heater broke + cold temps = ????

[rsteagall]

Hmmm well all I can say is Oops. My heater appears to have died lastnight. I glanced at the water temp and it was about 66F. I've now installed a new heater. Any guesses to what the outcome will be?

:(

[crumbletop]

Oh no! Hopefully it will be alright.

[Kalied20]

wow, I hope everything is ok. I heated my tank to 93 once when my heater stuck. I only lost a small open brain. I would think that being only 66 would be ok as long as it was there for days.
I picked thing up three hours away in cold weather and have never lost anything.

[rsteagall]

Its already back up to 70F. I know lastnight at 8PM it was 75F. So... It definitely hasn't been this way for days. I'm going to have 2 heaters now though. One for the sump and one will be in the tank as well. This will take care of a pump problem and I'll have redundant heaters.

[crumbletop]

Yeah, this just made me install a second heater. I have been meaning to do that but just hadn't gotten around to it. Lots of redundancy needed to keep murphy away in this hobby!

Since you keep your tank at 75 -- you may be okay with the short dip down to 66. When I bought some stuff in FL recently and transported them back myself, I was told that as long as the frags (acro's and ric's) didn't get down below 60 that they would be okay for 24 hours. Hopefully things will be fine in your tank.

[rsteagall]

Tank is back up to 72.7F right now. Everything is open, but I think I'll make sure I feed (soaked in garlic) extra good tonight.

On a side note, I took a water sample of tank water and my RO/DI water in in to AC last night and had them tested.

Ro/Di Po4 = ~0.15 <-- its actually more than my tank was reading.
Tank Po4 = ~ < 0.1

How do these measure with some of your readings?

My nitrates/nitrites/ammonia were all 0.

On a side note, I haven't done a significant water change in about 5 months. While I do like to brag about that, I do have a slight hair algae issue. While I was in AC lastnight, I bought a Kole Tang and have it on hold.. I hope this will eat up all the hair. Anyone have good luck with a Kole eating hair? I've heard they are one of the best.

On another side note and last one, this was about the worst shape I've seen AC's tanks in. They had several fish about to croak including a Kole tang, niger trigger, six line wrasse, yellow tang, and a few clown fish. :( These were the ones that I noticed... I'm sure there were more. One of the Kole tangs had something very bad with its mouth. This one I bought looked pretty good, but I'm going to let them sit on it for a few more days before I chance it.

Thoughts on all this?

-Ryan

[crumbletop]

Be careful with the PO4 measurement. If you use a glass or container that was washed in the dishwasher, or something like that -- it will read PO4, IME. I use stuff that I've rinsed in RO/DI several times. I once thought I had a PO4 issue, and it was the glass I was using.

I do water changes mostly to keep my trace elements up -- at least that is my reasoning. I don't know if it really helps or not. I only measure and dose Ca, Alk, and Mg.

[rsteagall]

I rinsed the glass out a few times with tap water and then rinsed it again with RO/DI a few times as well. So, I think the measurements were pretty close. With those measurements, would you say I have a PO4 issue? Whats your tank on the kole tang plan? I definitely want to get a fish that will work for me. ;)

[demos10]

my kole tang is a eating machine.No algae in the tank at all.Added 30# of rock from a fellow reefer couple weeks back that had a good amount of algae on it and it was gone in 2 days.Not a trace left.I also have a powder brown as well so between the two of them it doesn't have a chance

[crumbletop]

I like koles. That sounds like a good plan.

That's odd that the RO/DI tests for PO4. Could your DI be exhausted? When I researched things way back, I think I remember that PO4 could get through the RO, and that is generally why you need RO/DI for reefs. If your DI is exhausted then PO4 could be coming through. So if the reading is accurate, I'd say that your DI must have run out relatively recently, and that you are now adding PO4 to your tank -- bringing the PO4 level of the tank up. I'd change out that DI pronto.

FWIW, my tap has phosphates in it -- so if you didn't rinse well enough with the RO/DI then you may have had some residual stuff from the tap water.

If you have new DI on there, then I don't have a clue...

[rsteagall]

I actually just changed out the DI resin 3-4 hours ago. It was starting to read 1ppm on my TDS meter. It would be interesting to test it again after I did this.

Mikeyjer talked me into waiting a few days to pick up my kole. He said earlier in the week that both of them looked pretty bad. So, I figured I'd let AC marinate on it for a few more days before I chance it. In fact, I think I'll let them do this on all stock I buy from them from now on... unless its a chromis or some other cheese :D.

[mamagoose45]

We have a Kole Tang in our 90, and while we still have some algae issues, she's constantly cruising around munching on it...seems to be keeping it from getting worse at least!

[wooglin]

Will a Kole Tang and Yellow Tang get along?

[crumbletop]

I've seen someone with both in the same tank. He had a few other types of tangs as well, and there was a pecking order. I think the kole and the yellow will each try to be dominant in your 75 -- and depending on the size of the kole when you add it, there may be issues. But heck, you have 4 clowns all getting along -- so you're the magic man!

Others may have more definitive information -- as there are exceptions to every rule, and I may have seen one of the exceptions ;)

[Pickupman66]

Yellows can be very aggressive IMO. i have a purple and a had a kole for a while. great feeder on the rocks and glass. got stuck in my overflow and died. I now have a purple and a powder brown and I havent seen any ill will in a very long time. only lasted a day or so then....