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Thread: HELP, Heater broke H2O got to 90 Degrees. Is my coral dead?

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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    HELP, Heater broke H2O got to 90 Degrees. Is my coral dead?

    Well just my luck after a trade of my freshwater livestock for salt water livestock in my 29 gal biocube, i transfred everything from his tank to my tank, including coral, liverock and water, and put in my heater from my fresh water plant. 10 -16 hours later i noticed that my temperature reading was 90 degrees, I thought WHAT!! I double checked the thermometer and it was accurate. I called my LFS and they said to take the cover off and let the water cool down. I replaced the heater with a new on i had just bought for my liverock. in 6 hours later the temp is 78-80 with the new heater.

    My ? is this, the coral is around 3-4 years old, they guy i got it from said that they have been through a lot. Do you think i am going to lose that coral based on it was in 90 degree water for 10-15 hours? or since it is old and established, including the same water that i will be ok?

    How do I know if my coral is dead? How long does it take for it to start to show. There is no fish in the tank just coral and live rock.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    I think 90 is right on the edge of losing them. I would keep parameters as stable as possible and hope for the best. Probably the 10 - 12 drop in 6 hrs was as stressful as the temp.
    Carmie


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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    ya and the fact that they were all transplated from his tank to mine. I had freshwater for 20 years and i told him i want 20 gal of his water for my tank so they wont get that stressed out during transfer. I hope this at least provided some protection. Things are stable but i have no idea of what dead or dying coral would look like or how long it takes for it to die. Hours. days weeks? If by say tommorrow everything looks ok then am i good to go? or can it take a week or so to start to show?

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    Grand Master Reefer PhotoJohn's Avatar
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    its very hard to say. Some coral can dry out between tides baking in tropical sun and be fine, others would die in minutes. It depends on what you have. Doing a water changes wouldnt hurt. If you have animals or plant life dieing getting that gunk out asap is always a good idea. If the corals are going to die you should know within 24-48hrs. The corals will melt if they are softies or bleach if sps(stony) corals.

    do you know what corals you have?

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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    Thanks for the reply, So far it looks like nothing is dead. Just have to wait and see.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Keep us posted. I would make up some saltwater if you don't already have some and be prepared to do a water change.
    Carmie


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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    Ok i have made a simple webpage on my website. and posted pics of the tank. I need help in determining what is happing to my tank. what is dying, what the white webby looking stuff is ect.. Salt Water Tank

    Please excuse the crappy way the tank looks, I ranout of time trying to organize the coral and livestock, my main concern was getting everything in my tank ASAP and fix it later. Plus i put in new live sand so that made the water super cloudy for a day. I plan on working on it this weekend.

    As you know i am new to the salt world and as in my original post got this livestock as a trade. Presetly my nitrates are high and phosphate also high. I have some phosphate buffer that i will add and my nitrates could be because the tank was just transplated and I added new coral gravel.

    I also have 10 gal of salt water ready for water change
    Last edited by mmenz22779; 04-06-2010 at 12:04 PM. Reason: removed old pics

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    Grand Master Reefer PhotoJohn's Avatar
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    The 5th pic down is an algae, the green stuff. the white stuff is a sponge.

    the corals dont look to bad but if you have nitrates above 10 or so i would start doing water changes

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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    Thanks photoJohn, the white stuff i am talking about is the 5th piture on post #8. It is looks webby like. This is also on other stuff in the tank. Is this sponge or a problem. like puss or infection? I will update my webpage with your comment thanks

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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    you can see the white slimy stuff better on my webpage piture #8

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    Grand Master Reefer PhotoJohn's Avatar
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    they are just sponges. very good to have, they filter crap out of the water.

    The algae can be bad. If it gets out of control it could overtake your tank. just keep an eye on it

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    Grand Master Reefer PhotoJohn's Avatar
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    I was looking thought the web images and it looks like you might be getting an algae problem. but i will let other people chime in that have had that variety of algae

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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    ohh good, in my fresh water if i had something like that that would be a very bad thing. Seeing it I thought that something was dying.

    will they stay there forever or do they grow and spread ect.. They look ugly but if it is good for the tank then great i will leave them.

    ok i too then will wait for others to talk about algae. I think my LFS said that in a week or so for me to get a "CLEAN UP"Crew to take care of that stuff

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    Grand Master Reefer PhotoJohn's Avatar
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    if it is an algae, hard to tell 100% from the pic, pulling it out probably wouldn't hurt. If it is what i think it is my LFS has a nano cube full of it. I think they like the look. Its a different look for sure. I have had something similar a few times but have always trashed it

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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    sorry i should have more specific "ohh good, in my fresh water if i had something like that that would be a very bad thing. Seeing it I thought that something was dying.

    will they stay there forever or do they grow and spread ect.. They look ugly but if it is good for the tank then great i will leave them.
    "

    I was talking about the white Sponge.

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    Master Reefer SaltyDawg's Avatar
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    I had a white sponge show up after about 8 months. It was there for a couple months then dissapeared as fast as it came. Dont know why it showed up or why it died. I have another one starting to grow in about the same spot except this one is pink.
    Does yours look anything like this

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    mmenz22779 (02-17-2010)

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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    ya i think so here is a close up of mine
    Last edited by mmenz22779; 03-15-2010 at 06:47 PM. Reason: Removed image

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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    ugly looking thing but i am glade and relived to know that it is not something dying.

    thanks for that image

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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    on my webpage Salt Water Tank i am trying to figure our what else. Thanks to the help from a few other posters i have now identifed 2 of the things i have in my tank. Salt water is fun. Of course i was a fresh water guy for 20 years. Its fun to see stuff pop up then leave. its like a new adventure. Seeing a freshwater plant tank for that long got very boring, plus my 2 toddlers love the new tank, eventhought there is no fish in it yet they love to see all the bright colors ect.. And to know that nearly everything in it is alive is awsome.
    Last edited by mmenz22779; 04-06-2010 at 12:06 PM.

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    Assistant Moderator Skurvey Dog's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear about the thermostat going bad on your heater. There is never a good time for any thing bad to happen, but it's good that you acted quickly and sought measures to correct the problem. It is hard to determine what you may lose or not lose as far as the corals go. Their hardiness, age and tank conditions when the accident happened could possibly play a factor. My concern would be to lower the stress level in the tank caused by nitrates, as I understood you to say in your previous post, because the corals are already stressed from heat exposure and need an environment conductive to healing. Just my own personal opinion of course for what it's worth. :-) I have also been led to believe in the past that when certain coral & marine animals become stressed, they can or may emit some small levels of toxins/or waste products, to what degree I am uncertain. With the small volume of water, it would not hurt to do a water change, or as CJo said, have water at the ready.

    A year ago, I had a major overheating in my marine system, due to a crisis situation calling me away, leaving my MH on and air circulation being cut off, which lasted for about 20 hours or so. I did a water change and monitored very closely. I didn't lose near what I thought I would. All of my hardier corals like zoos, mushrooms and toadstools made it through and recovered nicely. As John mentioned, you will see the coral turning white, or if you touch it, it clouds the water. You will want to remove the dead coral as it will foul the water. I might also encourage you, if you aren't already doing so, to use gloves/disposable gloves when handling corals and working in your tank. Toxins, bacteria and numerous others are in there and we all react differently when exposed to them.

    Don't beat yourself up as we all face some sort of challenge or unexpected problem. It's always a continual growth in knowledge as we make our way one step backwards and two steps forwards. :-) For a while, I actually thought I was staggering! Lol


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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    skurvey dog, i am going to do a 10% water change tommorrow and try and orginze the tank a little bit. Check the chemicals and get them back in balance. Thanks for the tip on the gloves, i will do that.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    I think that the corals don't look bad considering that your temp spiked. A series of 5-10% water changes is a good idea. Lowering the nitrates will help relieve stress on your corals.
    Carmie


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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    update, Here is updated image of my tank.

    Everything is ok,thank goodness.

    Here is my bio cube 29 gal. http://www.calportal.com/fish/
    2 Powerheads, 75 Watt Heater, 60 lbs total LR & live sand

    Corals
    Neon Torch, Button Polyps, Green Star Polyp , Mushrooms,Xenia,Purple Death Polyp,Blue Mushroom,Red Muchroom,frog spawn ,Blue Clove,ToadStool, Red People Eaters

    Live Stock
    1 Clown,1 Fire shrimp, 2 peppermint shrimp,1 pacific cleaner shrimp, 1 green emerald Crabs,15 Nass snails, 7 turbo snails, Harlequin Serpent Star, SS Star
    10 Cerith Snails

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    Assistant Moderator rayme07's Avatar
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    Great looking tank and I am glad to hear everything is ok.
    Ray or Raymond
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    Curious Reefer mmenz22779's Avatar
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    Thanks Rayme07. all the coral is still small so looks kinda bare. I rearranged the tank several times, combined lots of broken small frags to bigger LR pieces so i get big pieces instead of small ones since i am limited. I am looking foward to my GSP to get out if its pissy state and start to open up and grow.

    I am still wondering what else i can to to give it the WOW factor. I think i just have to wait a bit for the coral to start growing.

    Any suggestions please let me know.
    Here is my bio cube 29 gal. http://www.calportal.com/fish/
    2 Powerheads, 75 Watt Heater, 60 lbs total LR & live sand

    Corals
    Neon Torch, Button Polyps, Green Star Polyp , Mushrooms,Xenia,Purple Death Polyp,Blue Mushroom,Red Muchroom,frog spawn ,Blue Clove,ToadStool, Red People Eaters

    Live Stock
    1 Clown,1 Fire shrimp, 2 peppermint shrimp,1 pacific cleaner shrimp, 1 green emerald Crabs,15 Nass snails, 7 turbo snails, Harlequin Serpent Star, SS Star
    10 Cerith Snails

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