just had a real close call, but i still need help...

[72xmulch]

one of my tanks were turned completely off all night with no filters or heat, due to a faulty power strip. everything looked completely dead but after a few hours of circulation and heat everything seems back to normal , except the PH is super low. its at about 7.6 or so. no ammonia, nitrates/ites my refractometer says its about .026, which is weird because it was .024 yesterday . i dont want to do anything at all until i get a more informed opinion on what to do so for now im just letting it sit there and recover. so what now? thanks for the help doods....

 

[Len]

Low pH is natural when the filters and circulation have been off for extended time. It'll come back up after a couple of days. It is odd that the specific gravity went up, though 1.026 is still a fine value (I keep mine about 1.025).

I wouldn't do anything to the tank. I've had this happen twice before, and things get back to normal on their own.

 

[SnowManSnow]

I would imagine that the SG went up just because you probably have evaporate over that period of time.

Keep in mind that if you dont continually keep your evap water topped off that your salinity and so forth will rise, given that salt doesn't evaporate with the water.

B

 

[72xmulch]

ok cool. how painful do you think it is for the tank to have a constantly fluctuating salinity every few days?

 

[72xmulch]

well this morning everything looked fine, an hour later, the 3 fish are dead, so i pulled them out. the water looks a little cloudy, i am going to do a partial water change. amonia reads 0.25-0.35...

 

[72xmulch]

8 hours later, the water is EXTREMELY cloudy, stinks and everything looks like ****. i dont have any ro water on hand and feel pretty screwed right now.


ok i just ran all over town untill i found a store with RO at 11pm and am changing almost all of the water, everything is sagging, nothing is moving. fun times

 

[Len]

Sorry to hear that It could be a few events occurring that is compounding the problem. The whiteness and smell is die-off and/or a bacterial bloom. Some organism could've released toxins into the water as a reflex to the water conditions.

After the water change, make sure the water is very well aerated. Run activated carbon to remove any DOCs and toxins in the water.