How badly did I mess up?

[LeRenard]

Hey folks,

I'm a newb when it comes to saltwater, and apparently I'm not very good at it because I keep making mistakes and I haven't even gotten the tank cycled or fish in yet.

I'm setting up my first saltwater tank- as a FOWLR for now but hopefully as a reef in the future when I'm more confident in my skills and after I upgrade my lighting. It's a 36 gallon bowfont. For background, I'm an engineer and have "most" of a masters in secondary biology education, so I know only enough to be dangerous.

My LFS initially advised me that I could use tap water for my FOWLR, so I tried that and discovered the joys of precipitating calcium carbonate. I made a 36 gallon snow globe. I decided to ditch that attempt because I would never trust the parameters, and drained and cleaned the tank.

For a second attempt, again at the LFS, I purchased 35 gallons of premixed salt water. I figured I should at least start with a known-good water supply. The LFS said I would be able to put my live sand and some live rock in straight away, and that sounded like a pretty good prospect, so I also purchased 40 pounds of live sand and 35 pounds of really gorgeous live rock covered in deep purple coralline algae. Their instructions were to place the sand, place the live rock, then fill with seawater.

When I got home, I placed my sand, then placed in the live rock. I was able to get a really nice aquascape quickly because after building rock piles for my cichlid tanks for so long the live rock is much easier to stack. I then carefully poured in my premixed water.

That's when it hit me.. the seawater had been cooling the whole time and I'd forgotten to take that into account. When I set up my digital thermometer the tank read 60 degrees F.

I got the heater plugged in, a 200 watt Eheim, and since I had it on hand I also threw in a 150 watt aqueon. I took about 2 hours to get the tank up to 80.

To make this all the more interesting, I work at a hospital in Massachusetts, and due to the 2 feet of snow we just had I had to pack up and bug out emergency style so I could make it to work in the storm. My family and I are staying with family so I can get to work with the commuter rail out of service. It doesn't happen often (maybe once before) but it figures it would coincide with setting up my new tank.

So, to recap.. I put my live sand and live rock in the tank, filled it with 60F water (DOH!), heated it to 80F, and then had to take off due to an emergency. I haven't seen the tank in two days (!!) and I'm absolutely terrified that I've killed my live rock, all the hitchikers, and that beautiful coraline algae I paid extra to get () When I left, I left an Aqueon 500 circulation pump running, the two heaters, and I turned on my AquaC Remora but pulled out the cup to add extra flow and oxygenation. I've been monitoring that the power has been steady at home.

Did I kill everything? The bacteria? The hitchikers? the coraline? Should I "nuke" the live rock and start over? Do I need to recure it? Will I need to reseed it? Help, what do I do when I get home tonight!? Should I bring anything? Some more live rock to reseed it? Some more seawater for a water change?

Any advice from someone who knows what they are doing will go a long way to calming my nerves. I feel like this is already overwhelming me and all I really want to do is keep a pair of ocellaris clownfish. I'm just becoming less confident I know how to get from here to there.

 

[tkeracer619]

It's fine. I doubt anything was nuked so I wouldn't worry about that. Even though the rock was already live it probably would need to cycle anyways. I wouldn't worry about the low temp at this point, I doubt anything you have was hurt the slightest.

Remember nothing good happens fast in a reef tank, you will need to slow down and let things happen. You can't force them to happen.

Let us know what it looks like when you get home, post a pic, and lets keep progressing forward. You have no reason to worry.

 

[MysteryReef]

Calm down, your fine. 60 degrees wouldnt be good for any inverts/fish but live rock life is surprisingly resiliant. I would start by reading all of the "sticky" threads at the top of the new to the hobby forum, there is a wealth of information that should answer most of your questions in those thread. If after reading them you have further questions, ask away. Good luck.

 

[jimmy_beaner]

Calm down. Live rock is pretty hardy. Yes, you probably killed *some* things off, but the vast majority should be fine. You'll still have beneficial bacteria present and whatever die off may occur will be food for the bacteria that did survive. The coralline will also survive (it's rather hardy). Give it a little time and see how it goes but I bet you'll see at most a mini cycle (which isn't that big of deal since you don't have fish in the tank).

 

[whosurcaddie]

CALM DOWN!!! LOL... Everything is fine. Your cycle will continue and you didn't kill everything. You need die off for the cycle to even work so stop stressing about it. You have about 6 to 8 weeks then you will be good to go.

 

[whosurcaddie]

LOL @ everyone... calm down.

 

[LeRenard]

THANK YOU. I imagine a bunch of the stress of keeping the hospital going (and getting there) these past two weeks spilled over into anxiety that I'd offed my lovely (and expensive!) live rock and would end up doing a three month cycle or having to start over again.

It seems silly but having a bunch of people say "don't worry about it" has put me very much at ease. When you're on unfamiliar ground you don't know if mishaps are huge or minor. Also thank you for the links to the information, I'll absorb as much of that as I can.

I'll try to post a picture when I get home tonight!

 

[Reef Frog]

Your bacteria colonies and coralline algae should definitely survive the brief exposure to 60F water. In fact they'll probably be unfazed. My bet is many hitch hikers like copepods will make it as well. If you had fish, they might have died - some corals would also would have likely survived but would definitely be stressed.

Hopefully your heaters were set correctly and won't over heat the tank. 450 watts seems like a lot of heat potential for 36g. Temps approaching 90F MAY be detrimental to certain hitchhikers and can certainly kill fish and corals.

So, all and all I am predicting you'll be OK and no drastic measures will be necessary - even if all the hitch hikers perish it won't be the end of the world. In any case I would proceed with a standard cycling protocol. Good luck.

 

[LeRenard]

When I got home this evening, heading up the stairs, I half expected my house to smell like a fish market. It turns out, however, everything looked pretty good! The sand had settled out, and I was able to see that I'd made a pretty big mess when I'd poured the water in. I guess I didn't go quite as slowly as I'd thought, even though I'd used a dish. I looked over everything pretty closely for about a half hour, but I didn't see any signs of life. I did, however, find an asterina star on the glass at the back of the tank.. so it's something I guess! I was hoping to see some copepods or something of that ilk, but I don't see anything moving in there. At least it smells good!

I tried to straighten out the sand a bit (it was bare glass in a few places) but it's pretty fine grain stuff and turns into a cloud if I look at it funny, so I stopped and decided just to leave it be for now. It did cloud up the tank a tad but it looks worse in the picture than in person. My lovely arangement shifted a bit, too, but I can live with how it ended up I think.. two neat little arches and lots of nooks and crannies.

My water testing came out:

Ammonia: .25 ppm
NO3: 0
NO2: 0
pH: 8.2
KH:120 ppm

Salinity: 1.021 (measured with a hydrometer)

It was also about 1 full gallon low, which I replaced with distilled water.

 

[Savant]

Nice "scape"! :thumbsup:
Might want to get a controller for that much heater, if one decides to stick open you could go south pretty fast:hmm5:

 

[jimmy_beaner]

Nice, just a small cycle

 

[Nina51]

like how your scape turned out! it looks like the rock is pretty close to the sides and you won't be able to get a magfloat in between rock and glass. not a huge deal unless you have ocd like i do and can't stand to see algae anywhere except on the back wall. LOL

your salinity is a bit low. you should shoot for right around 1.024-1.026. also, the little swing arm hydrometers can be inaccurate, especially over time. you should look into getting a good refractometer.

i just have one question...what did you guys do out there to tick off mother nature??? i mean, seriously, FEET of snow? i was raised in minnesota and never saw anything like what you're getting out there!!!

 

[LeRenard]

I took the 200 watt heater out, I'd only had it in there to help when the tank was at 60F. Right now there is an Aqueon 150 watt in there and it's hanging steady at about 80F. This morning on my way out the door I noticed the tank had reverted to being completely cloudy again. At first I thought maybe it was an bloom, but it turns out the maxijet pump had fallen off my Remora and was creating a lovely sand snow globe :/ It was a 30 second fix but I'm guessing it'll take a few days before the tank clears up. I've been running the remora with the cup out just to break the surface up a little.

I'm not sure why the salinity is low. I checked it with a Tropic Marin hydrometer, but there's always a chance it's user error which is why I haven't corrected it yet. I had a mark on the tank where I'd filled it and I've only added enough distilled water to bring it back to that mark (RO/DI unit still hasn't arrived). I was thinking of taking a gallon of distilled water and mixing it to about 1.030 and then slowly adding it to the tank until it reaches 1.026. Is there a better way to do it?

Nina51: I wish I knew! If you figure it out, let me/us know.. I spent 5 hours commuting to work this morning. The MBTA had *one* train running on my line. smh.

 

[FraggledRock]

Everyone calm down its time to freak out!

 

[tkeracer619]

I'm not sure why the salinity is low. I checked it with a Tropic Marin hydrometer, but there's always a chance it's user error which is why I haven't corrected it yet.

Get one of these. It is worth every penny. if i could prop bet what fails first i'd put a grand on the heater.
http://www.etcsupply.com/ranco-etc111000000-digital-temperature-controller-p-86.html

Get a ATC refractometer and some 35ppt calibration fluid. Don't trust the hydrometer.

To increase salinity top off with 1.026 saltwater instead of fresh water until you reach 1.026. 1.021 isnt bad. 1.023 is safe

 

[LeRenard]

I took a water sample with me down to the LFS and had them check it with the refractometer.. 1.026 on the nose. I'm not surprised, I bought it premixed (at a different store) and it was 1.026 to start with and I've been downright retentive about topping up exactly. ATC refractometer ordered!

When I got home it was a snow globe *AGAIN*. I felt around looking for the pump that had fallen off last time, but I found it was still securely on the skimmer. This time my cheap Aqueon circulation pump had snapped right off it's mount and fallen to the bottom. WHAT IS UP WITH THE EQUIPMENT IN THIS TANK?? I'm going to give Hydor Koralias a try this time. Two 425s ordered! My poor credit card.

It was down a full gallon just today! BRS RO/DI should be here by the weekend, but clearly I need an ATO.

In regards to the heater controller, awesome, I've been looking for something like that. I've had a few freshwater friends cooked and I've gotten gun-shy with my heaters, which is why in the picture you can see I've got a temperature alarm hooked up that I can read from across the room.

 

[Sk8r]

I set up much the same with water and rock that had been trucked in by pickup in a snowstorm. Dunno what the temperature was, but it was probably well under 50. 60 is not good for fish and corals, but I had even corals survive the cycle.

We have a really comprehensive sticky up above ---SETTING UP. THat's able to answer a lot of questions, from the basic to the technical. You're ok.

A marine tank evaps about a gallon per 50 gallons of water daily, which is a good thing, but you will want that ATO. Sand kicks up until it's got a biological coating: that may be your snowstorm. You can get another kind by dosing calcium and buffer too close to each other--always allow 8 hours. There's a note in that sticky about water chemistry. Don't panic. You're doing fine. Just don't let it heat above 83 (2 more degrees is bad news ffrom there) and don't let it chill below 75 (lethality to some organisms starts at 62, but it varies, and warm rock retards that disaster.) NEver trust a heater indicator! Use a thermometer---better yet, have 2.
A little fishfood dropped in daily is all you need to cycle, 1 flake per 10 gallons. Every day for 4 weeks will do it. THen you get snails and little crabs. And quarantine your first fish. REmember---slow is good.

 

[acabgd]

Get a ATC refractometer and some 35ppt calibration fluid. Don't trust the hydrometer.

That Tropic Marin hydrometer he's using (if it's the big one) is hand made and one of the more precise means of measuring salinity. So he should be fine there.

 

[asylumdown]

Just remember that all the critters on live rock are the same critters that can survive a trip half way round the world in the cargo hold of an airplane wrapped in nothing more than wet newspaper. Temporarily falling to 60 degrees wouldn't phase them.

 

[Nina51]

When I got home it was a snow globe *AGAIN*.

i'm assuming you are using power heads that attach with suction cups? if that's the case, this will be an ongoing problem. ditch them and get the ones that attach with magnets. much more secure!!!