Disaster! Will I lose everything now

ryansc · 03/26/2016, 03:00 AM

Ok so 2 nights ago I noticed my return pump died. Put in my back up and did my scheduled water change. And since I had my sump offline I decided to drain and clean it.

Short of the long I somehow forgot to plug my heater back in. I noticed yesterday my hammer was semi closed, as well as my torch hammer and othe corals. Figured it was due to water change, stirring up stuff sand bed cleaning. You know, too much at once.

But tonight I go to empty my skimmer and the top falls in my sump. OK np, but when I go to get it out the water feels cold, not warm like I'm used too. Check my thermometers. 61.2 F

I think I'm going to cry. This past year has been hard personally. I have many corals I grew out from 1 inch or less plugs to double fist sizes.

I tossed in my extra heater I use to mix my water for changes. But is this a case of too little too late? My plum acro is not purple, very light pink.

I guess I'll be up tonight monitoring the temp to make sure it doesn't rise too fast.

I duno I'm just floored at my stupid mistake that could cost me thousands in coral and pride.

Sapelo · 03/26/2016, 03:46 AM

You probably want to prepare water to make changes too. You are likely to have die off even inn the best of cases.
The good news is that coral are really pretty hardy. Somewhere there's a thread from Sk8r about a multiple day power outage that left her tank in the low 60s for an extended period of time. I think most of her lsp came out ok.
So sorry to hear about your troubles. Good luck!!!

Reefstarter2 · 03/26/2016, 05:23 AM

If you bring temp up slowly you should be able to minimize loss. But you will lose some for sure being that cold. I have done that too. Mine got to about 70 and was lucky. Good luck

ca1ore · 03/26/2016, 08:59 AM

I've had temp drops like that on a few occasions. Bring it back up slowly. If your corals have bleached at all, reduce the lighting levels for a while. SPS can be unpredictable, some may die or they may not.

Bent · 03/26/2016, 09:55 AM

I think you'll be shocked to hear what all of our systems have survived. Life is pretty resilient, if it wasn't everything would die out pretty quickly in the world. The key is slow slow swings. So even if your returning the crisis to normal, your still making wide swings by fixing it quickly. Just take it slow and you'll be shocked what survives.

My system has so far survived:
A busted display tank that made the ATO run and drop the SG down to 1.010
A skimmer flood that once again dropped the SG down to 1.010 or lower
A large Kalk overdose
A huge nitrate spike
A 3 day blackout for hair algae.

The old sand I drained and dumped in a bucket from my display tank about 4 or 5 days ago. I opened the bucket yesterday to dump the sand out and there was still bristle and spaghetti worms in it still living.

Remember Jurassic park?

Life finds a way.

Fix the problem slowly, as much as it pains you to do.

ryansc · 03/26/2016, 09:40 PM

I am taking the n slow and steady. I didn't forget what your first taught here when u ask about reefing. If you do too many things or change things too fast it won't end well.

So update after long tired day of work. Ammonia seems to be 0. Torch, hammer and Duncan's all 1/2 open. Can't say I blame them.

Brought temp up to 70 quickly. In about the 1st hour using extra heaters then backed it down to one. Now it's at 78ish.

I was supposed to be changing my bulbs tomorrow. Should I not and wait for things to recover to normal?

chilli_reef · 03/26/2016, 09:50 PM

I would wait. You do t want to shock them with a higher par after that ordeal.

03/26/2016, 03:00 AM	#1
ryansc Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: state college pa Posts: 65	Disaster! Will I lose everything now Ok so 2 nights ago I noticed my return pump died. Put in my back up and did my scheduled water change. And since I had my sump offline I decided to drain and clean it. Short of the long I somehow forgot to plug my heater back in. I noticed yesterday my hammer was semi closed, as well as my torch hammer and othe corals. Figured it was due to water change, stirring up stuff sand bed cleaning. You know, too much at once. But tonight I go to empty my skimmer and the top falls in my sump. OK np, but when I go to get it out the water feels cold, not warm like I'm used too. Check my thermometers. 61.2 F I think I'm going to cry. This past year has been hard personally. I have many corals I grew out from 1 inch or less plugs to double fist sizes. I tossed in my extra heater I use to mix my water for changes. But is this a case of too little too late? My plum acro is not purple, very light pink. I guess I'll be up tonight monitoring the temp to make sure it doesn't rise too fast. I duno I'm just floored at my stupid mistake that could cost me thousands in coral and pride.

03/26/2016, 08:59 AM	#4
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	I've had temp drops like that on a few occasions. Bring it back up slowly. If your corals have bleached at all, reduce the lighting levels for a while. SPS can be unpredictable, some may die or they may not. __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

03/26/2016, 09:55 AM	#5
Bent I got nothin' Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The anals Posts: 6,420	I think you'll be shocked to hear what all of our systems have survived. Life is pretty resilient, if it wasn't everything would die out pretty quickly in the world. The key is slow slow swings. So even if your returning the crisis to normal, your still making wide swings by fixing it quickly. Just take it slow and you'll be shocked what survives. My system has so far survived: A busted display tank that made the ATO run and drop the SG down to 1.010 A skimmer flood that once again dropped the SG down to 1.010 or lower A large Kalk overdose A huge nitrate spike A 3 day blackout for hair algae. The old sand I drained and dumped in a bucket from my display tank about 4 or 5 days ago. I opened the bucket yesterday to dump the sand out and there was still bristle and spaghetti worms in it still living. Remember Jurassic park? Life finds a way. Fix the problem slowly, as much as it pains you to do. __________________ Quitters never lose. [QUOTE=CStrickland]Who gets mad at a starfish?[/QUOTE] Current Tank Info: 75g DT, 30G refugium, 10g chaeto tank, 50g stock tank basement sump

03/26/2016, 09:50 PM	#7
chilli_reef Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Chillicothe Ohio Posts: 468	I would wait. You do t want to shock them with a higher par after that ordeal. __________________ "But did you die !" Current Tank Info: 75g nondrilled reef.

03/26/2016, 03:46 AM	#2
Sapelo Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: North Georgia Posts: 869	You probably want to prepare water to make changes too. You are likely to have die off even inn the best of cases. The good news is that coral are really pretty hardy. Somewhere there's a thread from Sk8r about a multiple day power outage that left her tank in the low 60s for an extended period of time. I think most of her lsp came out ok. So sorry to hear about your troubles. Good luck!!!

03/26/2016, 05:23 AM	#3
Reefstarter2 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 295	If you bring temp up slowly you should be able to minimize loss. But you will lose some for sure being that cold. I have done that too. Mine got to about 70 and was lucky. Good luck

03/26/2016, 09:40 PM	#6
ryansc Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: state college pa Posts: 65	I am taking the n slow and steady. I didn't forget what your first taught here when u ask about reefing. If you do too many things or change things too fast it won't end well. So update after long tired day of work. Ammonia seems to be 0. Torch, hammer and Duncan's all 1/2 open. Can't say I blame them. Brought temp up to 70 quickly. In about the 1st hour using extra heaters then backed it down to one. Now it's at 78ish. I was supposed to be changing my bulbs tomorrow. Should I not and wait for things to recover to normal?