Fishfreak's foxy BC29: Brine Shrimp!

[jack1978]

3 minutes ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Really?  How would cutting them up help their recovery?

If they're starting to deteriorate,  cut off the healthy looking parts and put them in your main tank.  They should make it.....although they'll be smaller. 

 

BTW, go to bed.

[Thunder Goose]

Missed all the excitement last night. Glad to hear you're OK and fingers crossed for your tank.

 

Do you have an urchin? I've heard they will sometimes chew on electrical wires (although it's your return pump so.... urchin in the sump?).

 

Do you have a surge protector or a GFCI? A GFCI should have tripped. You can buy GFCI units that plug into the wall outlet so you don't need an electrician.

 

Great idea with the tupperware. I'll have to remember that.

 

Sorry for the bullet point style - I haven't had my coffee yet and wanted to join in the well wishing.

 

Good luck today.

[fishfreak0114]

5 hours ago, jack1978 said:

If they're starting to deteriorate,  cut off the healthy looking parts and put them in your main tank.  They should make it.....although they'll be smaller. 

 

BTW, go to bed.

Oh that makes sense, thank you. 

 

4AM update. Not a lot of change. I had expected more tissue loss overnight, but it almost seems like it's slowing down?  

 

Tupperware 1 corals are about the same. 

 

Tupperware 2 corals are as droopy and sad as ever. The water isn't brown tinted anymore though. I guess the carbon worked well. 

 

The watermelom favia doesn't appear to have had much further tissue loss. The few leathers that I left in the tank are starting to droop/look bad. I'll have a closer look tomorrow morning.  Fish are still fine and the air pumps are still running. I moved the air stone from chamber 3 to 2 because it was starting to get really foamy. 

[fishfreak0114]

7 minutes ago, Thunder Goose said:

Missed all the excitement last night. Glad to hear you're OK and fingers crossed for your tank.

 

Do you have an urchin? I've heard they will sometimes chew on electrical wires (although it's your return pump so.... urchin in the sump?).

 

Do you have a surge protector or a GFCI? A GFCI should have tripped. You can buy GFCI units that plug into the wall outlet so you don't need an electrician.

 

Great idea with the tupperware. I'll have to remember that.

 

Sorry for the bullet point style - I haven't had my coffee yet and wanted to join in the well wishing.

 

Good luck today.

Thank you

 

 I don't have an urchin. There's really nothing back there that could have eaten it. It's weird because in the span of a week the cord went from ok to totally broken and exposed. 

 

Yep, have both surge protector and GFCI

 

Weetie is to thank for the Tupperware idea, it seems to be working great!  I'm glad I decided to hang them in the tank instead of using a separate heater. 

 

Sorry for my brief reply-I'm half asleep still lol.  Back to bed I go!

[Weetabix7]

7 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Quick update:

 

Coral removed: baby plates (were mostly dead), neon trumpet (mostly dead), watermelon favia frag (mostly dead)

 

I have two tupperwares hanging in the tank with clothes pins.  Both have an air pump bubbling away (no air stone) and a piece of pantyhose with carbon.  In them are the things that are A) dying the most or B] sliming and maybe dying.  I had to be selective about what went in because I only have four air pumps).  All my blastos look bad, but I left the less-bad ones in the main tank so that they aren't subjected to the added stress of dying stuff pollution in the tupperware

 

Tupperware 1: 5 blastos (looking mostly dead), 3 hammers (receding, expect dead by morning), and the watermelon favia (not looking horrible, some skeleton, lot of slime)

 

Tupperware 2: Finger leather and its frags, Japanese leather, big toadstool.  They all look really rough, and they're sliming so much I didn't want that polluting the tank.  They're also (mostly) large pieces so if they die they'll make a real mess which I didn't want in the main tank

 

So the tank has two tupperwares hanging off, each with an air pump and carbon, there's an airstone in the tank, and one in chamber 3.  The heater is in the main tank. The aquaclear has floss, a ton of carbon, and a ton of purigen (I just added more).   I have a blue recycling bag covering the tank, clothes-pinned in place so it doesn't touch the water.

 

I'm not too worried about my fish dying in the night from pollution now that I've isolated the most likely to die and pollute corals.  Thank you for the idea @Weetabix7!  I have alarms set for 1:30 and 4:00 so I can check up on things and remove things that have died (hopefully that's not necessary!).  I should probably go to bed soon, but good luck sleeping!  I'm still honestly in shock (no pun intended) about this whole thing.  I'm sure it'll set in tomorrow and I'll have a massive meltdown, but for now I'm laser focused on giving everything the best chances for survival).

 

Glad I could help, and the way you set it up is super smart. 

Here's hoping things look better today.

[fishfreak0114]

Good news!  Most things are starting to open!  The watermelon favia looks better, some of the blastos still in the main tank are opening slightly, the duncans are both out, though not fully.  The frilly mushroom put its insides back inside, and the St. Thomas is starting to go flat again.  Frank doesn't appear to have had further tissue loss, nor have the hammers in Tupperware 1.  One of the long polyp toadstools looks like it might let its polyps out, the surface is bumpy.  The RFA is open, though small.  A couple GSP polyps are extending.  I don't expect things to open as much as they would if there were light.  I guess probably tomorrow or later today I will return the Tupperware corals t the tank (still keep a close eye for signs of decay) now that they aren't sliming excessively.  Heading to Kelowna to buy IO and a new return pump.  I'm going to phone and check if they have the sicce syncra 1.5.

 

The big toadstool and finger leather look rough.  Retracted, limp, and not their usual color (more so the finger leather for that one).  The Japanese leather looks like shit.  I've never seen it closed so tight and shrunken.  My green branchy leather is drooping, and the pink branchy leather has kind of discolored ends I think (need to take a closer look).  The dendro still has flesh (I'm shocked!) but there are a couple spots on the exterior with damage.  I hope the peanut worm made it through alright.  I'll have to see if it changes locations.

[Weetabix7]

1 hour ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Good news!  Most things are starting to open!  The watermelon favia looks better, some of the blastos still in the main tank are opening slightly, the duncans are both out, though not fully.  The frilly mushroom put its insides back inside, and the St. Thomas is starting to go flat again.  Frank doesn't appear to have had further tissue loss, nor have the hammers in Tupperware 1.  One of the long polyp toadstools looks like it might let its polyps out, the surface is bumpy.  The RFA is open, though small.  A couple GSP polyps are extending.  I don't expect things to open as much as they would if there were light.  I guess probably tomorrow or later today I will return the Tupperware corals t the tank (still keep a close eye for signs of decay) now that they aren't sliming excessively.  Heading to Kelowna to buy IO and a new return pump.  I'm going to phone and check if they have the sicce syncra 1.5.

 

The big toadstool and finger leather look rough.  Retracted, limp, and not their usual color (more so the finger leather for that one).  The Japanese leather looks like shit.  I've never seen it closed so tight and shrunken.  My green branchy leather is drooping, and the pink branchy leather has kind of discolored ends I think (need to take a closer look).  The dendro still has flesh (I'm shocked!) but there are a couple spots on the exterior with damage.  I hope the peanut worm made it through alright.  I'll have to see if it changes locations.

 

I'm really glad you're seeing some improvements and recovery!!!

[teenyreef]

Hope you're through the worst of it, good luck! 

[fishfreak0114]

Update time:

 

I got a sicce syncra 1.5.  It's dead silent, great!  I'm sure my mom will be happy since she always complains about how noisy the tank is.  I have it turned all the way down for now.  I also bought a 50g mix of regular IO.  When I got home, Jacques (the 3rd) was dead  I can only assume his death is related to the electrocution.  I'm now more worried about Garth.  I haven't seen Wayne since the day I put him in the tank, so I can only assume he is still living in their burrow.

 

I put the corals that had been in Tupperwares back in the tank.  I dumped that water out because it was nasty.  I removed all the air stones.  The heater is back in the back.   The aquaclear is no longer on the tank.  I did a water change of roughly 16l with IO, and 2l of RSCP.  I siphoned the water out of chambers two and three because it reeked of death (mainly bristleworms).  The tank is back to functioning like normal, using the filtration in the back.  I changed the carbon again.

 

I have some pictures to get up later, and I probably forgot to mention several things in this update.

[JoeMan02]

good lord, I take one day off to go to cedar point and the entire thread falls apart! At least things are starting to look up for ya fishy. It always sucks to loose corals but it could always be much worse. Take care!

[teenyreef]

Sounds like you're doing everything right! Don't hesitate to do another water change tomorrow, and maybe even another one the day after that. As long as your water changes don't change parameters drastically it doesn't hurt to do them.

[fishfreak0114]

13 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

Sounds like you're doing everything right! Don't hesitate to do another water change tomorrow, and maybe even another one the day after that. As long as your water changes don't change parameters drastically it doesn't hurt to do them.

I will definitely do another water change tomorrow, and I'll try to do one on Wednesday.   I need to test Ca, alk, and Mg to see where they're at. 

 

One thing I forgot to put in the update is that I've reduced the intensity of my lights by 50% for a week.  I figured it couldn't hurt.

 

I don't think I'll be getting those pics up tonight, I'm exhausted!

[teenyreef]

Good call on the lights!

[fishfreak0114]

I just stopped by to do a water change and found Zeus- dead  RIP little guy, you were neat.  I don't why know why Zeus and Jacques showed such a delayed reaction to this event, but I'm insanely worried now about Polka-dot, the white spot anemone shrimp, and all my other inverts.

 

Most corals are showing improvement today.  

[fishfreak0114]

Both my trochus are dead

[fishfreak0114]

I think most of my limpets died.  The tank smells like rotting seafood, and I'm worried about the health of everything still in there.  Going to do at least a 5gish water change (maybe 10, I need to see where parameters are at). Will change carbon, purigen, floss , and put in a little phosgaurd.  All in all, I'm heartbroken over this whole event.

[Lula_Mae]

1 minute ago, fishfreak0114 said:

I think most of my limpets died.  The tank smells like rotting seafood, and I'm worried about the health of everything still in there.  Going to do at least a 5gish water change (maybe 10, I need to see where parameters are at). Will change carbon, purigen, floss , and put in a little phosgaurd.  All in all, I'm heartbroken over this whole event.

It sucks that it can take days for effects to show up.  I'm really sorry about this whole thing.  I would definitely prep a couple of buckets of change water as chances are good you'll need it.

[fishfreak0114]

My stomatella died 

2 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

It sucks that it can take days for effects to show up.  I'm really sorry about this whole thing.  I would definitely prep a couple of buckets of change water as chances are good you'll need it.

This whole thing seriously sucks.  I don't know what's gonna be left when this is all over.  I've already got one bucket going, gonna start a second soon.   Need to figure out how much of it needs to be RSCP.

[Lula_Mae]

4 minutes ago, fishfreak0114 said:

My stomatella died 

This whole thing seriously sucks.  I don't know what's gonna be left when this is all over.  I've already got one bucket going, gonna start a second soon.   Need to figure out how much of it needs to be RSCP.

It really does.  The hardest part when I had my crash back in the spring was watching things slowly melt and decline over days, and my tank was less than a tenth the size of yours!  Hugs from Violet and me!

[fishfreak0114]

10 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

It really does.  The hardest part when I had my crash back in the spring was watching things slowly melt and decline over days, and my tank was less than a tenth the size of yours!  Hugs from Violet and me!

Thanks, that picture cheered me up a bit.

 

I'm now unsure if I can do a water change. I just made a mix of 4g IO, 2l RSCP and alk was off the charts.  Just made a bucket of straight IO, will test the alk.  If it's still high, gonna buy distilled and make it with that.  I only have enough alk solution for a couple more tests.  Panicking.

[Weetabix7]

2 minutes ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Thanks, that picture cheered me up a bit.

 

I'm now unsure if I can do a water change. I just made a mix of 4g IO, 2l RSCP and alk was off the charts.  Just made a bucket of straight IO, will test the alk.  If it's still high, gonna buy distilled and make it with that.  I only have enough alk solution for a couple more tests.  Panicking.

 

Just breathe, you have really good instincts, you are doing the right things. 

[fishfreak0114]

Straight IO is also testing off the charts.  Will pick up distilled in a couple hours.  Feeling quite helpless.  Gonna add prime to the tank, and change the carbon and purigen.  That, at least, I can control.

[fishfreak0114]

1 minute ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Just breathe, you have really good instincts, you are doing the right things. 

Breathing is good, I don't think I've been doing enough of that.  I tend to get lost in the "what ifs" and I just had a full blown meltdown as I thought about what if I can't do water changes and the ammonia rises and everything in the tank, my beloved little ocean friends, die before my eyes.  I'm back to reality for the moment.

 

I'm also really stressed because every time I have to buy something I'm just spending more and more of the paycheck I don't get until the end of September.

[Lula_Mae]

23 minutes ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Straight IO is also testing off the charts.  Will pick up distilled in a couple hours.  Feeling quite helpless.  Gonna add prime to the tank, and change the carbon and purigen.  That, at least, I can control.

Straight up IO is testing off the charts?

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that's abnormal.  Wondering if something's up with the test kit.

27 minutes ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Thanks, that picture cheered me up a bit.

That's what I was hoping for.

[fishfreak0114]

1 minute ago, Lula_Mae said:

Straight up IO is testing off the charts?

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that's abnormal.  Wondering if something's up with the test kit.

That's what I was hoping for.

Yep, straight IO.  I thought it was the test kit, but my tank's alk is testing normal, around 8.3. I'm wondering if something changed in the tap water and my dad just wasn't told about it.

 

Violet is so cute  

 

I took a few more tank pics that I will make a point of getting up today, along with yesterday's.  I'll throw in a pic or two on non-reef photos (maybe cichlids?) because the reef pics aren't exactly happy ones.

 

I also opted to remove the small clump of chaeto.  It's in a Tupperware by itself because it stinks.  Might as well let whatever stinks rot outside of my tank.