Tank temp 102 is everything dead

[Bowels]

My heater broke while I was at work (8hr shift) and tank temp got to 102 degrees, lost fish, and prob a bunch of corals

I really want to know what ppl think, I dont think the tank was that high of a tempurature for more than say 4 hrs. I have a turbo snail that seems to have survived.... will all the little things in the rock be alive? like pods, and worms and stuff? Is all my live rock dead? Its a tragedy that I lost a ton of stuff, but it would be so much worse if all life in the tank is gone.

[gone fishin]

Sorry to hear this. I have not experienced this but I would guess a wait and see approach to what is left. I hope it is not a total loss.

[Bowels]

Me too. once i get temp levels ok and such ya think i should add a new cleanup crew? get the cycle going?

[88rxna]

May i suggest a way of controlling the heater in the future?
Sorry for the loss. When heaters fail, its normally on the ON position.:(

[gone fishin]

Me too. once i get temp levels ok and such ya think i should add a new cleanup crew? get the cycle going?

Just taking a stab here. I think I would get the temp down then check for life and ammonia for a few days. depending on what you have left in the tank maybe a WC or let it ride and cycle over again. Just remember this is just pure conjecture on my part no practical experience with this situation.

[Bowels]

Temp is down to 76 this morning, I only have a smaller 150W that i use for heating fresh SW i have mixed b4 a water change. I will be driving somewhere to purchase a nicer heater after work today. I hope the temp doesn't get too low. I will be taking more precaution, i had another thread last night where ppl talked about controllers and such, this one was made to ask for opinions on if ppl think everything is dead. :( thank you guys for the help.

[MHG]

I will never be without a controller to prevent, or at a minimum, warn me of such things...That really sucks.... I hope something lived...

[GhostCon1]

That high of a temp it is very unlikely anything lived, I am shocked the turbo survived.

All is not lost though! All you need to do to get all the microfauna back into your sand and live rock is get a few, small pieces of LR from your LFS or another reefer, and a cup of sand wouldn't hurt.

[Bowels]

yeah idk if im just a moron, but i never even thought this would happen. and for my countless hours on RC and talking with others in my community and owners of sw fish stores i never really heard mention of it, or if i did I never paid it much attention. I really hope my ricordias are ok, and some of my awesome zoas :( I loved them. The mushys are all sucked into the rocks, and the zoas are closed up... we shall see

[Bowels]

I am not sure how long the tank was at that temp, but it couldnt have been super long. I had a thunderstorm that morning which is what I think took out my heater while I was at work... so say the heater was broken at the very worst 8 hrs before i got home, it prob took 3-4 hrs to heat up to that temp, and was there for like 4 hrs... i work on the tank immediatly when i come home and first thing i saw was my clowns.... so i stood there for a second in shock before i saw the temp and started putting ice in bags and floating, and turned heater off.... Im still hopeful. If the turbo can live i bet things in the sand and rock can too....something at least. I will re seed as well.

That high of a temp it is very unlikely anything lived, I am shocked the turbo survived.

All is not lost though! All you need to do to get all the microfauna back into your sand and live rock is get a few, small pieces of LR from your LFS or another reefer, and a cup of sand wouldn't hurt.

[TankStudy]

I've had this happen once too but to avoid this situation from ever happening again, I've hooked a chiller that is 2 times the recommended for my tank. Even if the heater is on full blast, my chiller makes sure the water stays the same.

[Bowels]

Hey TankStudy, was everything in your tank dead? Like was the tank sterilized? Im worried about my live rock and such?

[TankStudy]

I lost most of my fish. The smaller fish took the biggest hit while the larger fish were able to survive. Lost a few several days later though.

As for corals, 80% were pretty much cooked and 50% of what didn't die on the first day, died a few days later.

I would say remove everything that is dead, if you haven't already done so, just do very large water changes for a few days to help remove the massive amounts of to be nitrates.

Even your live rock may have lost a substantial amount of bacteria but they can recover. Even if every last bacteria on those rocks were cooked, nitrifying bacteria is everywhere so in time, they will return.

Best bet is to be patient and now wait.

[Bowels]

I want to revise hwat i said earlier, I have heard of Controllers, like reef keeper lite, and such, just i always thought they were just for lights, and pump flow and such.... i have a long way to go.

[GhostCon1]

I want to revise hwat i said earlier, I have heard of Controllers, like reef keeper lite, and such, just i always thought they were just for lights, and pump flow and such.... i have a long way to go.

Oh no, those controllers can do many, many amazing things.

[Pastey]

I have 2 slightly under-powered heaters for my size tank. One is plugged in and runs on its own thermostat while the other runs through my Apex (due to lack of outlets). This way, if the one plugged in running on its own decides to stick ON, my Apex one will not turn on and the one running full time will not be strong enough to heat the tank to a dangerous level. Just means the other one will run less.

[KeepNitReel]

Sorry for your lost dude but thanks for convincing me to buy a RKL in next weeks BRS group buy.

[Bowels]

yeeah...im convinced now too lol Poor little creatures :( damn me for being human.

[Calappidae]

Its not your fault, problems with equiptment happen everyday while we're not aware.

My one friend had a 125 full of rare corals that he would frag and sell. He said he even had a super rare red xenia that no one else had that he would sell for 150 dollars a small frag.

While at work, his son took over taking care of everything... his son shut off the A/C and never turned the lights off at night... the lights were metal halide and everything burned up.

[Bowels]

oh my god man, i would be so upset... My tank could ahve been worse I didnt have anything crazy fancy...just sentimental :(

[Bowels]

Soo im kinda confused... like at what stage of cycle am I... I am pretty sure at this point almost everyone if not everyone is dead... turbo snail it's going strong however... he's zooming around the tank with a purpose...do I wait a few months then add clean up crew or should I add clean up crew now... I have no idea what to do. I'm pretty sure off the turbo snail is alive there has to be other life I just can't see. The tank gravel has some greeny yellow spots where stuff prob died beneath the surface. I've scooped out everything I could that I could see was dead, and I have a bucket currently heating to ssh a water change in the morning (I had no water made except what was I'm my ato). I wish I knew what to do and where my tank stood in everything

[Calappidae]

Pretty much... find as many dead things as you can and remove them. (to prevent ammonia probs) and after that... do a complete water change, and re-cycle the tank (like get a live piece of rock to seed what died on your other rock. and even a cup of sand from another tank.)

You might be starting all over again...from the very begining... :eek: No need to remove rock or sand and clean the tank...

Speaking of losing stuff... I had two condylactus anemones whipe out my entire 55 gallon system... in there I was housing an extremely rare species of box crab off diver's den... I've been searching for another for about a year now.. I hand fed him and everything.. it was upsetting :(

[Bowels]

oh no, thats what ive been fearing :( ill be doing a good water change later tonight, ive already scooped out everything i could find that was dead (bristle starts and worms fell apart in my net) But should I add a clean up crew or wait a good bit? Or should i refer back to the tank cycle thread i read 2 1/2 years ago when i first started my tank :(

[Bowels]

and im sorry to hear about your box crab :( thats awful. He sounded adorable

[Bowels]

i basically wait until i cant test any ammonia right? My skimmer is pulling a ton of junk from the water. its full like everyday, whereas before this tragedy it was full maybe every 3 days. The snail is ok tho, and I have about 50 lbs of live rock, skimmer, hob filter w/carbon (yes i am very regular about keeping media in check) other than the hob filter I dont really have any nitrate traps everything is bio filtration, chaeto in the refuge with led in sump at night. Argonite sand bed about 2 1/2 inches deep.

[Calappidae]

Picture yourself back to the point where you got your equiptment, rock, sand, and water, and you just waiting for everything to cycle again.

I do miss the little guy...
http://i40.*******.com/16j31j9.jpg

[Bowels]

Sooo I found this reputable article all about the Nitrifying bacteria and such http://www.bioconlabs.com/nitribactfacts.html
and they say:
Temperature

The temperature for optimum growth of nitrifying bacteria is between 77-86° F (25-30° C).

Growth rate is decreased by 50% at 64° F (18° C).

Growth rate is decreased by 75% at 46-50° F.

No activity will occur at 39° F (4° C)

Nitrifying bacteria will die at 32° F (0° C).

Nitrifying bacteria will die at 120° F (49° C)

Nitrobacter is less tolerant of low temperatures than Nitrosomonas. In cold water systems, care must be taken to monitor the accumulation of nitrites.

So it would seem since my tank was 102 degrees F, that my bacteria population is fine, and ill prob see a little spike but should be otherwise fine with some hefty water changes. :) ill monitor levels, but this makes me very happy

[Sk8r]

So sorry to hear. The interior of the rock will not have overheated, and it is live all the way through, but the overheated exterior will slowly heat up the interior until it has all cooled down. Life will survive, very likely. Requires a re-cycle.

[orteh22]

sorry to hear that bro, i had an outbreak of ick when i was a newbie which resulted in many casualties. so i feel your pain

[Bowels]

Ill be monitoring the ammonia and nitrites until they go to zero and then I'll give it some time, my buddy it's gonna give me back some live rock I gave him a year ago he's down sizing his 200 gallon so I'm hoping all the little life (different kinds of snails, starfish, worms) will come back... I used to have a monster 12" long bristle worm named bubba I wonder if he survived.