russell_wiley January 3, 2010 Share January 3, 2010 So we got back from our trip to Mississippi & were welcomed with the smell of death from my aquarium. My idiot brother in law turned off the ATO for a week! So of course the ATO bucket was full every time I asked him to check it. But, when I got home my 34 gallon tank was about 3 gallons light. Should I do a massive water change & pray? or what? Any suggestions would be great! Thanks, Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman January 3, 2010 Share January 3, 2010 So we got back from our trip to Mississippi & were welcomed with the smell of death from my aquarium. My idiot brother in law turned off the ATO for a week! So of course the ATO bucket was full every time I asked him to check it. But, when I got home my 34 gallon tank was about 3 gallons light. Should I do a massive water change & pray? or what? Any suggestions would be great!Thanks, Russ What died?? Your salinity will have gone up up up - but how high? I frequently let my 24-gallon nano evaporate down a few gallons before I 'get a round tuit'. Granted I have only a fish, a lot of algae, and a few softies in there, but nothing seems to get overly-distressed about it. Just add fresh water (I guess you probably did, seeing as you know it was 3 gallons.) and things should be relatively close to normal. If 'things died' - check your ammonia and nitrates, and do some good-sized water changes. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami January 3, 2010 Share January 3, 2010 I have the same question as Bob. Did stuff die? You only evaporated off 1/11th of your water so you should have had a rise in salinity to around 1.029 or 1.030 given a start at around 1.0264 sg. How many days were you gone? If everything is faring well except for the salinty rise, I would begin replacing the water that's evaporated off with RO/DI to bring the salinity back down. Add a gallon today, another gallon tomorrow, and the third the day after and you'll be back to normal. If stuff did die, I'd check your ammonia levels and let that guide your next step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russell_wiley January 4, 2010 Author Share January 4, 2010 Well, the death list so far has been: a green slimer, a blue tipped efflo, a blue stag, a teal stag, & a nice sized green birdsnest. I did a water change & hopefully everything that is left will get happy again soon. Thanks, Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami January 4, 2010 Share January 4, 2010 That's a long list. I'm surprised that (what I presume to be) a gradual rise in salinity (still within acceptable limits) is behind the loss. Have a WAMAS member look in on your tank next time you're gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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