EMERGENCY!!

tamz273

AC Members
Jul 13, 2008
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Hey guys,
after i had the tank running great for a few days, i came back home late and went straight to bed.

LIVESTOCK = 1 Clownfish
1 Blue Yellow Tail Damsel
1 Lion Fish

Tank Size = 78Gal


I woke up the next morning to find a SOFT CORAL stuck on one of my power heads!!! I WAS SHOCKED! the water was yellow and visibility in the water was no more than 5cm!!

i quickly scrambled to pull it out and clean out all the parts from all over the tank, and then rushed to start my water changes! as i started my water changes my dad started walking downstairs, and then asked me "did the coral die?!?!?" and i was like YES OFFCOURSE IT DID! WHO GOT IT?!?
and offcourse, to no surprise, i found out that my dad had decided that it was time to get a coral in the tank, to he went to teh LFS and bought one and dumped it in!

so now to ask the pro's, WHAT DO I DO NEXT??
water params before water change:
ammonia 5-ish
nitrite 5-ish
i didnt check nitrate... (was rushing to do the WC)

now im watiing for the tank to hopefully calm down, still VEEEEERY cloudy..

what should i do until then..? just sit and hope?
 
What coral was it? I'd run some carbon as depending on the coral depends on how much toxins it can put out which may be what's giving you your readings. I'd also do a large water change every couple of days.
 
I lost the damsel, and the other two are in really bad shape... they are breathing really hard and barely moving... the water is still very foggy... im not sure wat the name of the coral was, but it was a flourescent green color that had small short stems and bubble like tips...
readings havent changed even AFTER the water change...

HEEELP!! I told a mate about it and he said last time one of his corals died, he had to start all over again with the tank...

???
 
if conditions still havent improved, check your filter... it shouldnt take long for your visibility to be back to normal. and like catpickles said, try running some carbon
 
my filter has nothing from the coral in it...
my ammonia has begun to go down, but naturally its bringing up the nitrites... im going to get a carbon checking kit 2morow and find out what my levels are...

thanks again guys
 
You don't need to check for carbon, you need to run carbon. You need to use something like this. You put it in a media bag and it will help remove any organic pollutants.

I'm not personally recommending that product as I've never used it, I was just using it as an example of what you need.
 
im doing a water change in a few minutes, and im gonna go get some carbon right after the water change!
thanks guys!

EDIT-------
After looking at the link, i realized that i already have carbon in my filter! should i change the bag? its been in there for about 8 weeks...
 
yes change the carbon. From your description it sounds like it could possibly of been an anemone not a coral
 
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