EMERGENCY - please help

[Drewbaby]

Sorry about the grammar in a hurry...

Last night setup ato and checked it over. Worked well so went to bed no worries woke up tank salinity at 1.015

It's a full reef. I immediately drained 10 gallons (55 gallon tank) and added salt and replaced into tank.

Will my coral survive if I slowly brin the salt back up over today?

What should I do?

TIA

[bearpeidog]

I think your on the right track - mix up salt water and do water changes to bring salinity back it spec. I don't have a feel for what would happen but rule of thumb is slow and steady rather than trying to shoot it up. I'm thinking your almost acclimating the corals again. Good luck!

[bearpeidog]

It's the opposite of your issue, but just saw this thread:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1997762

[Sk8r]

I've been in this situation. Bring it up over 12-24 hours. I think you'll get through.

[Drewbaby]

So i should be ok bringing it up like

1.015
1.0155
1.016
1.0165

Etc in 2 hour intervals. Would every hour be too quick to slightly raise it

[wrott]

If you have corals, I would bring it back to 1.025 sg immediately--like in 1hr. Fish will be fine, and corals if you bring sg back ASAP.
A few hrs is like a dip, just bring it up to normal now, no harm done especially if it's not acros.

[Sk8r]

One .001 an hour...trying to figure this...probably quite safe. When I was a total novice I did it faster than that on one occasion, with corals, and lost nothing. Lessee---you're down about .010, so .001 an hour will get you there in 10 hours---which I'm beginning to think is too long: BUT---while a rapid drop does no great damage, bringing it up too fast CAN damage corals.

If you've got an ato, draw off some water cup at a time and just let it intermittently top off with salt water in small doses: I have my ATO reduced to airline size hose so it's a very small addition. Just don't let it gush a lot at once. The main issue is not to cause tissue rupture by having a grossly higher salinity on one side of a cell wall than on the other. [Osmotic shock.] Your corals may protect themselves by retracting, and I'd turn the lights out to try to encourage that state of affairs. Best I can say is, move it along, but watch your corals. If you see sliming or gaping, slow it down. Play it by stages.

[Drewbaby]

The lights have been on for an hour now and thighs are opening up, but if they are safer contracted Ill turn them off. All of my sps have their polyps extended. Not fully bit they are not withdrawn. The only thing that looks really rough so far is my maze brain. All of it's mouths were gaping wide open earlier and seem to be slightly closing.

I don't think I'll trust this ato to work anymore. I'll do small water changes periodically by removing tank water, adding some salt to it then adding it back slowly

I hate murphys law.

[Sk8r]

Put a powerhead to mixing salt water in a bucket {5 gal paint buckets from Lowes) and be sure it is mixed well if you don't have a sump. A salt grain on a coral will burn.

I think the acclimation analogy works well here. The one thing you don't have to worry about is bag-induced ammonia, so there's no time limit here, just watch the coral behaviors. That brain gaping at this early stage is probably because of the situation, not the change upward, but I would definitely do what I could to encourage those corals to expel water in a reasonable way, as shutting for the night will do.

Re your ATO one way this can happen is a reverse siphon, if the exit hose from the ATO contacts the water surface of the receiving tank. The pump alternately pumps water in, then siphon draws it back, etc, until both sources equalize. Test the salinity in your topoff reservoir if you have any water in it, and if it equals your tank, that's what happened. I did it once that way, about 3 hours before I caught it, only mine had kalk added and the tank turned white---if it's of any comfort, the corals survived that nicely, and kalk produces a ph spike to boot. So I hope you'll be ok.

[Drewbaby]

So should I turn the light on while adding the saltier water so they can start to absorb it then turn the light off so they can expel the old water and gradually go through osmosis. Or would it be best to leave the light off for the rest of the day

[wrott]

Just increase sg to 1.025 to save corals as soon as you can, lights don't matter.