I just noticed I forgot to plug my return pump back in since Sunday night. Its Tuesday morning. The lights and power heads have been working but no heat has been getting into display tank. No fish only coral. Temp was 61?. I plugged it back in. Corals are all stressed. No polyp extension on sps. Only half the zoas are opening. What should I do? I was thinking water change in case the coral expelled something during stress or would water change stress them out more?
Forgot to plug in return pump need advice.
- Thread starter BioMan
- Start date
I wouldn't add the stress of a water change. Perhaps some extra fresh carbon would be worthwhile in case the corals do release toxins. Otherwise, I think the less additional shock the better. Bring the temp back up over a bit of time. Hopefully everything will recover. Good luck.
- Location
- The Big City
First you need to bring the temp back up, second since there was no water movement through your sump you should check that water before turning the return pump back on, as things most likely could have died causing that water in the sump to be bad, the same with the overflow, you need to check the water in there too. If that water is bad you should change the water in the sump and overflow. If you have already turn on the return pump then I would check the water and do a water change if it's bad. Check to sump and overflow to see if it smells bad.
- Location
- The Big City
The biggest thing will be things like bristle worms and snails dying, which if you have a lot can cause a problem. If you have a skimmer in the sump, and it was running, the things in the sump should be fine, the overflow would be another story.
Polyfilter wouldn't hurt. Marrone raised a good point, if you had a fuge with die-off, then the sump water may be bad, but in 36hrs, it seems unlikely. Too late to test that now, so no point in worrying.
I would let things normalize for a day with extra carbon and maybe polyfilter. Then assess damage. At that point maybe increase water change frequency for a while to help keep parameters in top shape.
Also, keep close tabs on your test parameters. If you are dosing, watch your alk carefully for the next week or two. I had a peroxide overdose a year ago. Nothing died, but the stress put the corals into a slower metabolic state, perhaps as a defense or healing mechanism, or perhaps because zooxanthellae populations dropped. They consumed less alk and calcium, and my doser was raising alk by over 1dKH per day. Fortunately I caught it and adjusted my doser in time. Just keep an eye on your parameters, so you don't miss any changes.
Sponsor Reefs
We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.
Click here to sponsor $10:
