bleached corals due to temp.

[mckostya]

Well i came home last night. The tank temp was at 83 thats after metal halidates were off for almost three hours..so i dont know how high the temp was on during the day.
All my corals look bleached, no polyp extensions, few sps corals died and almost all my zoos are still closed up.
I need an advice on what to do. Should i run my lights on regular schedule? or do corals need break for a little bit...my temp is back to normal at 78.
here are some crappy pictures....

thank you

 

[mckostya]

on the first picture you can see a pink birdsnest at the bottom. Its not pink anymore, but rather completely brown.

what is the next step at this point?

 

[Oliver]

use a fan i have one you can borrow if you want

 

[mckostya]

i have two actually..the problem was they didnt go on so the tank was cooking all day pretty much.

use a fan i have one you can borrow if you want

 

[NYreefNoob]

turn lights off and let tank cool down, corals will survive a few days with no light

 

[mckostya]

thanks rick - will do immediately. should i leave actinic lights on ? ot completely dark?

turn lights off and let tank cool down, corals will survive a few days with no light

 

[NYreefNoob]

can eave the antintics on not much heat there, what is controlling your fans that didnt allow them to come on ? if ya have ice packs drop them in sump to help bring temp down too

 

[mckostya]

temperature was high last night, it dropped back to regular today and been around 79 all day. the fans are on timers and i guess power went off at some point. its weird that half of the room had electricity the other half did not. lights were on, the fans never came on...
im running actinics for now - should i leave MH for few days off and run actinic in the mean time?

 

[prattreef]

No reason not to run the halides as long as the temp. issue is under control. IME most things that didn't go immediately should recover. You do need to figure out what happened though.

 

[mckostya]

ok thanks. would high temp cause bleaching and browning? i cant really think of anything wrong with my tank, besides temp going really high..

No reason not to run the halides as long as the temp. issue is under control. IME most things that didn't go immediately should recover. You do need to figure out what happened though.

 

[NYreefNoob]

yes it would and can affct fish as well higher temps = less oxygen

 

[mckostya]

i connected both fans to my aqua jr, and set them to turn on if temp goes above 79. so hopefully it'll help.
thanks for help rick and randy :thanks:

 

[noelskii]

my tank went up to 85.9 last night...my tank was doing fine still...everything was opened up and swimming...

 

[Dace]

I think it's time you look into a chiller, fans are good for temps alittle above normal but in extreme weather, you really need a chiller, fans are just going to increase your water evaporation, raise your salinity, even worst is if the room your tank is in temp is just as high or higher then your tank water, your just blowing hot air on a hot tank. one of the worst thing to me in a tank is constant major tank temp fluctuation. thats a real stress issue on the corals and fish.

 

[geldof]

Set your Aqua Jr. to turn off the MHs if the temp goes above a certain range. It's saved me a couple times in a hot, 3rd floor apt. Backup chiller triggered over max temp is a good idea too. I have found that leaving the lights off for a couple of days after a tank temp increase, is fine.

 

[mckostya]

i agree its constant temp fluctuation with my conditions. i came on sunday to room temperature was close to 80, really hot!!
but is it ok if its flacuates only few degrees from lets say 78 to 82??

I think it's time you look into a chiller, fans are good for temps alittle above normal but in extreme weather, you really need a chiller, fans are just going to increase your water evaporation, raise your salinity, even worst is if the room your tank is in temp is just as high or higher then your tank water, your just blowing hot air on a hot tank. one of the worst thing to me in a tank is constant major tank temp fluctuation. thats a real stress issue on the corals and fish.

 

[isgon26]

My chiller doesn't go on until 83. I dont have a problem with bleaching. But my temp stays from 78-83 all the time. Maybe the large change in temp caused the browning. Maybe I have to large a fluctuation also but i guess my corals are accustomed to the change.

 

[Marteen]

During the summer my tank has been getting up to 86-87 lately. I just installed a chiller to help bring the temp down to 78-79 and my corals are already looking better.

 

[Dace]

2 degrees work best for me, i have my temperture no lower then 78 no higher then 80

 

[mckostya]

thanks Dace. i will keep an eye on temp, since looks like real summer is finally here :splitspin

2 degrees work best for me, i have my temperture no lower then 78 no higher then 80