Some help needed with temperature...

[stevertr]

Over the last week....things in the tank have been looking wierd. I lost a shrimp...then some zoos stopped coming out for a few days...then the tree coral stayed retracted all day...then the bubble coral shrivelled....

I checked all the water parameters and everything seemed in order, with the exception of salinity being a tad high...

Today...I notice the tank temperature had somehow risen to 92 degrees!! I'm not sure why? We had a hot day but it never rose past 82 in the house. Either the tank heater has malfunctioned...or just the ambient room temperature compigned with the PC lights sitting right on top of the glass have cuased temps to skyrocket. No clue what to do... I've unplugged the heater, and turned off the lights. I don't want to bring the temp down too fast...but I'm going to have a boulabaise if it doesn't get down soon. What does one do in the summertime???

Will my corals come back once the temps come down?

Did the salinity rise to 1.029 because the temp is so high? I've not diluted it back a bit with some distilled water but when the temp comes back down will I slingshot the other way?

Etc....

Thanks all

Steve

 

[Fragged Up]

What I would recommend is putting ice in a ziplock bag and floating it in your tank until the temp comes down. Check out your heater, the thermostat is most likely the cause, as it has failed. I just went through the same thing your going through!

Good Luck!!

 

[MarkO]

"or just the ambient room temperature compigned with the PC lights sitting right on top of the glass have cuased temps to skyrocket." <----- My guess

My tank temp runs about 8-10? above ambient temp.
I once lost a few corals once (bleaching) due to my tank tamp hitting 92? when my AC failed while away.
Drop the temp slowly... about a degree an hour or less until you drop it to about 83?.

Slowly add RO/DI to drop your salinity to a density of 1.025 or so. Slowly... maybe over a day.

I've found in my experience that my tank recovered from temps as high as 88-89 or so and fully recover.

Fortunately it's going to revert to springlike temps for the next week or so, so you've got time to plan for a long term fix.
God luck.

 

[Piscevore]

glass tops and bright lights are just a really bad pair of things to combine mate

 

[Moe_K]

Some corals may come back from a heat spike like that.
Many, however, will just bleach and die.
Sorry.

 

[Moe_K]

Some corals may come back from a heat spike like that.
Many, however, will just bleach and die.
Sorry.

 

[smcnally]

Wow...Same post 6 minutes apart...Must be a new record

 

[NateHanson]

Youch. Yesterday was really the day for this sort of thing. Looks like at least 2 tanks got fried. I'd start by losing the glass tops, and adding a clip-on fan blowing over your sump (or display tank if you don't have a sump). I think this is much more liekly than a busted heater since you had your heat problem on an 85 degree day.

Hope things pull through for you.

Nate

 

[t1771]

Looks like at least 2 tanks got fried --->

I think my tank is the other one fried.. Stevertr I know what ur going through!!