Possible Catastrophic Temp rise

[Stalwart]

I woke up this morning at 8am when my light timer kicked on, i got up to go get the fishes food ready and happened to look at the thermometer

89.9

I dont know what caused the temp spike, the lights were off, and nothing new in the way of equipment was added, although yesterday I did do maintenance on all the pieces that were in the tank.

I thought faulty thermometer at first, but when i stuck my hand in the tank, it felt pretty warm.

So i pulled the heater and turned off everything in the tank except one powerhead for circulation. I started slowly pulling off water from the top of the tank with a small siphon, 2 qts at a time, and replacing it with some colder saltwater I had made up but wasnt heated yet.

Two hours temp is down to 85.5

I dont want to pull it down to fast, but I know I need to get it down


Fish and corals look ok

I hope they dont croak later/


The fun never ends

Any other suggestions

Mark

[mempho reefer]

Sorry to hear that Stalwart. I had a similar problem last year. Temp spiked to 90!!!! Turns out the heater came loose from the side of the tank and the thermostat part floated up above the water level causing it to kick in. I did what you're doing. Slowly brought the temp back to normal. My corals were stressed for a day but survived. My fish were ok to but I did loose a cleaner shrimp.

Hang in there. I hope everything is ok with your tank

[Woodstock]

Yikes! I hope you figure out the reason it spiked Stalwart! If you have a temp controller, make sure the thermostat part isn't out of the water. Also, check your heater, sometimes they go bad and their internal thermostat sticks...

[Stalwart]

I am slowly turning each piece back on and seeing what affect it has on the temp. It has to be one of the powerheads, the skimmer powerhead or the heater, nothing else was on last night.

[Stalwart]

4 hrs and everything is running again except the heater and the temp is still dropping

down to 83

The damn heater is only 2 weeks old and it was fully submerged, contacts must have got stuck or something.

Phew, no losses yet. (keep praying)

Gotta go get a replacement at the LFS.

[Woodstock]

ANOTHER great reason to have yoiur heater on a temperature controller! Check out the practical Reefkeeper2 model

[Shells]

I hope eveybody in your tank turns out ok.

[Stalwart]

Thanks for the shot of Karma Wood it must have helped

Temp is now down to 80.5.

New heater installed and all life looks lively.

I was gonna do a water change today, but I think they have had enough excitement for one day and my numbers still look great.

Thanks for the support

Disaster averted

[Woodstock]

I love a happy ending!!


I'll give you karma again when I can for you checking the temperature to begin with!!

[lcstorc]

Glad things look better. Sounds like you actually did you water change. Just a bit at a time.
Glad you noticed the spike. I am on vacation right now and one of my biggest fears is something like this happening and my pet sitter not noticing.

[Gina]

Glad to hear everything turned out ok!

[Witfull]

good job on the save, when temps spike for whatever reason,,,i feel its best to get it back quickly. it spiked fast so a quick return will get things to "normal".

[Stalwart]

Well it has been holding steady at 80.5 for about 2 hrs now, so I guess everything is OK, all the fish actually ate pretty greedily and none of the corals appear to be willting, except for the one Zoo frag that was wilting yesterday anyway. I guess he was the only casualty from the move, but I havent given up on him yet.

Thanks for the support and suggestions, you have all been very helpful, Karma on the way.

[semigodd154]

good catch in the first place I hate heaters they never allow peace of mind you never know when they will go nuts and nuke the tank hopefully your zoos will recover they are hard to kill just put them into lower current for a day or two i bet they pull through.

[Cougra]

I'm glad to hear that everything turned out fine this time. I applaud you for finding the error and being able to take steps quickly enough to prevent a major disaster.

One thing to note for the future reference:
It's extremely important to increase oxygenation in the tank during a temperature spike as the warmer the water is, the less disolved oxygen there will be in the tank. In extreme cases like this it's possible for the fish and other animals to sufficate. I understand why you removed the powerheads and turned off the skimmer because you didn't know where the problem was, but it could have been dangerous as you greatly reduced the water flow/gas exchange in the process. The good thing is the cold saltwater you were adding was probably what saved the day, not only because it brought the temperature down to more managable levels but more importantly it would have been oxygen rich for the animals and bacteria at a time when it mattered most.

PS, I don't mean for this to sound critical of your actions (I think you did really well), merely to give you a better understanding of the dangers of high temperatures should it happen again. (heaven forfend!)