Tank Emergency

Rogued_Reefer · Oct 8, 2019

We know R2R has a whole section for emergencies and its awesome!!! but sometimes we need a local helping hand! so that's the purpose of this thread.

If you need anything just post it here and also if you want to be part of the helping team make sure you watch this thread to be notified.

xiholdtruex · Oct 8, 2019

When posting any tank emergencies please post water peramters to better aid in the help of the tank. Preferable ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinity, ph, temp, phosphate, alk, ca, mag. Water change schedule , when was the last water change performed. Do you test your new saltwater prior to testing. Also recommend posting issue and anything you have tried to resolve it so far.

Cessna89811 · Dec 9, 2019

Had a heater fail today in epic way. Finnex titanium came appart in my sump. I have lost some snails. My corals are shriveled. Fish are not themselves! What do i do?

Rogued_Reefer · Dec 9, 2019

What are your water parameters? Do you run carbon to clean the water of any contaminants? How long was the broken heater under water before you noticed?

Ernie C · Dec 9, 2019

if the tank was electrified, that may have caused it. for how long where the corals shriveled that you noticed. Be careful and remove the heater if you haven't done so already. I would definitely put in some carbon if you had some things die and test your water to make sure nothing else is off. I had a skimmer pump cord crack and electrify my tank. my corals also shriveled, but once i figured out what happened and removed the pump. They slowly started to open.

xiholdtruex · Dec 9, 2019

First pull the heater, second I would drop a bag of carbon, gfo and purigen to absorbs any nasties. If You have water do a water change to dilute any contaminates. Test you water and post up when you have the numbers

Eggs · Dec 10, 2019

Ernie Crucet said:
if the tank was electrified, that may have caused it. for how long where the corals shriveled that you noticed. Be careful and remove the heater if you haven't done so already. I would definitely put in some carbon if you had some things die and test your water to make sure nothing else is off. I had a skimmer pump cord crack and electrify my tank. my corals also shriveled, but once i figured out what happened and removed the pump. They slowly started to open.

I would also say electrified, particularly if your breaker didn’t kill power.
I had a glass heater blow in a holding tank with no inhabitants, it knocked out the breaker......which should have happened in your case. If not, extended electricity could have ran through your tank.

MarsWulf5 · Feb 22, 2020

I came home from work and my coral QT looked a little funny. Dunkin had been closed for 4 days, and my Blasto was closes since this morning. Ok... Then 15 min later my mushroom is extruding it's degestive tract (white stringy stuff), my torch shriveled up, and my Blasto is all closes up and shriveled.

I'm just tested...
My nitrites are way high suddendly 3ppm
Nitrate is at 0ppm
pH is 8.4
Alk is at 180 ppm

I am using T5 Blue Actininic and full dylight bulbs - one of each.

Corals have good flow - and are most are on the same frag shelf about 10" from the water surface.

My coral QT is only a 20G High. I do water changes every 2 days... 3 max. QTs have been up for over a month. I added a large (3") Cynarina and 2 large (3") mushrooms 3 days ago.

I dip everything in CoralRx.

I'm not going to test for Ca etc... Right now because I dont have time and need to do a water change ASAP apparently with the nitrite spike. I think my SPS is dying... Fudge!!!

I have one SPS encrusting coral. The only SPS I have ever had. I took it out to dip it yesterday and it smelled really bad.

Is my SPS dying or something? It's alive - it has small polyps extended.

Should I remove the SPS from the tank???? He smells. Alive and very very stinky. There is some whits stuff on some polys whers ths guy at the LFS had to grab him hard to rip him off the frag rack he was encrusted to. I'm not blaming the LFS at all - the coral was alive and smelled good when for the last 3 weeks. But maybe it got an infection??? I ordered some l
Lugol's iodine to dip but hasn't shipped yet.

I'm about to do a water change and test everything - again.

My last water change on this tank yesterday morning. 50% - almost everything looked fine last night except for my Dunkin being retracted, but now it's my Blasto, my torch, my mushroom...

Ugh!!!

I spend all my free time - everyday - maintaining these QTs.
I sit next to them for houra every day - watching, thinking, testing, adjusting, cleaning, doing research....

I use RODI water with 0 TDI reading, Reef Crystal salt, and I was dosing Kent Marine 2 part for nano reefs - but didnt dose after yesterday's water change. So, I am not testing Ca and trace elements now before a water change - Waste of more Hanna reagents before the water change.

Aside from a water change what should I do? Why does my SPS stink? It didnt smell like this before - this is a really funky sulferous smell. Ugh! I'm so dissapointed. I work so hard on these tanks.

As I am typing this I went to take pics... Now my mushroom seems to have retracted some of its guts and my torch is reinflating.

My Blasto and Dunkin really look bad though. Sorry the pics arent sharper - I have a
cheap phone - spend all my money of corals and fish. LOL