Just having the power back is a relief on all fronts. That pump coming on was beautiful.
But it's not over til it's over, and the tank came out with a lot of issues.
I let it warm gradually, with the heater, until it was 79.
But warmth means decay, and I had missing fish under the rockwork, dead ones.
The cold also killed off all my bristleworms and probably some of the crabs. This, when you have dead to dispose of, is a scary situation.
I finally had light enough to read the water tests. Salinity was bang on.
I'd dosed Prime about 3-4 times during the depth of the disaster, and it squelches nitrate-to-ammonia goings-on, but I'm not sure whether it converts the ammonia or whether it actually binds the nitrate. At any rate, a functional tank can't go on leaning on that product. I had to let it do its thing, and just watch the readings.
Water changes are definitely in order. I had, ice cold, about 20 gallons of salt water left from changes I'd been doing.
Alkalinity is 9.
Temperature is 80.1.
Salinity 1.024.
Nitrate tested at 50. This is not good for corals or fish. It's all sps coral, so it's hardy, but---that needs to come down to 2 or lower.
Haven't tested the phosphate yet, or the calcium. It's on kalk, so I'm not too worried about calcium. But I will test those when I get the nitrate hammered down.
There are 3 methods of lowering nitrate: nitrate remover beads, polyfilter, vinegar dosing (on a schedule), and water changes. I applied all of them, starting with the 20 gallons I had in reserve. I am now making up new saltwater.
Survivors are: the golden domino damsel, the black and white 3-stripe (both dascyllus species), and ironically, one chromis. Dascyllus and chromis hate each other. I found that out after adding the chromis. But here we are, all on the same liferaft...so to speak.
Snails, mostly limpets, maybe some strombus grazers---survived. Crabs are few, but my oldest and largest, a hermit with striped legs, is alive. He can be undertaker to the demised, and thank goodness. [edit: now spotted about 7 of the strombus grazers, and another of the larger hermits.]
And my live rock and half the cheato moss, so it will have released some phosphate.
Survivors include every single aiptasia and asterina.
Losses: my bristleworms, probably the breeding mysis shrimp colony, various fishes not named above.
But the tank is alive, and the fish are starting, with the water change, to act more comfortably, and the contracted corals are expanding. My lights are Radion Pro, so I just started them up on 'acclimate,' which puts my preset program on a daily increasing level, starting at 25%, to let it ride at 50%, where it was before the disaster. [edit: the freshwater tank lost only the 2 angels: catfish, tetras, pleco, Aussie rainbow, all came out fine.]
But it's not over til it's over, and the tank came out with a lot of issues.
I let it warm gradually, with the heater, until it was 79.
But warmth means decay, and I had missing fish under the rockwork, dead ones.
The cold also killed off all my bristleworms and probably some of the crabs. This, when you have dead to dispose of, is a scary situation.
I finally had light enough to read the water tests. Salinity was bang on.
I'd dosed Prime about 3-4 times during the depth of the disaster, and it squelches nitrate-to-ammonia goings-on, but I'm not sure whether it converts the ammonia or whether it actually binds the nitrate. At any rate, a functional tank can't go on leaning on that product. I had to let it do its thing, and just watch the readings.
Water changes are definitely in order. I had, ice cold, about 20 gallons of salt water left from changes I'd been doing.
Alkalinity is 9.
Temperature is 80.1.
Salinity 1.024.
Nitrate tested at 50. This is not good for corals or fish. It's all sps coral, so it's hardy, but---that needs to come down to 2 or lower.
Haven't tested the phosphate yet, or the calcium. It's on kalk, so I'm not too worried about calcium. But I will test those when I get the nitrate hammered down.
There are 3 methods of lowering nitrate: nitrate remover beads, polyfilter, vinegar dosing (on a schedule), and water changes. I applied all of them, starting with the 20 gallons I had in reserve. I am now making up new saltwater.
Survivors are: the golden domino damsel, the black and white 3-stripe (both dascyllus species), and ironically, one chromis. Dascyllus and chromis hate each other. I found that out after adding the chromis. But here we are, all on the same liferaft...so to speak.
Snails, mostly limpets, maybe some strombus grazers---survived. Crabs are few, but my oldest and largest, a hermit with striped legs, is alive. He can be undertaker to the demised, and thank goodness. [edit: now spotted about 7 of the strombus grazers, and another of the larger hermits.]
And my live rock and half the cheato moss, so it will have released some phosphate.
Survivors include every single aiptasia and asterina.
Losses: my bristleworms, probably the breeding mysis shrimp colony, various fishes not named above.
But the tank is alive, and the fish are starting, with the water change, to act more comfortably, and the contracted corals are expanding. My lights are Radion Pro, so I just started them up on 'acclimate,' which puts my preset program on a daily increasing level, starting at 25%, to let it ride at 50%, where it was before the disaster. [edit: the freshwater tank lost only the 2 angels: catfish, tetras, pleco, Aussie rainbow, all came out fine.]
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