HELP My Heater Broke

[bspiegel21]

I need ANY advice anyone has. I came home yesterdat after being at work all day. and coukd feel heat radiating of my tank. My Wras, and 2 clowns dead. My 3 tangs and 2 Damsels alive. Some of my soft coral looks melted. I stuck a Baby thermomiter in the tank and it read 97.4 degrees. Long story and late night it is now down to 78 degrees, after a third water change and ice packs SLOWLY. This morning some of my Zothids are opening and the 5 fish are still alive, but the water is clowdy and I have alot of leather coral in it. I am scared to make a decision on the leathers because they will open some days and not others.
PLEASE HELP ME
Brad

 

[scubaguy]

Try also running some charcoal also.

 

[bspiegel21]

Any other suggestions other than watch and wait?
Does a brain coral lose its color when it dies???
what does mushroom look like when it dies? or should I leave it to see if it comes back?

 

[bspiegel21]

The Brain coral looks like it is shredding so I removed them.
Should I cut ALL of my lighting back on or not?
Should I feed the fish thir full meals?
Please help this is a 9 month old hobby I do not know what to do or need reasurance I am doing the right thing.

 

[puffer32]

You just have to wait and see what happens over time. Most corals don't just die right away. They are shocked right now and need time to recover, some might not make it. Do a large water change and run some carbon. Run your skimmer on high. As far as you removing the brain, was it actually losing tissue or just slimming? Some will do that when they are stressed.

 

[maxalmon]

One technique I use is to go with 2 and most of the time 3 heaters, go with a better brand like stealth. I use more of the lower watt heaters so that if there is a problem and one goes bad it's not strong enough to create a problem on it's own.

 

[bspiegel21]

The brains were actually losing tissue florecent green pieces floating in the tank.
If leather coral is limp in the tank does that mean it is dead or might it come back?

 

[puffer32]

The leathers are probably fine and should come back. The brain sounds bad though. Its a good idea that you took him out.

 

[cherish life.]

you might want to take your stuff to a lfs for now...explain to them what happened and ask if they can either take your stuff till everything is better...or ask for new parts for ur tank...

 

[bspiegel21]

I have access to a 2nd protein skimmer do you think I should try to use it?

 

[hefner413]

I would run the 2nd skimmer - would help remove die-off. I would leave it all and wait it out - the marine life can be much hardier than we expect. You did the right thing - doing it all slllowww. Like the others said - run carbon - it will help remove any toxins released. Carbon is active for the first few days, then loses it's activity - so you might want to replace it after a week. And just do frequent small water changes. The fish and coral stress and become defensive - usually increasing excretions and becoming less active. This helps protect them. As things return to normal, they will also return.
And order yourself some stealth heaters like max said - they're awesome.

 

[bspiegel21]

would you use the amonia remover/carbon or just carbon?
One more leather starting to disintegrate, an 8" toad stool ;-(. I removed it.
ALL zothids still look good.

 

[bspiegel21]

How long would you wait until you added things back in I was thinking 2 weeks depending on levels.

 

[hefner413]

If your ammonia is spiking, you could use the ammonia lock. And yeah, add the others back depending on levels, like you said. Once levels return to normal, you should be good. Glad your zoas still looking good.. And the fish? still ok?

 

[bspiegel21]

Ammonia never spiked the water is CLEAR nitrites are 0 had another leather die today, but aquarium looks good. I can't believe it. how long should I wait to add coral and fish??? I was thinking about a week because of NO SPIKE. I have only been into salt water for 9 months so all of your advice has been helpfull and is appreciated.

 

[hefner413]

Just keep watching for a spike - if a portion the beneficial bacteria have been killed - then a spike can follow. Although I wouldn't expect this - being that the bacteria are quite hardy. Sounds like your leathers took the biggest hit, eh? Well, my though is - casualties make room for new, better specimens!