Tank devastated after storm

[natrev]

After the storm this week, my tank lost power for 2 days. Because it was at my office and the roads were awful and the office inaccessible, I had to leave it be
Temp dropped to 60 in the tank and I braced for the worst.
Two clownfish and a six line wrasse perished but miraculously my flame hawkfish survived, as did multiple invertebrates, some corals and the anemones!
We immediately did a water change once power came back on 3 days ago. The hawkfish started eating yesterday and seems to have recovered. Went back in for another water change today, no ammonia amazingly. But some of the corals look worse like they’re dying. When we tried to remove them (I think it was the sinularia), they started releasing a smoky substance into the water and an associated smell.
Next best steps? Try to pull them off? Leave them be since I was making it worse and ammonia is zero? Keep doing water changes? Appreciate all advice!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

#reefsquad

 

[Fish Fan]

I'm sorry to hear about your tank, that's awful!

How are things doing today? Did you ever see an ammonia spike? I would run some good activated carbon and continue with water changes, depending on how things are currently doing.

Good luck going forward!

 

[P-Dub]

I feel your pain. I am so sorry for you. The same thing happened to my tank after Typhoon Mawar. I still am trying to get back on track, years later.

Keep doing water changes and using chemical and biological filtration as you can. Persistence and perseverance are the keys.

 

[tbrown]

+1 to carbon. The Sinularia (and other corals) could be stressed and releasing toxins into the water. This could be causing more stress and more corals are releasing more toxins, etc.

Water changes help get rid of some and the carbon helps remove some more of the toxins.

 

[Rocks reef]

First and foremost, I am sorry to hear about your tank. That has to be reefers worst nightmare!

I absolutely agree with the advice from the ReefSquad.
Water changes - keeping temp and alk the same with the new water.
Carbon
If using mechanical filtration, change it as often as you see it’s starting to get dirty to keep stuff from lingering and breaking down. It may lead to spikes.

Good luck and please keep us posted!!

 

[natrev]

I'm sorry to hear about your tank, that's awful!

How are things doing today? Did you ever see an ammonia spike? I would run some good activated carbon and continue with water changes, depending on how things are currently doing.

Good luck going forward!

Hi, I missed your message, thanks for the good wishes. Somehow one fish survived as did anemones and more than half of the corals! But I lost my wrasse and clowns
Never got an ammonia spike bizarrely! Did water changes weekly for a month. Skipping this week at this point.

 

[Fish Fan]

Hi, I missed your message, thanks for the good wishes. Somehow one fish survived as did anemones and more than half of the corals! But I lost my wrasse and clowns
Never got an ammonia spike bizarrely! Did water changes weekly for a month. Skipping this week at this point.

Sounds like your headed down the right track again

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

How did the corals fare?

In my experience, best case scenario is that most corals will bleach at <70F for more than a day or so. Worst case is that they will die. I’ve seen bleached coral rebound after 6-9 months if there is enough nutrition in the tank. They do have a zooxanthellae population threshold, below which they will probably never recover. Not sure if we truly know the degree to which coral can recruit new zooxanthellae in an aquarium.

 

[natrev]

Sounds like your headed down the right track again

Yeah I picked up a pair of clowns last week and they have been having a blast in the tank!