update - 1 week with RO/DI unit

[jacksonpt]

Well, I've had my RO/DI unit now for 1 week. Did 1 water change, got another batch cooking as I type. The first water change did not go well, and unfortunately I'm not 100% sure why. I did about a 35% water change with fresh RO/DI water (filtered the water, airiated it 12 hours, added salt, airiated 12 hours). I added the fresh water fairly slowly, about 1 gallon every 5 minutes via standard airline tubing. I added the new water after lights out to help reduce stress since it was a rather large water change. I did a visual check after the change was finished and all seemed well. When I woke up the next morning, the temp was down to 72*. My waving hand antelia was clearly in bad shape, and all my snails were apparently dead. I took the canopy off and investigated. I pulled out the heater and put it in a sink full of luke warm water, plugged it in, and it kicked on right away - so I'm not sure why my water was so cool (fresh water used in the change was 76*). I put the heater back in the tank and it seemed to be functioning fine. Temp was back up to 80 by the afternoon. I ran some water tests... trates/trites/ammonia all 0, just like normal. Alk was low like usual, about 1.2, but my pH had dropped from a norm of 8.5 to about 7.8. Not sure how much of that was due to the fact that I was testing before the lights came on (when pH is usually lower).
24 hours later, my anthelia is obviously dead, as are all of my snails (4 different species). My mushrooms are alive, but unhappy, as is my GSP and BTA (the BTA has been unhappy for months now). My hermits and cleaner shrimp seem fine.
Since then I have moved my mushrooms, GSP and anemone to my other tank. My hermits and cleaner shrimp are still in the original tank. I haven't done a water test in a few days, but the water smells pretty bad (dead anthelia and snails). I'm sure my ammonia, trates and trites are high. I'm basically going to let the tank cycle again before doing anything else with it.
I'm very frustrated, but I'm still trying - one day I'll get this hoby down.

 

[broomer5]

Any chance your heater was exposed to air while you were filling the tank back up with the new saltwater ?
Sorry to hear things did not go so well.

 

[buzz]

That could be....overnight with no heater working this time of year will cause a big temp drop.
And I suppose the drastic temp change could account for a higher than normal pH fluctuation as well.

 

[maryc137]

I'd buy a new heater right away. It obviously didn't kick on when it should have and I wouldn't trust it just because it seems to be working again now.

 

[jjboods]

Why did you do a 35% change...seems a little large if everything was doing well in the tank. Also...any chance that there was a power outage overnight?

 

[jacksonpt]

Originally posted by broomer5
Any chance your heater was exposed to air while you were filling the tank back up with the new saltwater ?
Sorry to hear things did not go so well.
The upper 1/3 to 1-2 of the heater was exposed to air (after being unplugged). This is a regular occurance because of teh way I do water changes and the way my heater is positioned. I've never had a problem in the past
Would the exposure to air have caused a problem? Is this somethign I should avoid in the future?

 

[broomer5]

N0 - not if you unplugged it like you do.
You did the right thing - I was just askin

 

[melbournefl]

Did you heat the "change" water before adding it? I would think that a 35% water change could effect the temp dramatically and, depending on the size of the heater, it just couldn't keep up with that fast a drop. Just my wild thoughts as usual but you might consider bringing the change water up to temp before adding it.
HTH
Later,
Paul

 

[jacksonpt]

Originally posted by MelbourneFL
Did you heat the "change" water before adding it?
Yes, I did. I heated it to about 76* (that was as warm as I could get it with my spare 50W heater because my basement is so cool).

 

[pyro383]

You can always throw a 5g pail of the new water in a tub filled with hot water and a powerhead and in 15min. you should have the water up to about 80 before you dump it into the tank

 

[jacksonpt]

I was checking out my tank last night, reassesing the damage. Good news and bad news - Good news is that I saw a few very small (baby) strombus grazers. I guess the eggs weren't affected and the managed to hatch. Hopefully in a month or so these guys will be laying eggs of their own. Bad news is that my heater definitely crapped out. While I was watching, the heating element sparked, and the glass cracked. Not sure what was up, but I quickly removed it and replaced it with a spare 50w heater I had in the basement. I'll be stopping at my LFS tonight to get a better quality 100w heater after work.
Nitrates are starting to drop, so it seems I'm on the way to recovery. Nothing else has been lost so I think I'm in good shape... just gotta keep waiting.