911 Help

jrb384

jrb384

Member
have a tank emergency. g/f set a simmer pot on top of the tank canopy. it contained about 1/2 cup of that simmer oil. well, needless to say, some or most of that oil is now in my tank and has turned it very cloudy. the sump is starting to foam like a bubble bath.
HELP any suggestions?
i had about 5 gallons of RO/DI water on hand, and its all used up.
I have no other "good" water. would you just use "tap" water and do a change? what percent?
any help is greatly appreciated.
125 gallon reef tank, lr, ls, fish, corals,
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Yikes......:eek:
If it were me I'd immediately remove anything I wanted to keep alive and then I'd start using a floss or carbon to remove the oil....change it often. Partial water changes daily for a while will help....but removing the oil before your fish/corals die would be a priority. You've got a situation on your hands that I certainly would not want to deal with.....all I can suggest is radical measures to remove your creatures and then remove the oil.....:(
 
scubamedic

scubamedic

Member
If you need water in a hurry you can go to the 24hr Wal-Mart and buy the drinking water in 1 gallon and 2.5 gallon jugs. It's RO, carbon filtered, uv treated, micro filtered and ozonated.
Or at least the stuff here is anyway. It's what I use and I have not had any problems.
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
First - start making a very large batch of NEW saltwater with tapwater if you must. Get this going now. Get it to temperature, get it to the right salinity.
If this stuff is really an oil - it should be lighter than water.
Grab an old glass from the kitchen. Pour some saltwater in it.
Pour a little 1/4" of this oil in the glass too.
If it separates, and you can see the layer of oil on top of the saltwater in the glass - then the oil IS lighter.
If so, I would turn off your return pump, skimmer and any powerheads.
Allow the oil to rise to the tank's surface.
Start removing the oil from the top ASAP !
Continue doing this. Removing the top layer of tankwater.
Keep working your way down.
Then do the same thing in your idle sump. There most likely will be a layer of oil down there too.
I would do a massive water change, and keep an eye on everything in the tank.
If you can remove your fish/inverts and move them to another tank or have LFS hold them for you - I'd suggest doing so.
It's likely that this oil has somewhat coated your rock and sand and walls of the tank, and plumbing and sump ...... etc.
Or not ... I just don't know.
Either way - large water changes after removing much of the saltwater is what I'd start doing.
Remove and clean everything you can.
Remove skimmer an clean it out.
Remove filter media and replace.
Do not feed for a few days as well. No need to fuel the tank with nutrients at this time.
Monitor for ammonia/nitrites - your bacteria populations may have been damaged.
Watch when measuring the specific gravity too. Oil in the saltwater will affect the reading somewhat.
Once some water changes have been made - get the circulation going again. Watch for drop in temperature. You may want to move your heater to your tank for now, if it's in your sump.
 
jrb384

jrb384

Member
ok just read your posts. in the time i was waiting for your help (which i greatly appreciate) i was removing what suds i could. my 2 hawk fish are on the bottom breathing but thats about it. the rest of the fish are swimming like nothing ever happened. I'll test the oil water in the cup thing now, and shut off my pumps. keep you all updated. thanks again for the help.
i just added some oil to a glass of water. it didnt seperate at all. Looking at the simmer oil, it looks like it may be mostly water. its that stuff you buy at K mart, that goes in a pot, or popori, and it simmers and gives off a smell. Since its kmart, i imagine its watered down. wonder if it will just cycle thourgh on its own since its so thin with a few heavy water changes.
as for the corals ect, i have no where else to put them. no 2nd tank, and no water made up to put them in a large tupperware box temporarily.
 
marinerock

marinerock

Member
HI JRB....
SORRY TO HEAR OF YOUR DILLEMMA....
IM NOT SURE BUT MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE CAN VERIFY...
A PROTEIN SKIMMER MAY REMOVE THE OIL FROM
THE WATER AS THEY ARE MADE TO REMOVE ORGANIC
MATERIAL....
IF YOUR PROTEIN SKIMMER IS FOAMING,THEN I WOULD LEAVE IT ON...THIS MEANS IT IS WORKING ....
HOPE EVERYTHING WORKS OUT FOR YOU....
REGARDS....
MARINEROCK
 
chinnyr

chinnyr

Member
If you do get a film on the water surface use some paper towels to remove it.If you hold the towel on the corners and "sweep" it across the surface slowly this wil make the stuff stick to the towels.I use this method at work when cooking.It helps remove fatty oils from the surface of soups and sauces.
 
picard

picard

New Member
Major bummer...on the light side, don't forget to notify the Coast Guard's National Response Center about your oil spill...
 
dragonwolf187

dragonwolf187

Member
That stuff aint oil its only water with sented stuff in it your protien skimmer should remove it all turn all the way up and let it go to town
 
F

fishkid1000

Guest
Get one of thos whisper power filter catrtridges. Get a HUGE sponge and soak the tank water into it, Wring out the sponge over the cartridge. This might help.
 
wamp

wamp

Active Member
Four words... Carbon.. Carbon.. Carbon and more Carbon...
I thnk that about covers it.. Good luck, hope everything turns out alright.
 
jrb384

jrb384

Member
Thank you all for your posts. Nothing like working 12 hours on the midnight shift and coming home to an accident. the first hour, i thought it was the end. the longnose hawk and flame hawk were just about ready to punch out, everything else was kicking like nothing happened.
Foam was kicking up like a cheap bubble bath in the skimmer.
I did about a 25 gallon water change.
Nothing has died. its been about 16 hours now and all looks fine. i guess if something were to die, it would have done so already. unless it has a long term effect.
I still have foam in my sump, but I have sccoped like nobodies business and i'm done. I did place some carbon in the sump, and I am going to put a big filter with floss and carbon on the tank for the next week or so.
Ony one thing to say....THANK GOD K MART SELLS SOME CRAPPY WATER DOWNED OVER PRICED SIMMER OIL!!!!!
 
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