ahochan
Aquarium Advice Regular
After running my 100l soft coral tank pretty much smoothly since its inception almost 5 years ago, disaster has now struck.
I've been away from an extended vacation, and it seems that I overstimated the amount of time my automatic top-off system could run on its own. When I arrived a few hours ago after being gone for three weeks, the entire top-off reservoir was empty, and the sump tank had been depleted so that the main circulation pump had stopped running. The water level in the main tank was normal, so I don't think the tank has been in this state for more than a day or two. Still, it is winter, and the heater was in the pump, meaning that the tank temperature has probably dropped very significantly each night. To add insult to injury, the rotating part of my feeding machine had fallen off and gone into the water, releasing about a month worth of food in one go.
When I arrived, the tank was a bleak sight: All the corals are dead, and the color of the live rock is muted. Two of my three fish are still alive, one seems to be fairly healthy, but my clark's clown seems to have gone blind (his eyes are glazed over, and he swims around aimlessly bumping into things). Some of the clean-up crew is also alive. I've re-filled enough fresh water to get the pumps and the skimmer up and running again, and the temperature has stabilized.
Any ideas on how to manage everything in the most dignified way will be much appreciated.
I have an extra tank I can fill with fresh saltwater, but I'm not sure if I should move the survivors immediately, or wait a day or two. I can imagine that there will be a significant ammonia spike when all the dead material starts to decompose. The skimmer is already running in overdrive, but I doubt it will be able to clear things up quickly enough.
I've been away from an extended vacation, and it seems that I overstimated the amount of time my automatic top-off system could run on its own. When I arrived a few hours ago after being gone for three weeks, the entire top-off reservoir was empty, and the sump tank had been depleted so that the main circulation pump had stopped running. The water level in the main tank was normal, so I don't think the tank has been in this state for more than a day or two. Still, it is winter, and the heater was in the pump, meaning that the tank temperature has probably dropped very significantly each night. To add insult to injury, the rotating part of my feeding machine had fallen off and gone into the water, releasing about a month worth of food in one go.
When I arrived, the tank was a bleak sight: All the corals are dead, and the color of the live rock is muted. Two of my three fish are still alive, one seems to be fairly healthy, but my clark's clown seems to have gone blind (his eyes are glazed over, and he swims around aimlessly bumping into things). Some of the clean-up crew is also alive. I've re-filled enough fresh water to get the pumps and the skimmer up and running again, and the temperature has stabilized.
Any ideas on how to manage everything in the most dignified way will be much appreciated.
I have an extra tank I can fill with fresh saltwater, but I'm not sure if I should move the survivors immediately, or wait a day or two. I can imagine that there will be a significant ammonia spike when all the dead material starts to decompose. The skimmer is already running in overdrive, but I doubt it will be able to clear things up quickly enough.