Power outage tank issues

[kittyj]

As I posted on another thread, I was unfortunately very unprepared for the power outage and lost all of my fish and about 90% of my coral. Still have a frogspawn, couple of zoas, and some ricordea.

Now, I'm scrambling to get the tank back in shape so that there is at least a chance that the surviving coral will make it. As of now, they look BAD!

I did a 75% water change on the tank after the fish died - removed all the dead fish and coral, etc. That was maybe 5 days ago. Since then, I've done two small changes of 10-15%

I have HORRIBLE algae blooms right now. Brown hair-like algae is all over my rocks, and the glass is green. My ammonia is through the roof, but everything else tests well. Nitrite = 0, Phosphate = 0, Nitrate = 0. I'm starting to doubt my API test kits. Surely my Nitrates and Phosphates aren't really that low.

I turned the lights off today, but I think it's risky to do that with the coral just barely hanging on. Any suggestions? I am at a loss. The algae is growing really fast. I can barely see any coraline anymore, and the brown stuff is growing over my coral. It's coming out of the powerheads and everything.

Should I do more / larger water changes? Let it run the course??

Help!!!!!!!

Thanks,
Kimberly

[TulsaReefer]

Corals can go for quite a few days without lights without too much harm. There are cloudy days even in the tropics, and storms can go on for a few days at times.

I'd be more worried about the ammonia than lighting. As a temporary measure probably need to transfer what corals you have into another tank, could be in a small tank (think 10 or 20 gallon, something really cheap) or even a rubbermaid container with fresh salt water, a heater, and some powerheads for water movement. You can try to put lights over this temporary tank if you have anything that would fit. It sounds like your tank is going to have to cycle again, and it's going to be very hard on any corals in the tank. Sounds like you had some die off in your rock/sand and it may take a while for it to cycle back again.

Another alternative would be to board your corals with someone who has room in their tank. I have room in my 29G frag tank for corals, but I'm heading out of town in the morning until Thursday. Maybe someone else has some space, if not PM me and we can arrange something after Thursday.

With the ammonia high, and Nitrite and Nitrate low it sounds as if the cycle has just begun, and the Ammonia hasn't been broken down to Nitrite yet, and then later to Nitrate. That's why it's possible that your Nitrate at this point could be low, it will go up once the cycle is completing.

[TheMcs]

You're going through a cycle from all the die-off. Not just the fish & corals, but the bacteria as well. The survivors are going to suffer through that cycle. I'd be adding some Stability, as much as possible. Hope you can save the remaining animals!

[mskohl]

Yep, what they said.

Your bacteria in the sandbed and inside the live rock must have died. You are starting over on the nitrogen cycle. Your ammonia will stay high until you build the bacteria that change it into nitrite.

I would definitely get those remaining corals out of there. You can probably ask your favorite LFS if they will house them for you if you don't have another tank yourself. I'm sure there will be more people signing on that would be willing to help as well. If you don't find someplace for them, I will probably be making a trip to Tulsa soon and can meet you.

Once the survivors are out, syphon off all the dead gunk, do one more water change, and turn off the lights until you finish the cycle. Fortunately, you will probably have less than the standard 6 week cycle.

[kittyj]

What is Stability? Just an additive? Can you get it locally?

[TulsaReefer]

Stability is a product from SeaChem. You can find info at Seachem Stability . I've never used it myself, so I no experience on how it works or how quickly it works.

You really need to do something quickly, and I don't think that dumping in a bottle of bacteria is the solution in the short term, which is what you need for now, a short term fix. Bacteria will help you tank cycle, but if you want to speed up the cycle, get your corals out, along with anything else alive, and raise the temp in the tank to 84, which will speed up the bacterial reproduction rate. Bacteria reproduce at a very rapid rate, especially at higher temperatures, and it won't take long for the bacteria to increase to handle the load of compounds that need to be broken down (ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate). But to raise the temp with the corals in the tank will likely kill them, as they are already stressed now, and raising the temp will raise their metabolism and likely speed up their demise. So find them a suitable place for a while. Find a container, a clean trash can, tank, bucket, etc. mix some fresh salt water, age it (aerate, and agitate) for at least 24 hours, get the temp right, I wouldn't worry too much about the other params, and get those things moved. The longer you wait the more your risk losing what you have left. They will survive in a bucket of clean aged salt water, with a heater and a powerhead for circulation better than they will in a polluted tank. I've had corals without light for weeks (fallen behind the rock) and they survived, so don't worry about light at this point. If you find you can't get your tank back to reasonable params within a few weeks, then you will have to solve the lighting issue, but now, you need to get those corals out of the ammonia soup they are in. Ammonia off the charts is a quick death to any marine animal.

[kittyj]

Good advice - thank you

[kittyj]

Tank is finally starting to cycle. I never thought I'd be so happy to see Nitrates!!!!!

[jjmcat]

LOL

[jokeloma]

Hang in there, I think we will all be better reefers because of the hardship.(I wish it hadn't happened) I am verey glad your system is heading back to normal.