Disaster

[Shiandy]

I've had my reef system up and running for nearly a year now, and everything has been going very well indeed.

Tonight while doing some maintenance, I noticed my canister filter (mostly used for carbon, but contains a little crushed coral) has come unplugged, so without thinking I plugged it back in.

Instantly the room filled with a strong eggy smell, and the realisation of what I had done hit me, I had just emptied the canister of stagnant water straight into the tank.

Immediately my dwarf angel started showing signs of stress, and my cleaner shrimp was also looking very unhappy.

I'm gutted really don’t know what to do, the damage is done, I've checked the ammonia levels, and as expected they are around 1.0ppm.

I don’t have any water made up as I did my water change yesterday, and my RO is currently making up the next batch, so I can do a 30% water change in the morning, I've added some carbon to see if that helps, but I'll just have to wait it out and see what the full damage will be.

If anyone could give me some advice at this point it would be greatly appreciated.

[cristhiam]

I've done that with my skimmer before but nothing bad happend (pretty stinky thou). Get some water ready for another water change and run some fresh carbon. Your skimmer should pull all the nasty stuff out also running on the wet side for now. Hope this helps

[Shiandy]

Thanks,

I'll increase the water flow to the skimmer, skim wet and see if the ammonia levels drop (keeping fingers x'd) I've also turned off the lights, but looks like my dwarf angel is not going make it ;(

[Travis L. Stevens]

Mix some water with dechlorinated tap water and do a water change immediately. If you are testing 1 ppm of Ammonia, you better do something fast rather than wait around for RO water to come out! Good Luck!

[cristhiam]

I would not use a dechlorinator, just go to the grocery store and buy water.

[Shiandy]

Not really an option, its 9:00pm here in the UK

[davidryder]

I would use tap water.. the only downside of tap is the fuel for aglaes... it's not going to hurt the fish to use tap for a one-time water change.

[2fishy]

Definately if you have cycle, or stress zyme. Add according to the directions to help detoxify the ammonia for the fish.

[Aquabucket]

Amquel is best suited for your situation. Do not add barely mixed SW from your tap. SW that is not mixed long enough can actually add to your ammonia levels!

The best thing to do since you have little access to anything would be to add more O2 with airstones or powerheads if you have any extra equipment around. I would also run a lot of carbon if you have some.

I would not make the situation worse by taking drastic measures that could cause more problems. You may have to wait it out until you can address the problem in the correct manner and hope for the best. If possible try contacting a local reefer to help you out.

[cristhiam]

This is why I wouldn't use tap/declorinator specially in a reef. Good luck
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1080179

[cristhiam]

you just never know what is in the water, you could make it worst.

[Shiandy]

I'll just have to wait it out, and do a water change in the morning, really not alot else I can do.

I do have a couple of powerheads kicking around, so I'll add those.

[Aquabucket]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9693057#post9693057 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shiandy
I'll just have to wait it out, and do a water change in the morning, really not alot else I can do.

I do have a couple of powerheads kicking around, so I'll add those.

Run them high up to agitate the surface well. Lets just hope your established bacteria will help break the ammonia down for you. I would not be surprised if your ammonia levels are not already going down on their own.

[Shiandy]

I re-tested the Ammonia levels and they have already dropped to around 0.50ppm, looks like its sorting its self out.

Last time I saw the Dwarf Angel though, he was laying flat on the bottom, but has since disappeard behind the rockwork, got my fingers x'd but dont fancy its chances.

My Clowns dont seem to be affected by the ordeal, and my cleaner shrimp is looking fine now. My yellow tang has remained hidden throughout so cant comment on its condition.

All of the Corals seem ok at the moment, I can see myself staying up late tonight, not looking forward to what I might find in the morning.

[power boat jim]

The smell you experienced is hydrogen sulfide (H2s) It is extreamly toxic and very acidic. Check the Ph and Change water . There are not many things worse then H2s. It is caused by the breakdown of organic matter in a low oxygen environment. It is better known as sewer gas.

[Shiandy]

Well morning has arrived, re-checked Ammonia levels and found them to be Zero. (lets out a sigh of relief)

Cant find my Dwarf Angel anywhere, but all the other inhabitants seem to be just fine.

Many thanks for all your help through this, looks like I got away with it lightly, but a lesson learned, and a mistake I wont make again.

"Daily check list", make sure everything is running !

[davidryder]

Good to hear! Hope the angel turns up :)

[Fraggle Rock2]

Did you only have the filter unplugged for a night or something? How often do you change the media inside?

It seems pretty bad that such a short time created so much pollution. Would make me apprehensive about using that.

Also, I would have suggested setting up a temporary "tank" (tank, bucket, whatever) with some de-chlorinated tap water. That way, the fish would be out of the ammonia bath. I doubt the tap water would have been bad for them.

[davidryder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9693009#post9693009 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cristhiam
This is why I wouldn't use tap/declorinator specially in a reef. Good luck
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1080179

We're talking about the lesser of two evils here. If it comes down to poisoning my fish with toxic levels of ammonia or using tap water to do a water change... I think I will choose the tap water.

[vanmo92]

If it was me I would just keep doing water changes.

[Aquabucket]

Looks to me like Shiandy did the right thing. He had no water available and the measures many of you suggested would have made the situation worse IMO. His established tank and bacteria levels were strong enough to break down the ammonia just as I suggested.

An inadequately mixed batch of saltwater in itself can be toxic. Sometimes its best not to panic in situations like these. If at all possible its best to try to get more O2 in the tank to help decrease the toxicity and stress on your livestock. Another thing to do is run lots of fresh carbon.

The lesson learned here is always have saltwater mixing. I save all my change water in a tub and toss a PH in there in case of emergencies and to clean equipment. A bottle of Amquel is also another thing thats always good to have on hand.

[davidryder]

LOL I used tapwater for the first year I had saltwater tanks. Many people use tap water with no ill effects. If the water he mixed up killed the fish, I doubt it was because he used tap water. If he used a toxic level of dechlor, that's a different story.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9704054#post9704054 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aquabucket

An inadequately mixed batch of saltwater in itself can be toxic.



What?

[Aquabucket]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9704203#post9704203 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by davidryder
LOL I used tapwater for the first year I had saltwater tanks. Many people use tap water with no ill effects. If the water he mixed up killed the fish, I doubt it was because he used tap water. If he used a toxic level of dechlor, that's a different story.

What?

I suggest you head over to the Reef Chemistry Forum. Randy has written articles about the need to thoroughly mix your saltwater whether you are using tap-water or not.

All the SW that goes into my tank and in my systems at work are mixed in a tub with a powerhead for at least 12 hours.

[davidryder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9704524#post9704524 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aquabucket
I suggest you head over to the Reef Chemistry Forum. Randy has written articles about the need to thoroughly mix your saltwater whether you are using tap-water or not.

All the SW that goes into my tank and in my systems at work are mixed in a tub with a powerhead for at least 12 hours.

It's a silly argument because I would never use anything but RO water... but in emergency situations I definitely would. If I thought that the $400 of fish in my tank were going to poisoned by toxic levels of ammonia, I wouldn't 'wait it out' as you so nonchalantly suggested. In this case, it turned out o.k.... so I don't think there is anything left to talk about.

[Aquabucket]

Your not getting the message here.

Its quite possible that a caustic batch of poorly mixed SW would have increased his ammonia levels. Freshly mixed saltwater can be fairly toxic to fish! The high pH of newly mixed saltwater makes the existing ammonia more toxic. Some artificial salt mixes produce residual amounts of ammonia when newly mixed; aerating the freshly mixed saltwater for 24-48 hours is recommended.

Ammonia and the Reef Aquarium (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/index.php#5)

[HowardW]

<<< The best thing to do since you have little access to anything would be to add more O2 with airstones or powerheads if you have any extra equipment around >>>


In a situation like that I'm not sure I would want to increase aeration with airstones as that would raise the pH and the presence of un-ionized ammonia (the toxic form) increases as pH goes up.

[daveonbass]

All in all I think he did do the right thing by looking at and weighing in all hte options, and THEN deciding to remain calm and wait it out till morning. Anything that he would have done on impulse could have made a stressful environment even worse. I've done stupid stuff like that as well and decided to not even TEST the water...I just allowed the tank (which is quite mature) to do it's job and balance things back out. I did run my skimmer a little wetter, but other than that I just allowed the natural bacteria to soak it all up. And the tank was none the worse for wear. Adding new saltwater, even in an emergency, that was NOT mixed for 12 hours, could have been worse. And now all he needs to do is get some mixed up with his new supply of RO water that he got started, and do a couple of good waterchanges just to get all the muck and stink out.
Oh and he needs to let us know how the status of the angel is ASAP (bites nails in anticipation).

[Aquabucket]

****double post****

[Aquabucket]

In a situation like that I'm not sure I would want to increase aeration with airstones as that would raise the pH and the presence of un-ionized ammonia (the toxic form) increases as pH goes up. [/B]

I was wondering when someone would bring up that point.

You would have to add a lot of O2 to make much of an impact on PH levels especially at night though. The impact would not be immediate either but I see your point.

My reasoning for the extra O2 short term is to lessen the immediate stress on the fish and to speed up flow to help dilute and breakdown the source of the ammonia. Its a bit of a catch 22 I guess.