So I have been doing a larger than normal water change on a weekly or semi-weekly basis as part of a comprehensive program to reduce nitrates. I started with aroudn 40ppm and am now down to 10-15... BuT>!!!!..
This weekend I made a mistake....
I was changing 15g of the 75, which is as much as I'll ever do. I make the 15g in a large bucket with a power head and heater.. But my heater didnt seem to be plugged in, and I didnt realize it until AFTER the water change. So I ended up dumping 15g of relatively COLD water into my tank. The tank temp went from its happy 79.5deg to 74.5 deg.
I allowed the tanks normal heater slowly heat it back up with all the power heads running so as not to shock the fish twice, but.... How bad is a one time shock of 5 degrees for the fish? I imagine the corals are relatively immune...
So far, they all look "ok" but they were acting "crazy" later that night once temp was back up..
This weekend I made a mistake....
I was changing 15g of the 75, which is as much as I'll ever do. I make the 15g in a large bucket with a power head and heater.. But my heater didnt seem to be plugged in, and I didnt realize it until AFTER the water change. So I ended up dumping 15g of relatively COLD water into my tank. The tank temp went from its happy 79.5deg to 74.5 deg.
I allowed the tanks normal heater slowly heat it back up with all the power heads running so as not to shock the fish twice, but.... How bad is a one time shock of 5 degrees for the fish? I imagine the corals are relatively immune...
So far, they all look "ok" but they were acting "crazy" later that night once temp was back up..