Heater Malfunction Not Good

[SeaShine]

I need some help for how to manage my tank at this point. During the night last night my Hygger heater and temperature control system malfunctioned and cooked my tank (I know, I should have a back up. In fact, I do have an inkbird, somewhere...) I have a 20 gallon Nuvo AIO softies tank and I had 4 fish. I lost one of my clowns and my pink streaked wrasse. One clown is holding on but it's swimming near the top of the saltwater reserve I use for AWC he's in and my spotted watchman goby looks okay and is on the bottom. The reserve wasn't heated when I moved the fish so I'm sure they got an extra shock coming from hot water. I thought my serpent stars were dead but to my surprise they're still alive so I moved them into the reserve too. I also have a red legged hermit crab still alive in the tank. I'm not sure how it survived. I have a small in-tank refugium with chaeto in the sump and see a lot of little dead copepods. I didn't know I had so many. At this point I'm exhausted and numb. Both the ammonia and nitrate have spiked. The ammonia was 40 ppm and after a 6 gallon water change in increments of 2 gallons, it reads the same. The nitrate was 40 ppm but is now 20 ppm. Should I keep the fish in the reserve? Move the red legged hermit crab out of the display tank into the reserve or would that be too much shock for it? Do more water changes?

My question is, is there anything else I can do at this point? I've also changed the carbon and left the Chemipure Elite because I don't have a replacement (should arrive tomorrow). I'm not sure if I should leave it or keep it in. I imagine the all bacteria is dead but don't know. The softies in the tank are all fallen over. Some are white and release a substance (powdery looking) when I touch them, although most have little dark green dots on them, so there may be some life. Some zoas show life. My duncan is closed. I have 4 RFAs in the tank. Two look okay, two do not. I also need to drive to the airport in a couple of hours to pick up overnight guests, so I'm in a time crunch. I'm not sure what I can do, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I need some help for how to manage my tank at this point. During the night last night my Hygger heater and temperature control system malfunctioned and cooked my tank (I know, I should have a back up. In fact, I do have an inkbird, somewhere...) I have a 20 gallon Nuvo AIO softies tank and I had 4 fish. I lost one of my clowns and my pink streaked wrasse. One clown is holding on but it's swimming near the top of the saltwater reserve I use for AWC he's in and my spotted watchman goby looks okay and is on the bottom. The reserve wasn't heated when I moved the fish so I'm sure they got an extra shock coming from hot water. I thought my serpent stars were dead but to my surprise they're still alive so I moved them into the reserve too. I also have a red legged hermit crab still alive in the tank. I'm not sure how it survived. I have a small in-tank refugium with chaeto in the sump and see a lot of little dead copepods. I didn't know I had so many. At this point I'm exhausted and numb. Both the ammonia and nitrate have spiked. The ammonia was 40 ppm and after a 6 gallon water change in increments of 2 gallons, it reads the same. The nitrate was 40 ppm but is now 20 ppm. Should I keep the fish in the reserve? Move the red legged hermit crab out of the display tank into the reserve or would that be too much shock for it? Do more water changes?

My question is, is there anything else I can do at this point? I've also changed the carbon and left the Chemipure Elite because I don't have a replacement (should arrive tomorrow). I'm not sure if I should leave it or keep it in. I imagine the all bacteria is dead but don't know. The softies in the tank are all fallen over. Some are white and release a substance (powdery looking) when I touch them, although most have little dark green dots on them, so there may be some life. Some zoas show life. My duncan is closed. I have 4 RFAs in the tank. Two look okay, two do not. I also need to drive to the airport in a couple of hours to pick up overnight guests, so I'm in a time crunch. I'm not sure what I can do, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

Moving the fish quickly out of overheated water wont shock them too much, much less than trying to gradually drop the water temperature.

I would remove any obviously dead animals. Monitor the ammonia in case the dead animals overwhelm the biological system. Adding extra aeration is always a good idea. Carbon and Chemipure changes can help, but water changes are best.

For future reference, I always tell folks that it is a question of when, not if a heater will fail. I always try to use two smaller heaters in each tank. That way, if one of them fails in the on position, the other one will turn off and then there is less chance of overheating. Likewise, if one fails in the off position, the working one will pick up the slack. Knowing the right total wattage of the heaters is a bit of a guess, but for a 20 gallon tank, I'd think that two 50 watt heaters would work. Actually, two 25 watt might work better, but those small heaters are sometimes built with "set" temperatures and those cannot be adjusted.

 

[DaJMasta]

Your bacteria are probably mostly fine, though the spike in ammonia will throw off the balance for a bit. 40ppm is still really, really high, so more big water changes and quickly should help. The new media/carbon should help, but knocking that down quickly will increase the likelihood of survival for everything that remains.


How hot did it get? How powerful was the heater?

 

[SeaShine]

Your bacteria are probably mostly fine, though the spike in ammonia will throw off the balance for a bit. 40ppm is still really, really high, so more big water changes and quickly should help. The new media/carbon should help, but knocking that down quickly will increase the likelihood of survival for everything that remains.


How hot did it get? How powerful was the heater?

Thanks! Heater was 100 watt. This was the heater, purchased less than a year ago.
I'm not sure how hot it got since it's dashboard was reading 75. Felt more like 95 or 100. I changed about half the water so far. I would do more as soon as I can but timing is bad since I need to go to the airport (picking up sister from the UK so can't just say take a cab). It's never good timing but this timing is very unfortunate. But thank you. I'm making more water now.

 

[SeaShine]

Moving the fish quickly out of overheated water wont shock them too much, much less than trying to gradually drop the water temperature.

I would remove any obviously dead animals. Monitor the ammonia in case the dead animals overwhelm the biological system. Adding extra aeration is always a good idea. Carbon and Chemipure changes can help, but water changes are best.

For future reference, I always tell folks that it is a question of when, not if a heater will fail. I always try to use two smaller heaters in each tank. That way, if one of them fails in the on position, the other one will turn off and then there is less chance of overheating. Likewise, if one fails in the off position, the working one will pick up the slack. Knowing the right total wattage of the heaters is a bit of a guess, but for a 20 gallon tank, I'd think that two 50 watt heaters would work. Actually, two 25 watt might work better, but those small heaters are sometimes built with "set" temperatures and those cannot be adjusted.

Thanks Jay. I added an air bubble to the SW reserve where the two fish are because the clown is still at the top. I have to go to the airport but will do more water changes as soon as I can. I changed 8 gallons so far. I've got a lot of movement in the display tank (wave maker too) but can also add air to that. The only obviously alive things a mushroom coral and my RFAs, but not sure about the taro tree (was huge) and other softies. When I blew on the taro tree it's florescent green color actually started to blow off which does not seem like a good sign. I'm a little hesitant to cut it down yet though and guess I'll know more by tomorrow. I had a 100 watt heater in there. Malfunctioning it was way too hot. Two 50s (or even one 50) would have been better. That size was recommended for the tank though. I'll get another 50 and put them on inkbirds.

 

[DaJMasta]

While the choice is yours, a single 25w would probably do the job, maybe getting a second for redundancy and cold days. Having less power available certainly limits how much a malfunction can cook the tank.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay. I added an air bubble to the SW reserve where the two fish are because the clown is still at the top. I have to go to the airport but will do more water changes as soon as I can. I changed 8 gallons so far. I've got a lot of movement in the display tank (wave maker too) but can also add air to that. The only obviously alive things a mushroom coral and my RFAs, but not sure about the taro tree (was huge) and other softies. When I blew on the taro tree it's florescent green color actually started to blow off which does not seem like a good sign. I'm a little hesitant to cut it down yet though and guess I'll know more by tomorrow. I had a 100 watt heater in there. Malfunctioning it was way too hot. Two 50s (or even one 50) would have been better. That size was recommended for the tank though. I'll get another 50 and put them on inkbirds.

Whoa, sorry - I missed in your post where you reported the ammonia as "40". That can't be right, but even 4 is higher than I've ever really seen. Did you mean 0.4? What test are you using?

 

[SeaShine]

Whoa, sorry - I missed in your post where you reported the ammonia as "40". That can't be right, but even 4 is higher than I've ever really seen. Did you mean 0.4? What test are you using?

So sorry. I guess I was super tired when I wrote that. The ammonia was between .50 and 1. The nitrate was 40 ppm (maybe I mixed them up) and dropped to 20 ppm, although I've been out all day with mother's day responsibilities and it may have gone up again. I have two fish in the SW reserve with two serpent stars which I just discovered didn't make it, so that water is now fouled. Rather than put the fish back in the display tank I'll change most of that water, and tomorrow when I get a chance to get some "real ocean water" in a box, I'll set up a ten gallon tank. It looks like I've lost most everything in the 20 gallon. Just a few RFA's holding on and a red legged hermit crab. Thanks for all your help. This is beyond discouraging.

 

[SeaShine]

While the choice is yours, a single 25w would probably do the job, maybe getting a second for redundancy and cold days. Having less power available certainly limits how much a malfunction can cook the tank.

I agree. Thanks!