How long can reef fish survive in cold water?

[njudson]

Well this is my second post on subject so I wont go into the details of why my power is out and I cannot get into my apartment. Power was shut off at 10pm last night and the only thing running on the tank is a battery powered airstone.
I closed all the windows to my apartment in an effort to conserve some heat.

Lows last night were in the 50s and today's high is 73. I think its fair to assume that my tank is in the mid to low 60s and I just found out that I will not be getting back into my place until tomorrow. Is it possible that my fish could make it 36 or 48 hours? Trying not to lose hope but I am very bummed. Stock list and details in my sig

 

[namxas]

Personally, I think they should be OK, but you'll need to return them to temp slowly. We tend to run our tanx on the lower end, altho not in the 60's.

 

[skibum9884]

+1, I think you'll be alright. Low 60's is low, but mid 60s you should be perfectly fine.

I agree, bring the temp back slowly, not all at once.

 

[njudson]

Glad to hear you guys are optimistic. All my fish and corals did make it through an 8 hour power outage yesterday and were perking up and starting to act normally as the temp rose. But the super changed his mind and made me leave again when I had only gotten the water back up to 74ish. I've got my fingers crossed things are gonna be ok.

 

[JHemdal]

Many reef fish have no trouble coming back from temperatures in the low 60s. But, I see in your tagline that you have a mixed reef - I'd be more worried about the corals. I've had die-offs of corals when temps go below 64 degrees, even for a short while

Regarding raising the temperature slowly - while that seems to make sense, there actually isn't any basis for it. It is just one of those things that has been entrenched in the hobby so long that it "must be true". Keeping the animals at sub-par temperatures any longer than you have to only makes the problem worse. No doubt, when the power returns, the aquarium's heaters are going to start raising the water temperature as fast as they can. Unless you have some huge heaters on there, that rate of change is going to be fine.


Jay

 

[skibum9884]

Jay, thanks for setting this straight. I've always heard to do it slowly, so that is what I've always recommended. Good to know that is not the case!

 

[njudson]

I have a 200 watt RENA heater so I am not worried about the temp coming up to quickly. When I last saw my corals some seemed okay and some seemed like I could lose them. My Pink Pocilipora and Torch looked particularly bad and my zoas skirts looked funny. As sad as losing some corals would make me I am much less emotionally attached to them than I am to my fish. I also just got a 3.5" derasa clam about a week ago and it looked fine but I know they are sensitive.

 

[klepto]

I think there are a lot of variables that could impact your tank.

I had an outage that lasted well over 40 hours. The house was very poorly insulated and ambient temps dropped below 50F for extended periods. I only had a very crappy airstone and everything made it. SPS, LPS, fishes, inverts.. Everything.

I hope you don't come home to death!

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I would be very surprised if your temperature dropped that low. Power off since last night, assuming you keep your tank around 80 usually, and that you keep your apartment at a decent temperature, I wouldnt expect the water temp to drop much below 70.

 

[Matt_Wandell]

We had a 1000g reef system go to about 62 degrees for ~12 hours a few weeks ago. Fish seemed totally fine. Corals too. The only thing that looked odd was a H. magnifica anemone that wouldn't fully open for about 48 hours afterwards.

 

[njudson]

Update

Update

Well I got into my apartment briefly this morning. Water temp is about 68 and my fish and cleaner shrimp are still alive. Hopefully they will turn the power back on soon.

 

[njudson]

Updates

Updates

Well I got power back today and amazingly 4 of my fish made it and my corals seem alive. Tanks water smells a bit like rotten eggs which clearly is not good. I am mixing up some water to do a water change here soon. Is there anything else I can / should do? Does water temp effect my test kits? If I find detectable ammonia would it be ok to put prime water conditioner in the tank? What else should I do?
Pics

 

[klepto]

Good to hear! Things look okay.
Follow through on that water change ASAP. (just remember to let the water age for a few hours minimum)
Are you running carbon? GFO? if not, purchase some carbon (at the least) and start running it to help pull organics out of your water. If you are already running it (hopefully the case) then I would change out your media for fresh stuff.

Do you have any mechanical filtration running? Keep up on cleaning it if you do (also keep the Remora's foam tower and cup clean - it will help skimmate production. If you don't have any mechanical running- other than the skimmer- consider running some. This can be as simple as attaching some filter floss to your powerheads with rubberbands... or running the floss pre/post your skimmer. Once things stabilize, you can decide if you want to keep running the mechanical.

I wouldn't employ any ammonia removing product. With water changes and time, things will recover.

 

[Bret61081]

During hurincane Wilma I had no power for 2 and a half weeks. During that time we had a cold front come in and my tank got down to the low 60s all while just running on air pumps and a few hours a day with the main pump on my car battery! Everyone pulled through with no issues