Help!!! Seriously Need Help Asap!!!

[FishKid]

remember i said last year my mom was out to get me?! well i went in my room today to find my tank half empty! my mom was emptying it out to pain my room... guess what she did with the water!

Right down the drain! What should i do? i cant fill the tank back up without going through a full blown cycle, and i dont have enough water to do that anyway, it would take like 5 trips to the LFS. i got work in a 1/2 hour so i gotta act fast!

any ideas?



mark


p.s. spare me your comedy

[slojmn]

I don't know if this any help but I regularly cahnge out 50%+ in my nano reef each week. Of course my water is pre-mixed and ready to go. I guess I am little confused about the cycle thing???? Was the tank sitting for an extended period of time with very little water in it, thus die off on the live rock? I would definately try to get as much freshly mixed water in there as you can before you have to go off to work. Make a quick run to the fish store and get what you can. What size tank is this? You may want to consider going into work a little late if that is at all possible. What kind of life is in your tank,fishies? corals? etc. 1/2 the water gone still leaves half for the animals to survive in, but the live rock exposure for a prolonged time may lead to die off and then the cycle which you speak of. Hard to tell though. Can you break down the rock work so all the rock and life is under the water level?

Just some random thoughts. Good Luck

[Bughead]

Call your employer and tell him you'll be late because of an emergency. If he asks, tell the truth.

You say she emptied only half of the water. OK. Even with 3/4 of the water gone, you should still be able to re-cupe. Mix as much water as you would for a normal water change. Most salt mixes can be used safely when mixed about an hour. Put that in, then try to arrange it so everything is at least covered. If you can't get everything covered, take the hardier corals out and wrap them in towels or newspaper soaked with sea water. Keep them moist throughout this ordeal. Tomorrow add a little more water and do that daily until the tank is back to full. Of course, keep an eye on the params, especially the ammonia. If you get a spike, it can be neutralized with AmQuel. If you need to resort to that, be sure you keep a good eye on the pH. Ammonia or high bacteria level causes the pH to drop.

Sorry about this crises. Good Luck.

[fishguy_8]

I agree you should be alright just do what you can and call in late for work.....you shouldnt go thru a huge cycle i've done big water changes before....good luck
Jon

[Reinhold]

Remember, the bacteria responsible for the nitrogen cycle are in the DSB and the LR, not the water.

Replace the missing water with enough freshly mixed salt water to cover all of the corals, then you've bought time, and you can be pickier if you wish about using RO/DI water/salt for the remaining top-off.

I don't see that this will be much of a problem.

[hcp28]

A little tap water never hurt anyone.. right?

[Joaco]

How did it all turn out? it's 2 days later now...

Joaco

[FishKid]

not good... everything but my ricordia polyp and electric blue hermit is dead. water smells really bad (the tank is filled back up again) it smells like a turtle tank that hasnt been cleaned in a few months!nitrates are really really high.

I currently do not have enough money/time to start back up again, so i have decided to take the Lr and LS to an LFS, and sell the rest of my equipment.

mark

[Joaco]

sorry to hear about that

Joaco

[FishKid]

well it wasnt all a waste, i got $90 for 30 lbs of LR... thats what i paid for it (without shipping of course)

never know, maybe ill be back in a few....



Mark

[slojmn]

wow, that really sucks. I am curious as to why so much die off. Did you have any circulation running? If not that explains things. Even with 25-50% of the water in the tank you would have needed to get the water moving consistantly so stagnation and lack of oxygen did not occur. With the bad smell to the water and the die off sounds like oxygen could have been the culprit. I am so sorry to hear that things went the way they did. Better luck next time in the future when you get some cash saved up.

[FishKid]

yeah i think that was part of it.. she unplugged the power headin the morning of day1... i didnt see wat she was doing till the next day (saturday) so already dieoff occured..i wasnt able to fill the tank up high enough for the powerhead to function without ripping the sandbed apart until saturday night.

it was one big stinking mess from the begining


mark

[fishguy_8]

Sorry to hear that man....save up your cash and youll be back in no time. good luck
Jon