Newbie water temp disaster

scotts8826

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I had a lot going on the day I decided to change out my water so I made the mistake of doing tank maintenance in a hurry. I have a thermometer in my new water that said it was high. Around 80-81 when my tank temperature is 77-78. I thought I could get away with it so I dumped in the new water assuming it would mix with the tank water and all would be fine. It wasn't Most of my corals died from the temperature shock. My tank is 7 months old and the corals were really showing good growth. All my SPS corals are toast. All the LPS which include torch, hammer and frogspawn and Duncans have their polyps shrunk to half size.

So, my question is, will the LPS corals come back eventually or are they just dying a slower death?

Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank but something bad can happen quick!
 

vetteguy53081

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I had a lot going on the day I decided to change out my water so I made the mistake of doing tank maintenance in a hurry. I have a thermometer in my new water that said it was high. Around 80-81 when my tank temperature is 77-78. I thought I could get away with it so I dumped in the new water assuming it would mix with the tank water and all would be fine. It wasn't Most of my corals died from the temperature shock. My tank is 7 months old and the corals were really showing good growth. All my SPS corals are toast. All the LPS which include torch, hammer and frogspawn and Duncans have their polyps shrunk to half size.

So, my question is, will the LPS corals come back eventually or are they just dying a slower death?

Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank but something bad can happen quick!
As the water cools, they should regain their energy and color slowly. It was likely temporary shock as a 3 deg variance should not have killed them
 

mangolove

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I had a lot going on the day I decided to change out my water so I made the mistake of doing tank maintenance in a hurry. I have a thermometer in my new water that said it was high. Around 80-81 when my tank temperature is 77-78. I thought I could get away with it so I dumped in the new water assuming it would mix with the tank water and all would be fine. It wasn't Most of my corals died from the temperature shock. My tank is 7 months old and the corals were really showing good growth. All my SPS corals are toast. All the LPS which include torch, hammer and frogspawn and Duncans have their polyps shrunk to half size.

So, my question is, will the LPS corals come back eventually or are they just dying a slower death?

Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank but something bad can happen quick!

I'm sorry to hear that, how much % of total water volume was the water change?
Did you have any flow?
When i do 20% water changes i actually never worry about temperature changes, I just use RODI water, add salt mix and then water in and out and thats it. Maybe it adjust to room temperature but never has made my corals die on me.
Could it be that the salt was not mixed that well? What was the difference in temp after the water change?
 
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scotts8826

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I have a 75 gallon tank. I was doing about a 20% water change. I was also hooking up a UV clarifier/sterilizer because I have a SMALL Hippo Tang that was showing signs of Ich. If the water temperature did not kill my Monti's and birdsnest, I am wondering what I did differently this one time? The good news is that with generous feeding, Nori and the UV light, my tang is not showing any more signs of ich. He seems to be pulling through!
 

Doctorgori

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How much water did you change? I'm not condoning it, but I have done water changes with mismatched water temp with little to no effect. Are there other factors that could be at play?
I was thinking that also. …
I have a 75 gallon tank. I was doing about a 20% water change. I was also hooking up a UV clarifier/sterilizer because I have a SMALL Hippo Tang that was showing signs of Ich. If the water temperature did not kill my Monti's and birdsnest, I am wondering what I did differently this one time? The good news is that with generous feeding, Nori and the UV light, my tang is not showing any more signs of ich. He seems to be pulling through!
That change shouldn’t have killed your corals, something else must be amiss…
The UV doesn’t exactly cure ich, it could just be in that part of the cycle … I’d still be vigilant …
…don’t believe the hype with temperature , if its over 70F and you are comfortable, the fish/corals will live
 

Garf

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I have a 75 gallon tank. I was doing about a 20% water change. I was also hooking up a UV clarifier/sterilizer because I have a SMALL Hippo Tang that was showing signs of Ich. If the water temperature did not kill my Monti's and birdsnest, I am wondering what I did differently this one time? The good news is that with generous feeding, Nori and the UV light, my tang is not showing any more signs of ich. He seems to be pulling through!
Did you forget to add the salt?
 

mangolove

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How are youre nutrients? Maybe the waterchange pulled out the last po4 and no3 that was in the tank and caused some zooxanthelle ( or however you spell it) to leave the coral tissue and die.
 

Pickle_soup

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I am a negative Nancy, but of Hippo Tang that was showing signs of Ich, UV sterilizer is not very useful. But, I have a bias against them when it comes to parasite control. But then again, the same goes for algae. I just don't like them.
 

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