Reef dead...Nemo survived in 50degree temp. Help.

[Johny123]

We recently had a really bad snow storm and lost power, I took my wife and kids out of town, but unfortunately the power stayed off for 5 days. On day 3 I came home, and almost everything in my 16gallon buocube was dead. Corals, fish...except one clownfish I raised from a tiny baby. He survived 3 days in sub 50degree temp with no aeration.

I quickly setup a quarantine tank and brought him to a neighbor with power, and put him and a barely living sea urchin in there. I thought they were both gonners, but finally today, 3 days after setting up the quarantine tank Nemo is eating! A really good sign.

What do I have to do to aid in his survival? This guy is a fighter and deserves a chance to live. My main tank now needs like 3-4 weeks to cycle. This quarantine tank is makeshift, never been cycled.

Any help would be great. I'm hoping he makes it...what an awsome story!!

<a href="https://ibb.co/eYLrZc"><img src="https://thumb.ibb.co/eYLrZc/409_C52_ED_CC69_4_A35_B554_8_D8_B594_F87_AD.jpg" alt="409_C52_ED_CC69_4_A35_B554_8_D8_B594_F87_AD" border="0"></a> <a href="https://ibb.co/kBJdEc"><img src="https://thumb.ibb.co/kBJdEc/BE33545_B_0567_4_AEC_8452_0_A4667_FC5046.jpg" alt="BE33545_B_0567_4_AEC_8452_0_A4667_FC5046" border="0"></a>

 

[Dmorty217]

You should get a ammonia alert badge so you can see when the water quality is starting to stray. You could put a rock or two from the DT that crashed to help aid in beneficial bacteria growth providing there isn't a lot of dying coral on them, and if they aren't already out of the tank.

 

[nereefpat]

Are you sure your main tank needs to cycle again? I bet that it doesn't. Bacteria can survive temperatures well below 50 degrees.

You could check by adding some ammonia, or even some food, and see how fast the tank processes the nitrogen.

 

[Bent]

Man the power went out and you just flat out left the tank?

I couldn’t have done that.

 

[Daddi0]

Man the power went out and you just flat out left the tank?

I couldn't have done that.

I would have done the same thing! Can't have the wife and kids trying to survive without power.
Cheers! Mark

 

[Johny123]

Man the power went out and you just flat out left the tank?

I couldn't have done that.

Yeah. I thought I'd be back in like 24 hours. I have a 3yo and a 12month old. As selfish as I can be, I had to show my wife that I care more about my 12 month old some not being in a feezing cold house...than dealing with my fish tank. I made the right choice...I guess.

 

[Johny123]

I have an ammonia badge. Also...what will the sea urchin eat? How do I know if my main tank is cycled again? I figured I had to wait the obligatory 3-4 weeks, do testing etc. a lot of things died in there that I’ll never be able to see or remove. Not just the coral...and fish...but the thousands of little creatures like brittle stars, snails, etc.

 

[mcgyvr]

The urchin can eat a sheet of nori.. or algae chips,etc...

You can easily check the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels in the tank just like normal.
I too would expect little to no cycle or a very quick one if any..
Just keep monitoring each for a few days and post results here if you are unsure of how to interpret them..

 

[journeyman]

Yeah. I thought I'd be back in like 24 hours. I have a 3yo and a 12month old. As selfish as I can be, I had to show my wife that I care more about my 12 month old some not being in a feezing cold house...than dealing with my fish tank. I made the right choice...I guess.

As much as we love this hobby, your wife and children absolutely come first. Don't second guess that ever.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

 

[Johny123]

The urchin can eat a sheet of nori.. or algae chips,etc...

You can easily check the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels in the tank just like normal.
I too would expect little to no cycle or a very quick one if any..
Just keep monitoring each for a few days and post results here if you are unsure of how to interpret them..

Even after 5 days. 50 degree temp? How long do I wait to put Nemo and urchin back into main tank? If I don't see any ammonia spikes. How do I know it cycled? My tank (prior to this) never measured a drop of amonia or nitrate after being cycled for an entire year. I kept it prestine.

 

[nereefpat]

"Cycled" means that the tank has enough bacteria to process ammonia into nitrate. Again, I would bet that your bacteria aren't dead.

Clean out the dead. Do a big water change. Post your numbers here.

I would bet your display will be ready much sooner then you think...like almost immediately.

 

[MarkW64]

Man the power went out and you just flat out left the tank?

I couldn't have done that.

Years ago, when my now 16 year old was only 16 months old, we lost power for several days in a snowstorm. My wife had just left town for a conference. I managed to score a kerosene heater from HomeDepot, and was able to keep the temp in part of my house in the low sixties. I also kept the tank temp up by heating water on a camp stove and floating containers of heated water in the tank. My wife still brings up this story occasionally to demonstrate the extremes I'll go to for my tank -- I prefer to remember it as one of the first adventures my son and I shared together! (Our most recent shared "adventure" was a great three days together in New Orleans last summer for MACNA.)

 

[Johny123]

"Cycled" means that the tank has enough bacteria to process ammonia into nitrate. Again, I would bet that your bacteria aren't dead.

Clean out the dead. Do a big water change. Post your numbers here.

I would bet your display will be ready much sooner then you think...like almost immediately.

I replaced all the water. It was putrid from the dead coral. The heater has been running for 24 hours. I'll post numbers todsy

 

[Bent]

Years ago, when my now 16 year old was only 16 months old, we lost power for several days in a snowstorm. My wife had just left town for a conference. I managed to score a kerosene heater from HomeDepot, and was able to keep the temp in part of my house in the low sixties. I also kept the tank temp up by heating water on a camp stove and floating containers of heated water in the tank. My wife still brings up this story occasionally to demonstrate the extremes I'll go to for my tank -- I prefer to remember it as one of the first adventures my son and I shared together! (Our most recent shared "adventure" was a great three days together in New Orleans last summer for MACNA.)

That's kind of the shenanigans I was referring to. Lol

Sounds exactly like something I would do.

 

[mcgyvr]

My tank (prior to this) never measured a drop of amonia or nitrate after being cycled for an entire year. I kept it prestine.

I don't expect any tank to show ammonia past the first few weeks of the cycling process..

You can ghost feed your tank now (a pinch or so of food each day) and if after a couple days you start to see a rise in ammonia then you just need to wait..
If not the tank is likely still cycled..

You can also just go get some ammonia and dose the tank up to 1ppm or so.. If after 24 hours its gone.. The tank is good to go..

 

[Johny123]

I don't expect any tank to show ammonia past the first few weeks of the cycling process..

You can ghost feed your tank now (a pinch or so of food each day) and if after a couple days you start to see a rise in ammonia then you just need to wait..
If not the tank is likely still cycled..

You can also just go get some ammonia and dose the tank up to 1ppm or so.. If after 24 hours its gone.. The tank is good to go..

While I am no expert, I'd wager there is enough dead stuff in there to cover my amonia. I can physically see a very small dead brittle star that appears to be decaying, and I physically can't retrieve it.

 

[Crooked Reef]

I went through the same thing years ago. No power and tank died at low temps for 5 days. My temps dropped to around 50 and I actually had some star polyps and zoanthids make it through. From what I remember there was no cycle afterwards, maybe a day of higher ammonia.
Considering it’s just a 16 gallon tank I would pump the water out into a tub and put your rock in there. Vacuum the sand bed if necessary to remove any dead stuff you may not even realize was in there. I found two pretty big crabs in mine afterwards that I had no clue were in the tank. Rinse the rock off with saltwater and replace the rock and put fresh saltwater in. The bacteria will have survived and I highly doubt you will get a cycle. Just have enough water ready for a couple of massive water changes just in case because you may still have some die off.

As far as the clown, they’re tough fish. I have seen that some people have cycled tanks with them, which I am not recommending nor condone, but they are in the damsel family and people have done it. I have seen a neglected tank with almost a third of its water evaporated with a pair of clowns still swimming and eating and I have no clue how they were surviving in water with the salinity that high, not to mention what the water quality must have been with all the die off from that. If yours started eating then it will likely be ok. What I would worry about is the urchin dying and causing an ammonia spike. Keep that closely monitored and I would expect you will have your clown back in your display in a day or two, then monitor that water quality closely for a week or so.

This is all of course what I would do from the beginning. It may be overkill, especially since you have already replaced all of the water, but a dead gorilla crab under a rock can take a while to rot. Better to check it out to me.

 

[Sk8r]

QT's don't have to cycle to be healthy water. Just change out the filter floss every time it shows a brown stain. Blue-white filter pad is ok and cheap. You might get some Selcon and put a drop on his food. Feed him copepods (dried is ok) and frozen mysis and just watch his salinity. He's a damsel, and they're tough as nails.

 

[Johny123]

I went through the same thing years ago. No power and tank died at low temps for 5 days. My temps dropped to around 50 and I actually had some star polyps and zoanthids make it through. From what I remember there was no cycle afterwards, maybe a day of higher ammonia.
Considering it's just a 16 gallon tank I would pump the water out into a tub and put your rock in there. Vacuum the sand bed if necessary to remove any dead stuff you may not even realize was in there. I found two pretty big crabs in mine afterwards that I had no clue were in the tank. Rinse the rock off with saltwater and replace the rock and put fresh saltwater in. The bacteria will have survived and I highly doubt you will get a cycle. Just have enough water ready for a couple of massive water changes just in case because you may still have some die off.

As far as the clown, they're tough fish. I have seen that some people have cycled tanks with them, which I am not recommending nor condone, but they are in the damsel family and people have done it. I have seen a neglected tank with almost a third of its water evaporated with a pair of clowns still swimming and eating and I have no clue how they were surviving in water with the salinity that high, not to mention what the water quality must have been with all the die off from that. If yours started eating then it will likely be ok. What I would worry about is the urchin dying and causing an ammonia spike. Keep that closely monitored and I would expect you will have your clown back in your display in a day or two, then monitor that water quality closely for a week or so.

This is all of course what I would do from the beginning. It may be overkill, especially since you have already replaced all of the water, but a dead gorilla crab under a rock can take a while to rot. Better to check it out to me.

Great advice. I had a lot of brittle stars in there. No crabs that I was aware of but who knows. Let's say I put the clownfish back in a day or two. What should I do with the sea urchin? He's alive and well in the quarantine tank.

 

[Sk8r]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25389567#post25389567