Hot, Hot, Heat - The after effects

[KPG007]

I finally got the chance to go on a week long halibut / salmon fishing trip last week and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately the tempreture around here shot up through the roof and my fish tanks (I have two independant 33g systems) got hit hard. My girlfriend did everything she knew (which was really only the basics) to keep the temps down but they still got up to 88f. Finally one turned for the worse, one fish died then the second (this was my frag tank, so only 2 fish), SPS started to RTN all in the matter of a day and a half. So far fish and acro crabs are dead, and 60% of my SPS are RTNed or are RTNing.
When I returned from my trip, I managed to save my display tank (although it looks like it's right on the edge), and then started the process of rescueing the remainder of the frag tank. All tanks are now stable at / around 80f, a 50% water change in the frag tank has been done, and a 10% change is planned for both tanks as soon as I can get the salt mixed. Both tanks have a mechanical filter running (Rena XP3's) and have fresh carbon in them.
Now here are my questions:
- Will the SPS that have areas of RTN recover now that the system is stable again or will they continue to die?
- The skimmers on both tanks (just the hang on style remora's) are putting out no foam even though they are clean and working properly.
- I realize the bacteria in the live rock took a major hit, and it will take a few weeks for them to recover. Is there any way of speeding this up? Zeo7 or something similar?

Thanks;
Kelly

[Atomikk]

RTN is unfortunately fatal, as it happens very quickly. Maybe you are experiencing STN, which is much slower.

Get some buffered Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbate), and dose according to this regimen: http://blog.fragd.it/2009/05/21/dosi...ium-ascorbate/

The last thing you want to do is give the sps more temperature swings. Get a controller that turns fans on when the temps get above 81'. That is how I battle the heat.

[Atomikk]

Also the excess vitamin c will be used as a food source for your bacteria to grow. Its a win-win.

[bowkry]

My skimmer is doing the same thing its a R2K and its just bubbling and no sludge is coming out??? Did you get a huge alge bloom now??? My tank is green and red

[christyf5]

those sps that survive and don't continue to shed tissue will likely recover (barring any further tank/heat issues) and may grow over the old skeleton, they may also just continue to grow new branches etc and the exposed part of the skeleton might just remain dead looking.

as for getting some life back in your rock, I'd suggest that bacteria in a bottle stuff (like cycle or stability). I used some for my tank crash and it seems to have done the trick or at least helped out as I haven't seen any really ugly algae blooms other than the usual crap on the glass.

[Hairytank]

Sorry to hear about the losses. The same thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago for the same reason.
Sorry to say the corals that RTN'd and shed did not recover, but the ones that just washed out (white), but kept the polyps are starting to get thier colour back.
The reason for telling you this is...It will take a while for things to recover, but they will.

[Ron99]

Sorry to hear about that Kelly. If you need a frag of the green birdsnest I got from you let me know. I may be able to frag some other stuff for you once you get the tanks stable again too.

[KPG007]

Thanks to all for the replies and suggestions. I was in a huge panic when I posted this as I was heading out of town for another week (thus the reason for no earlier replies), and didn't know what to expect when I came home.

Before I left, I got the heat under control, and did a couple water changes. What I came back to was very similar to what Christy and Hairytank said. The remaining SPS had partially Rtn'ed (some survived just fine - like the birdsnest, but thanks for the offer Ron), but no more died after the temps were stabilized. Unfortunately I now have a hair algae problem to deal with!
Some of the partially RTN'ed colonies will have to be fragged up, but generally I'm quiet relieved with what I came home to.

So now another question. The main tank survived relatively untouched, but there are a few pieces that are bleached out (like white). There is no algae growing on them yet, so I believe they survived. How long does it normally take for a SPS to color back up? Is it weeks or months? one and a half weeks now, and they are still white.

[Atomikk]

Originally Posted by KPG007

Thanks to all for the replies and suggestions. I was in a huge panic when I posted this as I was heading out of town for another week (thus the reason for no earlier replies), and didn't know what to expect when I came home.

Before I left, I got the heat under control, and did a couple water changes. What I came back to was very similar to what Christy and Hairytank said. The remaining SPS had partially Rtn'ed (some survived just fine - like the birdsnest, but thanks for the offer Ron), but no more died after the temps were stabilized. Unfortunately I now have a hair algae problem to deal with!
Some of the partially RTN'ed colonies will have to be fragged up, but generally I'm quiet relieved with what I came home to.

So now another question. The main tank survived relatively untouched, but there are a few pieces that are bleached out (like white). There is no algae growing on them yet, so I believe they survived. How long does it normally take for a SPS to color back up? Is it weeks or months? one and a half weeks now, and they are still white.

It all depends on many things. I would just leave them alone. If a lot of algae starts growing on the dead parts of the coral, then I would just snip those parts off.

If you have intense spectrum light (ala 400W 10K, or similar), and your parameters are the same (just like they were before this event), then it would tkae you a few short weeks.