Help

[rowanpks]

My 90 gallon tank sprung a big leak(Monday night), I placed 6 of my fish&corals into a 24 gallon biocube and 2 of the fish and corals into a 12 gallon bio cube.

I place about 100 lbs of rock into a 35 gallon bucket. The bucket has three power heads a canaster filter on it and a heater
.
After work today fish are great(did 1/2 gallon water change in each), but the rock heater had the water at about 87 degree's. The bucket now smells.

So here are my questions.

1. Did I kill off all of the good bacteria? I can see what looks like dead worms in the rock.
2. Can I still use this rock or do I have to re-cure it.
3. If I have to wait a while before returning my livestock to the aquarim will they be okay in the smaller tanks?
4. How long should I wait before putting everything back in my tank?
5. I have a new tank with a built in overflow, it has a 1" drain and a 3/4 inch return. Can I use a mag 9.5 or would a mag7 be better?
6. I am also looking for new protien skimmer any suggestions.

 

[davewbush]

1. Some may of died off but you should be ok.
2. When the water temp is back to normal, test the water. IMO you shouldn't have to re-cure it
3. It's no different than a QT. Keep the paramters where they should be.
4. This is just like moving, put it back in when you are ready. IMO the sooner the better.

 

[rowanpks]

thank you very much! I was really worried about it.

 

[Salamander]

IMO...

1. The bacteria will survive.

2. You shouldn't have to re-cure your rock.

3. Depends on what species and size of fish and coral and whether they're compatible with what was already in the smaller tanks. Also depends on the stability of the smaller tanks and if you can maintain proper parameters over whatever time they're in the tank. If the fish are small and the tanks established I'd expect them to handle an increased bio-load.

4. If the tank is completely dry (and maybe if its not) adding everything back could stir up detritus and cause a mini-cycle and delay getting things back in quickly. Just test and see when the time is right.

5. IN a 90g I'd go with a Mag 9 IMHO. Try the overflow and Drain Calculator on the homepage to see if the drain will handle the flow. It depends more on the overflow and drain tube diameter than the return. It also depends on how much flow you want/need through your sump/fuge and your display.

6. Good Luck! All I can say is do lots of research....and go for a much larger skimmer than you currently need. Ya gotta plan for the next monster tank you'll inevitably want!

 

[rowanpks]

thank you

 

[rowanpks]

the other tanks were empty, I transfered everything from the big tank to the little ones. So they are the only things in their tanks.

 

[rowanpks]

help part 2

help part 2

okay so its after work again, I tested the water in the bucket and the amonia is at a 3.0.

I have 60 gallons of salt water ready which I was going to combine with bucket water for the tank. I dont think that would be wise now.

any suggestions?

 

[rowanpks]

What I did was put the rock in fresh salt water for a 24 hours threw all of the old water out. I just put all the rock in the new tank and put all new water with 10 gallons from the old tank.

My question is: If I test the water tomorrow and it is all within paramaters can I return my fish to the tank?

 

[Salamander]

I'd get the 90 going again with the rock and test over a few days to see if its stable. Just like a new tank, most important params I'd check initially would be NO2, NO3, and NH4. Check quite a few times and watch for any trends to see if they're increasing or decreasing. Of course also check the pH and salinity and others.

 

[rowanpks]

okay sounds great, your advice about seeing if it is going up or down sounds great too.

 

[rowanpks]

everything is back in and doing great, thank you for your suggestions.