Ugh....

Picasso

Picasso

Seahorse Whisperer
I think I crashed my tank.

Last night, a communication error caused my RODI to be placed in my sump and turned on. This happened around 9:00pm. I've been gone most of today. Just now, I went downstairs to turn on my lights, they are near a window and since I was going to be gone I didn't turn them on today, got home at 4:30, turned on the lights and everything looked awful. Fed the ponies, they are acting fine but something looked off. I went to check the sump and realized what had happened. I had some super-saline water mixed so I pulled about 15 gallons out, mixed it with my super-saline water and replaced it in my sump. Doing this moved my saline to almost 1.014.

What should I do. Please don't tell me how sorry you are even if you are because it will make me cry.

Catherine
 
Keep doing what you're doing. If they are still alive, you've got a good shot at turning this around. You will need to gradually (over several days) bring your salinity back up to normal. Keep doing water changes with high salinity water. Top off with salt water instead of RO water. That's about all you can do. Keep your fingers crossed.
 
How quickly can I bring my salinity back up? How much per day? Maybe twice a day? I can't believe this happened. My horses are all fine right now, they're fishing.

Catherine
 
+1 Biff, keep doing what you are doing. They should be ok. Lagoons get lots of fresh water in storms so a low salinity for a short term should be survivable. :x:
 
Well, I just fed them again and they are all active and eating. My corals haven't melted but some are closed. My leathers look good. Can't find my urchin, worried about him. I'm cautiously optimistic I didn't crash my tank. Can't believe this happened. Total miscommunication. Ugh.

Catherine
 
Catherine,As long as your horses are actively hunting and feeding,their fine.
Just don't into panic mode,thats the worst thing that happens in this situation.
Just top the tank off with saltwater mixed to the right salinity until its back where its supposed to be.
As long as you dont jump the salinity back to normal to quick,everything will be fine.
 
As of 7:00 am all of my horses are fine. They are alert and hunting. My saline right now is 1.16. My corals are looking really sad and I'm afraid I may have killed my: xenias, some of my 'shrooms and my new leather. I can't find my urchin anywhere which I'm thinking is very bad. I'm going to dose with Vitamin C today and some Coral Vite. This afternoon, I'll pull out 5 gallons and replace it with some high saline water. I want to put my numbers back normal soooo badly, this slow rise is killing me!

Thanks for the good wishes.
Catherine
 
Picasso said:
As of 7:00 am all of my horses are fine. They are alert and hunting. My saline right now is 1.16. My corals are looking really sad and I'm afraid I may have killed my: xenias, some of my 'shrooms and my new leather. I can't find my urchin anywhere which I'm thinking is very bad. I'm going to dose with Vitamin C today and some Coral Vite. This afternoon, I'll pull out 5 gallons and replace it with some high saline water. I want to put my numbers back normal soooo badly, this slow rise is killing me!

Thanks for the good wishes.
Catherine
Click to expand...

Patience.
 
i would worry that much about ur urchin i have one and i did research and some species once they are acclimated to there new environment they turn very hardy
 
I know it's tough to take it slowly... But raising your salinity too quickly tends to be more dangerous than dropping it. If your ponies are surviving at this salinity okay, then chances are very good that they will be fine as you raise it back up. And they are the important animals in your tank! It sucks about your corals, but they are, in general, not as hardy when it comes to changes as fish are.
 
Be extremely carefull with those high salinity water changes.
Catherine,think about where your corals live in the wild.Most of the coral you have grows close enough to the shoreline that during rainstorms,they get a whole lot lower salinity because of the run off.
Just top off with saltwater that at 1.026 until it comes back up.Thats the safiest way to get back to normal.
 
I will raise my salinity slowly, I will listen to the wisdom of LIVING REEFS, I will raise my salinity slowly, I will listen to the wisdom of LIVING REEFS, I will raise my salinity slowly, I will listen to the wisdom of LIVING REEFS, I will raise my salinity slowly, I will listen to the wisdom of LIVING REEFS, I will raise my salinity slowly, I will listen to the wisdom of LIVING REEFS, I will raise my salinity slowly, I will listen to the wisdom of LIVING REEFS, I will raise my salinity slowly, I will listen to the wisdom of LIVING REEFS, I will raise my salinity slowly, I will listen to the wisdom of LIVING REEFS.....

My corals don't look so horrible right now, geez this is HARD TO DO.....

thanks for the help, you're saving my ponies and I really love you all for that.

Catherine
 
I resisted the urge to change out my water. Evaporation raised my saline to 1.19. My urchin finally came out of hiding and he's looking ok. My shrooms look reasonable my zoos are fine, stella is good. My xenias look shriveled and my leathers are pretty awful looking. My horses are all eating well and moving about. Oboe, my little goby came out tonight and ate a shrimp. I'm a bit more optimistic. It's really dry here I might want to slow down my evaporation so it won't raise too quickly.

thanks to everyone
Catherine
 
Dont worry about how much is evaporating.Just keep topping off with the salt water and everything will be fine.:D
 

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