Massive Leak

dankolle

dankolle

Reefing newb
So I started my day off at 6:00am on a local lake wake boarding. All was going well for a good Friday at work. About 30 minutes later I get a call from one of my employees that my aquarium was half full with the rest on the floor. After getting a carpet water extractor from my local rental shop and a bunch of fans...the building is drying out.

Now to deal with the fish. The leak was caused by a bad seal in a canister filter. It slowly leaked out 1/2 of the 55 gallons of water and as low as my return pump could pump in my sump. How do I keep the fish alive with 1/2 of the water missing and only 4 gallons of fresh salt water mixed? being out of the water for 8+ hours ruined my power heads and I am not sure of the state of my lifter pump or anything. Assuming my boss doesn't kick my ass and ban the aquarium from the office...how do I recover from losing so much water and not being able to replenish it quickly enough?
 
Wow that must've been horrible to deal with. If I were you, I'd just go to Walmart and get some bottles of distilled water, and make new saltwater. Then add it to the tank once it's the correct temperature. Your fish should be fine if there's still half the tank full of water. Make sure they have water movement though. Buy a cheap powerhead or two if you need to.

Time to ditch the canister filter. If not because it leads to high nitrates, but because it caused a catastrophe.
 
Yeah, it's already in the trash. I was being really good too. I only ran it for a few days after a water change and I completely cleaned it after I was done using it too. That's the reward I get! haha
 
Put a cheap powerhead and heater in there if you need too.To get it done faster,can you get saltwater from a LFS?Sorry,a leak sucks,I almost threw in the towel from one a few years back.
 
Yeah I'm close to that point...but the issue is I have a lot of healthy animals that I made a commitment to by purchasing them. It's frustrating!
 
My LFS is out of business. The closest thing I have is Pets Mart. They used to have 5 gallons of mixed salt but I went there this morning and they rearranged their fish department and don't have it anymore. They only have a very limited supply of salt now.

I know I am supposed to wait 24 hours before adding a freshly mixed batch of salt to the water. The question is, how many gallons could I add at a time? I only have the ability to mix about 10 per 24 hour period.

I have two power heads running right now and I have a small in-tank filter that is going as well.
 
Why can you only mix 10 at a time? Go to the hardware store and get a big plastic 30 gallon trash can. You can add as much water as you need to fill the tank at one time.
 
You DO NOT have to wait 24 hours. I've used slat water only 10 mins after mixing and all was fine. The tank may be cloudy but it will be okay.
 
So, I finally broke down and got a 27 gallon tough tote that support 400lbs of weight for my large mixing bucket. I mised 24 gallons of water last night and put it in the tank today. I supplimented with a few gallons of fresh water to get the levels correct.

The fish / corals / inverts all look ok. They are swimming in the newly reclamed water and are eating no problem.

The anemone is the only one that is pissed. Since it was stressed before this happened I am slightly worried about it's health. I will come back tonight and check for leaks, etc and do a water test.

I might have made a mistake, but my sump was dry for 3 days including the leak day and the bio balls were sitting out in open air. I'm assuming all of the bacteria died from that length of exposure so I took this opportunity to remove them and add some "dead" live rock I found in one of my 5 gallon buckets. I'm hoping I didn't make a mistake...but I plan on doing a few large water changes over the next few days to help relieve any stress or die off that resulted from this accident.
 
I think what you did is fine. If the anemone starts to look sickly, you are better off removing it and giving it a vodka bath before it has the chance to die in the tank.
 
I have to be honest, my ignorance is showing again. I will get a picture of the anemone tomorrow when I am back at work again and post it. I know how the anemone looked when I think it was healthy (large, full, "stretchy") but now it is really small, doesnt expand during the day as large as it used to, and its tenticals are really shortened up.

Does the vodka help it or kill it? Are we talking Gray Goose or Popov?
 
Oh no. The vodka is a way to euthanize marine life quickly and humanely (well as humane as any euthanization can be). Sorry for not clarifying!
 
Watch that nem, he just may be super stressed. If you notice his mouth turning inside out, then it's time to worry. Also watch for anything that is not poop coming out of his mouth, they often expell their insides when they are dying.
 
Well I wanted to get a picture for you today but a snail decided to park his bottom right over the anemone so I can't get a good shot of it...I don't see him turning inside out but its definately not happy.
 
Well I got a picture...center of the photo very small nem. Poor guy!

0802000923.jpg
 
I tested my water and my Nitrates are 5ppm or below, nitrites are at 0, but my ammonia is between 1.0 and 0.50! Can I solve this by large water changes?
 

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