Emergency!! What did I do?

[alink708]

Just did my weekly water change and all my mushrooms are spewing their guts out. What did I do wrong? What do I need to do??????

 

[alink708]

Galaxia's doing it also

 

[fishy5559]

mushrooms do it when stressed, check ya levels!

 

[Tmyboy]

Check your salinity.

Did you let the water sit before dumping it in? I've found that if I let the water sit, the salinty is higher then when i tested immediately after mixing. Maybe your salt is too high.

Please post numbers on everything. I'm pretty sure everyone needs more info to theorize what's going on.

 

[Sqasnatch]

Yup need more numbers. Also u should siphon the water in not just dump it in, I add mine slowly to let it mix nice.

 

[Tmyboy]

Yup need more numbers. Also u should siphon the water in not just dump it in, I add mine slowly to let it mix nice.

I definitely agree sqasnatch. I wasn't being literal when i said "dump" it in! Who the heck just dumps their water in?! HAHA!

 

[Sqasnatch]

Oh I bet lots of newbs are inpatient and do. I hang my pale a siphon it in with a half inch hose

 

[alink708]

ammonia 0 , trites 0 trats .5 SG between .023 / .024
My mix sat for about 2 hours while i was picking gha off a rock, I added it the same as I always do, I pour it in slowly in the return chamber (biocube).
At first the junk hydrometer read my normal levels then it read really low , but then back to normal. I know I need to junk this thing.
Fish were fine , shrimp and crabs were out doin their thing....just all the corals went haywire spewing their guts all over, hairy mushroom puked up an amphipod etc..
Everything has retracted it guts today but everything still looks shriveled up.
So what did i do? Im thinking it had to be a salinity issue or did I set off some kind of warfare?

 

[carey]

I've had that happen on many occasions after doing a water change. As you said, the spewing stops and usually within a day or so they look perfectly fine again. Not sure why it happens, maybe the lack of flow while youre doing the change and the water temp/salinity or just the general feeling of the coral that something isnt as it was.

I wouldnt worry too much unless the corals dont spring back.

 

[Sqasnatch]

I'm sure everything will be fine, however this isnt something you would want to do on a regular basis. Try mixing longer or use a different salt mix.

 

[alink708]

Yea im sure they will be ok, i really freaked out when I saw it though. I just want to figure out what I did wrong so I dont do it again..

 

[Sqasnatch]

It happened to me when I was a newb. Add it slower and mix it better, I get the feeling that's what happened

 

[Tmyboy]

It happened to me when I was a newb. Add it slower and mix it better, I get the feeling that's what happened

I agree with sqasnatch....

How do you mix? By hand?
I usually throw a large rio pump in the bucket and let the pump run for a minimum of 4-6 hrs if not a overnight. Then I test with the Refractometer.

Trash that hydro...I almost messed up my system by trusting that when I first started. Took my water sample to the lfs and it turned out my salt was at 1.033!! Luckily I of course didn't have any corals and only 2 clowns. My hydro said I was dead on 1.024. Do yourself a favor and buy a Refractometer. Bought mine on eBay for $35 w/ free shipping. You'll sleep better knowing ur salt water is where it needs to be!

 

[alink708]

I agree with sqasnatch....

How do you mix? By hand?
I usually throw a large rio pump in the bucket and let the pump run for a minimum of 4-6 hrs if not a overnight. Then I test with the Refractometer.

Trash that hydro...I almost messed up my system by trusting that when I first started. Took my water sample to the lfs and it turned out my salt was at 1.033!! Luckily I of course didn't have any corals and only 2 clowns. My hydro said I was dead on 1.024. Do yourself a favor and buy a Refractometer. Bought mine on eBay for $35 w/ free shipping. You'll sleep better knowing ur salt water is where it needs to be!

Yea I mix by hand. Yea mine says between .023 and .024 , I know this thing sucks... Refractometer is coming for x-mas to myself lol
I have an extra air pump laying around, if I stuck that in the bucket over night would that work to mix it well ?

 

[yetee]

its usually best to let your new salt water aerate and mix for 24 hours before you put it in. It can take that long for the salt crystals to dissolve. if its not fully dissolved the salt crystals can burn gills and corals. And not only that but newly mixed salt water usually is lacking O2 big time if it is not given enough time to mix.

 

[alink708]

Gotcha, thanks for all the advice. Ill start mixing the day before my changes now.

 

[Tmyboy]

Yea I mix by hand. Yea mine says between .023 and .024 , I know this thing sucks... Refractometer is coming for x-mas to myself lol
I have an extra air pump laying around, if I stuck that in the bucket over night would that work to mix it well ?

I would read up on the air pump issue. I dont know for sure I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that putting the air pump in the bucket will jack your ph way up. Again.....not positive but I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.

I was reading how to best transfer fish to a bigger tank a while
Back and read that you shouldn't do that.

 

[alink708]

New meter said my SG was .028 ...... stupid hydrometer