water change and now looks like everything is Dying

[Jaynie1028]

hey, I did a water change last night and I put the wrong water into my tank. I put the saltwater in the tank that I didnt heat up first. So I took out the old water and put in new saltwater that I made to days ago and never put a heater in to make it the same temp as the tank water. My tank water was 79 and after the change it dropped down to 71. SO I got scared and put in two heaters and brought the water right up within an hour or so to 78 and then took out the heaters. Now today everything is closed up and slimming the tank. The Zoas dont look good, mushrooms are really small, my anemone looks like its dead but not sure. The leather is ok I think. Ricordias look like they are ok also just a little smaller. Green star polyps are inn. All the feather dusters are tucked in and dont look to good.

Anyone have any ideas? Did I kill the whole tank??? Or will things come around?

I took out a few of my Zoas and ricordias and put them into my other tank. I pray they are going to be ok.

Has anyone ever done this before????

 

[autoponicz]

they are mostly just shocked from the dropped temp.
but should be fine...give them a few days to recover...also check your parameters so you know its not out of whack..

 

[Wes]

not only did u drop the temp fast, you also raised the temp fast...a double whammy.

It probably would have been better if you let the temperature slowly rise back up to normal than to have the temp jump all over the place so quickly. But hindsight is 20/20. Good luck i hope everything pulls through it.

 

[Jaynie1028]

I have been checking my water like crazy I couldnt even sleep last night. Im all upset over this. It took me so long to get the tank the way I wanted it and now it looks like its all over.

My ammonia seems to be a little high.
My phosphates are at 0.5
Nitrates are at 20
nitrites are at 0
ph is at 7.8

I have a 29 gallon bio cube and I did about a 7 gallon water change.

 

[georgelc86]

Wes dont forget she also transported some frags also, triple whammy. I think you will be fine Janyie. Remember our motto Patience.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Monitor ammonia and pH frequently and work on the pH gradually. Looks like you have some die off happening.

 

[SaltyFlip]

Yea I'd be schocked if the temp moved up and down that fast. Good luck on your tank and hope everything pulls through.

 

[Jaynie1028]

should I do another water change tonight to try to lower the ammonia? or should I just give it a week to try to recover? Is there anything else I can do at this point? I know I screwed up in MANY ways But I freaked out and didnt know what to do so I did what I thought was the best thing to do at the moment now I know I should have never removed some of the corals and I should have never put the extra heaters in the tank.
But is there anything else I can do? Or should I just leave it alone for a week or two????

Also im not sure if my anemone is dead or not. How do I know????

 

[jackson6745]

I would leave the tank alone, remove any dieing corals that can pollute the tank, and run a bunch of carbon. Everyone makes mistakes in this hobby, don't sweat it. IME corals are pretty tolerant of temp swings. While they may look very stressed at the moment, they will usually bounce back shortly.

 

[Jaynie1028]

how do I know what corals are dying? Like I stated before everything looks bad right now Everyone looks VERY unhappy. Im so sad for them

 

[Jaynie1028]

my poor frogspawn looks the worst all I see is bones

 

[jackson6745]

If the flesh is flying off the skeleton get it out ASAP. You don't want dead coral juice clouding up the tank.

 

[SaltyFlip]

Yea I think it might be best if you left your tank alone for a couple of days. Let it settle back into a norm. As for corals dying, I know they start bleaching when they're dying. IMO sometimes they slowly dissentegrate, some produce a white film like substance (Leather's are known to produce these even when they're not dying, just shedding their top layer off)...considering the temp change you only might have stressed corals. Keep an eye on them and if you do notice them go from bad to worste...color wise and stuff...then best if you take 'em out...if you can frag the "good" part as to save it, that's good. otherwise, try to save your entire tank by taking it out.

 

[Jaynie1028]

ok good. There is no flesh yet flooting around my tank. So I hope thats a good sign. Like I said everything is tucked inn

 

[Jaynie1028]

OK thanks I will keep on eye out for color changings.

Just one more question is it ok to change my coals? Its the same bag now for almost 3 or 4 weeks. I thought that my help me lower some of the levels that are a little high???? what do you think?

 

[jackson6745]

I never heard carbon referred to as coals. I like that. Yes I would change the coals. It will only help.

 

[Jaynie1028]

hehe, How often do you change your Carbon? And what kind do you use?

 

[jackson6745]

hehe, How often do you change your Carbon? And what kind do you use?

I use hydrocarbon and change weekly. I use a small amount more often than a large amount for a longer period of time. Every time I change the carbon I will notice the water sparkle in a few hours:bablefishMe likes

There is a very good carbon article that House of Fish posted not too long ago. Definitely a good read

 

[Jaynie1028]

I have been using chemi pure and have been changing once a month. Should I change once a week or every other week? The back of the container says every 3 to 6 months. But that cant be right.

 

[jackson6745]

It is cheaper and more effictive to buy a bucket of carbon such as hydro carbon, black diamond, or ESV and run in a mesh bag or better, a phosban reactor.