30, 2021

cancun said:
Wow....so sorry! This hobby has a lot of highs and lows that's for sure! Thanks for sharing though. Now I will definitely hold off on throwing out a SPS that looks rough.

Years ago I bought two Red Goni frags with blue centers. I had them glued on the same rock, and for a year they were growing nicely. Then one day they didn't extend their polyps. They sat closed for almost 3 weeks. So I was going to give up so I put it in my sump. My husband who isn't into saltwater like me....yeah I know...lol...I am the wife that wanted a hobby....he was like OMG....and he took it our and put it back in the tank. A week later out came the polyps. That was 6 years ago, and it is huge and still in my tank. Here's a pic from a while back.

Beautiful Goni my goodnesss