No more taking time off..

[E30]

I went away for 3 days and my wife was taking care of the tank but she is pergnant and had to go in to the ER. When I got home my light was still on and my water was cloudy and my corals look like they are dissolving. I tested everything and only Cal is at 350.
From what my wife said, I'm thinking the light was on for a good day 12 hrs.
Here's a before pic.



And today's pic

[godsdoc]

I wouldn't think the corals would die if the light was left on for 12-24hrs. How are the water parameters? How long are the lights normally on during the day?

[bnumair]

one day of accidental leaving lights on for 12 hrs will not kill anything in the tank. more likely the issue is some where else. check water parameters and see what all is low. if cal is low i bet alk is also likely on the low end.

[E30]

Ok so my calc now reads 500 and ALK is at 7
Lights are on 6 hrs only (LED)
Salinity: 0.026
Mag: 1350ppm
Alk: 7dkm (working on bringing it up slowly)
Calc: 500 ppm
Nitrate: 15ppm
Nitrite: ~0ppm
Ammonia: 0
PH: 8.3

[Mussin]

I cant believe how many people on here dont go out and buy a $6 timmer for thier lights. I hope they pull through.

[E30]

I now see some whitish film on my clown fish eye.



What could it be guys?

[accordsirh22]

why don't you have a timer? also as stated, light wouldnt cause that.

[E30]

I know I know. Got one already.

[Dave & Monica]

fish sometimes have scrathes, and not thing to worry about.

[Pittsburgh]

Corals won't like Nitrates at 15ppm for more than a week. That plus probably high phosphates is what upsets them. Fix your water parameters and all will be fine.

[2x2]

He states the lights stay on only 6 hours. Seems too little.

[E30]

So I lost all my corals and had to set up my QT because ICH was showing up on both clowns I'm not to happy right now...

[plapczynski]

My lights stay on that long at least once a week. Have you been using tap water to mix your salt with?

[E30]

No only RO.

[plapczynski]

My suggestion would be to take a water sample to your LFS for a full test. I always hate doing this, but the cost of livestock loss would have offset this cost. Maybe someone else has a better option, maybe a massive water change, but you will still have an underlying problem.

[E30]

Water came out fine but my mother in law just told me that see saw the windows open and she had to close them that night so could it be that the temp. got to low and crash my tank? It's been cold the pass couple days (low 60's)

[rgauvin]

Originally Posted by E30

Water came out fine but my mother in law just told me that see saw the windows open and she had to close them that night so could it be that the temp. got to low and crash my tank? It's been cold the pass couple days (low 60's)

A reasonably sized heater would be able to handle that....

[hllywd]

I doubt the light is the problem either, No excuse for no timer though.
But then anything is possible, you said all LED, how about some additional tank details, + lighting details (how many LEDS, what kind, drive current, etc...). What I'm getting at is this, initially I bleached some corals with a high drive current, if your light is super intense, and they were on 24/7 I suppose it's possible you cooked them... especially if they're normally on 6 hrs.

That said, I'd never have anyone bother with my tank if I were out of town for 3 or maybe 4 days. It's just not worth the hassle. 5 or 6 - 14 days or more we have a friend who will top off my ATO, add a sheet of nori, and a cube of frozen food daily. My wife is likely to at least feed some flaked Prime Reef, but I may as easily go 2 or 3 days without feeding anything.

[hllywd]

I doubt the light is the problem either, No excuse for no timer though.
But then anything is possible, you said all LED, how about some additional tank details, + lighting details (how many LEDS, what kind, drive current, etc...). What I'm getting at is this, initially I bleached some corals with a high drive current, if your light is super intense, and they were on 24/7 I suppose it's possible you cooked them... especially if they're normally on 6 hrs.

That said, I'd never have anyone bother with my tank if I were out of town for 3 or maybe 4 days. It's just not worth the hassle. 5 or 6 - 14 days or more we have a friend who will top off my ATO, add 1/3 sheet of nori, and a cube of frozen food daily. My wife is likely to at least feed some flaked Prime Reef, but I may as easily go 2 or 3 days without feeding anything.

[E30]

I have a Cadlight 30W 14000K Multi-Chip LED center bulb with 4-3W LED and vortech mp10 on reef crest mode.

Btw the Cadlight has a built-in Digital timer but my little one was playing with it from what she is telling me.. Now what??

I'm moving in two months so for now ill concentrate on the clowns in the QT.

[hllywd]

Originally Posted by E30

Btw the Cadlight has a built-in Digital timer but my little one was playing with it from what she is telling me.. Now what??

Lucky the little one didn't tip the light into the tank and get electrocuted... or pull the heater out and burn the house down...

What might the little one have dropped into the tank? Is the food handy? Maybe he/she was helping...

Is it possible the lighting being on more than your normal 6 hrs damaged the corals? Why only a 6 hr photo period? 10 - 12 would be more normal.

[sponger0]

A low temp can kill a tank quick if not noticed. I dont understand why you didnt have a heater or timers. Those are simple cheap costs that can avoid alot of problems.

[hllywd]

First pic... there's a heater in the tank.

[E30]

Heater was on.. She's 6 so she knows better not to touch the tank.

[hllywd]

Originally Posted by E30

She's 6 so she knows better not to touch the tank.

I don't mean to be rude, but...

Btw the Cadlight has a built-in Digital timer but my little one was playing with it from what she is telling me.. Now what??

Another possibility, did your nudibranch get sucked into the Vortech, chopped up and cause problems?