Heck, stupid stupid mistake!

Daphne's_Reef · Dec 1, 2022

I've got a 40 breeder I set up in April. I've been having a hair algae issue the last month or so because a (now finished) time commitment has left me slacking on water changes. Finally got a HOB skimmer (aquamaxx) after giving up on getting a sump to work and in hooking it up screwed up really badly. I have a jar of macro that came in on my rocks and without thinking dumped it into the tank to refresh the water in it. It'd been too long with me keeping forgetting to put some airline into it, and I didn't even register the sulfur smell until I noticed my fish freaking out. (in my defense, I'd noticed it in the sump when I was trying to get it to work, and it never caused a problem mixing that with the water in the display. NOT in my defense, I'd just dumped in more water to get to the level the skimmer needed so there was a lot less surface agitation than normal because I hadn't moved the powerheads yet.)

I pulled the fish out (2 spot tang, I KNOW it's a tight fit-I don't have any rock in the top half of the tank, and none of the 40# in there touches the walls or itself. She's honestly less active than the biocelatus wrasse. Plus a royal gramma and 2 sapphire damsels.) and have them in a 5 gallon jug of fresh salt mix with airline running to it. The powerheads are now agitating the top of the tank, and since the water is still a bit low (was going to grab some screen today so the higher water for the skimmer wouldn't mean the wrasse could get out through the egg crate) the skimmer is also agitating the top to the point that I can hear the waterfall effect from the water level being about half high on the outlet. The coral appears to be okay (the stuff I can see is extended normally, even the aptasia that came in on a frag **rolls eyes**) though it's already been a bit off because of the algae. No idea about any of the various inverts in there.

I'm about to go see if I can find some carbon sachets for HOB type filters at the local petco to toss into the tank, but is that plus letting it offgas until I can't smell anything but the water safe, or do I need to do something else? The store I get my salt mix from is 3.5 hours away and (I know they can't stay in the jug that long) the next time I'll have the ability to get there is next Wednesday after work. The only other option for a water change at the moment is to get distilled water and a different salt brand (petco only has IO/RC, and I think maybe Red Sea? whereas the store I buy it at uses Fritz) and try to mix it in small batches in the one spare 5 gallon bucket I've got now, and would that small an amount with a different salt AND iffy water even be of benefit?

MnFish1 · Dec 1, 2022

Daphne's_Reef said:
I've got a 40 breeder I set up in April. I've been having a hair algae issue the last month or so because a (now finished) time commitment has left me slacking on water changes. Finally got a HOB skimmer (aquamaxx) after giving up on getting a sump to work and in hooking it up screwed up really badly. I have a jar of macro that came in on my rocks and without thinking dumped it into the tank to refresh the water in it. It'd been too long with me keeping forgetting to put some airline into it, and I didn't even register the sulfur smell until I noticed my fish freaking out. (in my defense, I'd noticed it in the sump when I was trying to get it to work, and it never caused a problem mixing that with the water in the display. NOT in my defense, I'd just dumped in more water to get to the level the skimmer needed so there was a lot less surface agitation than normal because I hadn't moved the powerheads yet.)

I pulled the fish out (2 spot tang, I KNOW it's a tight fit-I don't have any rock in the top half of the tank, and none of the 40# in there touches the walls or itself. She's honestly less active than the biocelatus wrasse. Plus a royal gramma and 2 sapphire damsels.) and have them in a 5 gallon jug of fresh salt mix with airline running to it. The powerheads are now agitating the top of the tank, and since the water is still a bit low (was going to grab some screen today so the higher water for the skimmer wouldn't mean the wrasse could get out through the egg crate) the skimmer is also agitating the top to the point that I can hear the waterfall effect from the water level being about half high on the outlet. The coral appears to be okay (the stuff I can see is extended normally, even the aptasia that came in on a frag **rolls eyes**) though it's already been a bit off because of the algae. No idea about any of the various inverts in there.

I'm about to go see if I can find some carbon sachets for HOB type filters at the local petco to toss into the tank, but is that plus letting it offgas until I can't smell anything but the water safe, or do I need to do something else? The store I get my salt mix from is 3.5 hours away and (I know they can't stay in the jug that long) the next time I'll have the ability to get there is next Wednesday after work. The only other option for a water change at the moment is to get distilled water and a different salt brand (petco only has IO/RC, and I think maybe Red Sea? whereas the store I buy it at uses Fritz) and try to mix it in small batches in the one spare 5 gallon bucket I've got now, and would that small an amount with a different salt AND iffy water even be of benefit?

A water change will fix this with no further issue - if I'm reading you correctly. I have not memorized the alkalinity, etc - of the salts you're discussing - BUT - I would ask the LFS - which would match best to what you're using (and also ask them 'why'. Sometimes - they might just pick the most expensive one.

Jay Hemdal · Dec 1, 2022

Daphne's_Reef said:
I've got a 40 breeder I set up in April. I've been having a hair algae issue the last month or so because a (now finished) time commitment has left me slacking on water changes. Finally got a HOB skimmer (aquamaxx) after giving up on getting a sump to work and in hooking it up screwed up really badly. I have a jar of macro that came in on my rocks and without thinking dumped it into the tank to refresh the water in it. It'd been too long with me keeping forgetting to put some airline into it, and I didn't even register the sulfur smell until I noticed my fish freaking out. (in my defense, I'd noticed it in the sump when I was trying to get it to work, and it never caused a problem mixing that with the water in the display. NOT in my defense, I'd just dumped in more water to get to the level the skimmer needed so there was a lot less surface agitation than normal because I hadn't moved the powerheads yet.)

I pulled the fish out (2 spot tang, I KNOW it's a tight fit-I don't have any rock in the top half of the tank, and none of the 40# in there touches the walls or itself. She's honestly less active than the biocelatus wrasse. Plus a royal gramma and 2 sapphire damsels.) and have them in a 5 gallon jug of fresh salt mix with airline running to it. The powerheads are now agitating the top of the tank, and since the water is still a bit low (was going to grab some screen today so the higher water for the skimmer wouldn't mean the wrasse could get out through the egg crate) the skimmer is also agitating the top to the point that I can hear the waterfall effect from the water level being about half high on the outlet. The coral appears to be okay (the stuff I can see is extended normally, even the aptasia that came in on a frag **rolls eyes**) though it's already been a bit off because of the algae. No idea about any of the various inverts in there.

I'm about to go see if I can find some carbon sachets for HOB type filters at the local petco to toss into the tank, but is that plus letting it offgas until I can't smell anything but the water safe, or do I need to do something else? The store I get my salt mix from is 3.5 hours away and (I know they can't stay in the jug that long) the next time I'll have the ability to get there is next Wednesday after work. The only other option for a water change at the moment is to get distilled water and a different salt brand (petco only has IO/RC, and I think maybe Red Sea? whereas the store I buy it at uses Fritz) and try to mix it in small batches in the one spare 5 gallon bucket I've got now, and would that small an amount with a different salt AND iffy water even be of benefit?

Aeration oxidizes sulfides into sulfates. You could theoretically enhance that with hydrogen peroxide, but don’t do that since you don’t have a peroxide test kit.
Sulfides are acutely toxic, as far as I’ve ever seen, once they oxidize to sulfates, the toxicity is gone.
How do the fish look now?
Jay

Daphne's_Reef · Dec 1, 2022

I'm occasionally seeing shadows from one or another as they swim around in the container (it's semi-opaque like a milk carton) and when I cut the bubbler they were all upright and looking well enough. Doesn't mean they won't crash later, but I panicked and hand caught all of them to get them out without even bothering to grab a net, so it's definitely a huge improvement.

I've asked the store before which salt they use and why and they've only said "we think it's the best" back when they were offering the option of IO or RC. It's easier to buy than to mix where I live, though, so i tend to just go with it.

If aerating it will detoxify it, should I just keep the extra surface agitation for a bit longer and hope that the fish are okay going back in, or pull the air line from the jug the fish are in to speed it up some and then put them back?

vetteguy53081 · Dec 1, 2022

Daphne's_Reef said:
I've got a 40 breeder I set up in April. I've been having a hair algae issue the last month or so because a (now finished) time commitment has left me slacking on water changes. Finally got a HOB skimmer (aquamaxx) after giving up on getting a sump to work and in hooking it up screwed up really badly. I have a jar of macro that came in on my rocks and without thinking dumped it into the tank to refresh the water in it. It'd been too long with me keeping forgetting to put some airline into it, and I didn't even register the sulfur smell until I noticed my fish freaking out. (in my defense, I'd noticed it in the sump when I was trying to get it to work, and it never caused a problem mixing that with the water in the display. NOT in my defense, I'd just dumped in more water to get to the level the skimmer needed so there was a lot less surface agitation than normal because I hadn't moved the powerheads yet.)

I pulled the fish out (2 spot tang, I KNOW it's a tight fit-I don't have any rock in the top half of the tank, and none of the 40# in there touches the walls or itself. She's honestly less active than the biocelatus wrasse. Plus a royal gramma and 2 sapphire damsels.) and have them in a 5 gallon jug of fresh salt mix with airline running to it. The powerheads are now agitating the top of the tank, and since the water is still a bit low (was going to grab some screen today so the higher water for the skimmer wouldn't mean the wrasse could get out through the egg crate) the skimmer is also agitating the top to the point that I can hear the waterfall effect from the water level being about half high on the outlet. The coral appears to be okay (the stuff I can see is extended normally, even the aptasia that came in on a frag **rolls eyes**) though it's already been a bit off because of the algae. No idea about any of the various inverts in there.

I'm about to go see if I can find some carbon sachets for HOB type filters at the local petco to toss into the tank, but is that plus letting it offgas until I can't smell anything but the water safe, or do I need to do something else? The store I get my salt mix from is 3.5 hours away and (I know they can't stay in the jug that long) the next time I'll have the ability to get there is next Wednesday after work. The only other option for a water change at the moment is to get distilled water and a different salt brand (petco only has IO/RC, and I think maybe Red Sea? whereas the store I buy it at uses Fritz) and try to mix it in small batches in the one spare 5 gallon bucket I've got now, and would that small an amount with a different salt AND iffy water even be of benefit?

Try peroxide as an oxidizer and for carbon and even GFO packets, Innovative Marine sells nano packs for media baskets and will work for small quantity media

vetteguy53081 · Dec 1, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
Aeration oxidizes sulfides into sulfates. You could theoretically enhance that with hydrogen peroxide, but don’t do that since you don’t have a peroxide test kit.
Sulfides are acutely toxic, as far as I’ve ever seen, once they oxidize to sulfates, the toxicity is gone.
How do the fish look now?
Jay

Oops just sw your response and Peroxide . LOL

Jay Hemdal · Dec 1, 2022

Daphne's_Reef said:
I'm occasionally seeing shadows from one or another as they swim around in the container (it's semi-opaque like a milk carton) and when I cut the bubbler they were all upright and looking well enough. Doesn't mean they won't crash later, but I panicked and hand caught all of them to get them out without even bothering to grab a net, so it's definitely a huge improvement.

I've asked the store before which salt they use and why and they've only said "we think it's the best" back when they were offering the option of IO or RC. It's easier to buy than to mix where I live, though, so i tend to just go with it.

If aerating it will detoxify it, should I just keep the extra surface agitation for a bit longer and hope that the fish are okay going back in, or pull the air line from the jug the fish are in to speed it up some and then put them back?

Well, the fish need aeration in the jug, but the tank also needs strong aeration to dissipate the sulfide.
Now, I can’t say if there could be other issues from using that stale water - are the invertebrates still all ok?
What about trying to return one fish as a test?
Changing the water would of course be the safest way to go….
Jay

Daphne's_Reef · Dec 1, 2022

I'll try replacing a fish tomorrow morning as a test. If that one's okay, I'll put the rest in as well and put the air stone in the tank itself, then change out a few gallons. Hopefully that's good enough.

Thank you for the help, and I'll keep you updated.

Daphne's_Reef · Dec 2, 2022

And they seem to be fine, thankfully. The gramma has found his hole again and the rest are swimming around about as actively as they normally do. **whew!** Found a bit of what looked like a dead worm, and haven't heard many pops (boo

) from the pistol and/or mantis shrimp that came in on the rock, but I've seen the (from the rock) flame scallop extended and the massive red mithrax that also came in on it wandering around, so at the very least there's some life.

Thank you all for the help and reassurance. I'll get a couple extra jugs of salt this week when I can get to the store and do a slightly bigger change than I normally would.