Temp too low

[Lionfish718]

I had a blackout last night that made my chiller go out of wak. I came home and the temp was 54 degrees. What do I do? I have 3 heaters on and its slowly rising. I think I lost everything. How cold could the water get before the corals die? My fish did not make it. Has anyone have this problem?

 

[jadakiss]

wow sorry to hear that man, i think u should raise the temp slow u dont want to shock them again by raising the temp fast, u might be able to do a water change like a 5 gallon just make sure the temp in there is about 56 , so basically ur raising the temp in water change and heater, dont put the heater at lets say 75 when ur tank is at 54 thats gonna mess u up,

 

[KathyC]

So sorry to hear about your loss!

As Lester mentions, you want to raise it slowly back up. What type of corals do you have? Any pics?

 

[Lionfish718]

Update: 8 out 9 fish survived, my maxima clam died. The water temp is stable at 78 degrees. Its amazing how these fish came back to life when the water warmed up. I mean these fish were upside down. It was for sure these fish were dead. 4 heaters later they are ok. I don't know what is going on with the corals yet. I guess I have to wait and see when I come home from work. Lesson learned is check the chiller when you have a black out. I was expecting the opposite and having it over heat. I am not sure what happened and why it got set for 50 degrees it should have defaulted to 80 degrees when the power goes off and on. I hope there isn't another blackout. I did not know it could get that cold. But I caught it at 54. Thank you everyone.

 

[BIG L A]

Good to hear that most of your fish made it...

 

[jadakiss]

I'm happy for u

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

wow!!! the fish lived
I guess cold water is better then boiling water

 

[dagreatbadfinger]

how the heck did it get that cold in this weather? lol

 

[MatthewScars]

Please look into buying a Ranco Dual Temperature Controller. Best ~$120 you will spend to save your tank - ever.

You can set the controller to kill the chiller at any temperature. So if the tank hits 70, it will cut power to the chiller, thus saving the tank. Works the save if your heater freaks out as well.

 

[Lionfish718]

Thank you. I will Defiantly look into it.

 

[pweissma]

So sorry. Something seems to have really gone wrong with your chiller's thermo control for this to happen. Another option for protection would be the basic Reef Keeper Lite. For just $100 you get the head unit, a 4 outlet strip and a temp probe. It can control your heater, chiller, and two other devices.

 

[Lionfish718]

Update: I lost another fish and all of my hard corals. So sad......

 

[beerfish]

Never trust a heater or chiller, the Ranco is a great dual stage controller, but you can also buy a Reef Keeper Light for $99 and have two spare controlled outlets.