Emergency Kit and Checklist

[OldReefer]

This was put together with input from some of the experienced reefers on the site. I hope it is useful for when you wake up in the morning to a tank that smells like low tide.

 

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Emergency Kit

Ammonia Test

Small Bottle of Amquel

Cheap air pump and air stone (maybe a battery operated one for use with power failures)

Bag of cheap carbon in a media bag (pre-rinsed and stored for use)

At least one PolyFilter

Enough

salt for at least a 100% water change

Emergency Checklist

 

Do ammonia test. If present:

 

- Add Amquel to tank

 

- Throw carbon bag in sump¹

 

- Throw PolyFilter into sump

- Add oxygen with an air pump or any sort of power head you can find. Keep the skimmer running to provide oxygen

- Do a big water change (50%).²

- Remove as much dead stuff as possible during water change

- Start making more water � you will need it.

- Test water again and see how you are doing. You may still get some ammonia on the test even though Amquel has made it non-toxic

 

1 Put the bag of carbon in a high-flow area. Normal carbon use is � cup per 50 gallons. The purpose of this is to remove toxins quickly. Use at least the recommended levels but do not go crazy. An extreme amount of carbon can depress the pH. If you have a canister filter or media reactor use that instead. It is better than using a bag of carbon in the sump.

 

2 If you don't have enough RO/DI water on hand, use the Amquel to neutralize the chlorine in tap water and use that. It will add some nutrients to your tank but you have much bigger problems now.

 

 

 

Figure out what happened:

- Check for any source of electricity or metal in your tank

- Check Salinity -- Small water leaks or runaway top-offs can create fresh water tanks and big die-offs

- Check Temperature � Sudden temperature swings can cause big die-offs.

 

 

Start Recovery: � calm down and move slowly now

 

- Get water parameters back to normally SLOWLY! You have stopped the damage process. Sudden actions now will only make things worse. This may be a good time to start drinking.

- Do frequent water changes of 20% or more until things get back to normal (water changes may be a better way to restore normal parameters than additives).

- Add a bacterial additive such as Microbacter 7 or Prodbio Digest to accelerate tank cycle.

- Keep oxygen levels high to reduce stress

- Continue use of carbon and change it weekly

 

- Export nutrients any way possible (short-term use of canister filters, water changes, phosphate media, etc)"

 

[Matt LeBaron]

What kind of things can electricity in the tank cause? I've only been on the saltwater side of things for coming up on 2 years now (I've had freshwater for coming up on 20 years now) but I've never heard about any bad experiences with this. I mean it makes sense with salt water being extra conductive vs freshwater but I wouldn't even know to look for a piece of equipment leaking voltage if I saw problems in my tank and I've always kind of questioned the grounding probes I've seen for sale.

[OldReefer]

I don't know if there is much science on the effect of current leakage. I have heard of a correlation with head-and-lateral-line-erosion HLLE.

 

The big disaters often are related to heaters breaking. That send enough current through the tank to shock the aquarist pretty badly.

 

The real problem is metal contamination that is associated with that. It can take out a tank full of corals and snails in hours, and that sets off an ammonia spike that takes out everything else.

 

Heaters are the one of the weakest links, and i think that isn't too different from FW.

 

 

 

[Origami]

Heaters and powerheads are the most common pieces of equipment that can leak voltage into our systems. In some instances, a leak can give you a tingle or can pack a wallop if you stick your bare hand into the aquarium. Leaks that are sufficient to perform electrolysis can release copper into your system (from wiring), wrecking havoc and killing off livestock and having a cascading effect.

 

This can happen in freshwater systems, too. Don't think for a minute that freshwater aquariums are not conductive. While pure water has limited conductivity, a freshwater setup is not ion-free. It can conduct.

 

Your best bet is the proper use of GFCI circuits to protect yourself from electrical equipment failures in, or out of, the thank.

 

Second, it's not uncommon for some devices, especially power heads, to generate a static charge in the tank from the rotation of the impeller. This static charge can sometimes be felt but is of much, much less concern than a conductor failure. Aquarium ground probes can be used to prevent the build up of static charge.

 

If you find yourself surprised by a tingle or a wallop from your tank, try the following. If you have a voltmeter, immerse one probe into the water and the other into a ground reference (you can use the ground pin on an available electrical socket). Set the voltmeter to measure an AC voltage (this is the most typical). If you get a 0 reading, set it to DC. Once you've established the fact that there's a voltage and that you can monitor it, unplug all electric devices in your system. Then, begin plugging them in one by one until you isolate the culprit(s).

 

If at all possible, do not use yourself as a voltmeter - that is, don't keep sticking your hand in to receive a shock while testing for a bad component - especially if you're getting one of those shocks that packs a wallop. I'd rather your livestock die for lack of a voltmeter than you from a lack of judgment.

[Matt LeBaron]

Ah ok, so if it's serious you can feel it. No worries there, I've got my hand in my tank almost every day so I'd noticed.

 

Good information though. I've had heaters die in the freshwater side of things but they've always just stopped working, I've never had a heater go where it shocked the tank.

[FearTheTerps]

If at all possible, do not use yourself as a voltmeter - that is, don't keep sticking your hand in to receive a shock while testing for a bad component - especially if you're getting one of those shocks that packs a wallop. I'd rather your livestock die for lack of a voltmeter than you from a lack of judgment.

 

When I read that, the first thought that popped into my head was Homer Simpson. I can only imagine what it would be like if the Simpsons got a SW tank.

 

ZAP!!! Its not the return pump

ZAP!!! Its not the skimmer

ZAP!!! Its not the powerheads

It was the heater!!!

[LanglandJoshua]

When I read that, the first thought that popped into my head was Homer Simpson. I can only imagine what it would be like if the Simpsons got a SW tank.

 

ZAP!!! Its not the return pump

ZAP!!! Its not the skimmer

ZAP!!! Its not the powerheads

It was the heater!!!

 

 

I SECOND THIS, AS I WAS UNFORTUNATE ENOUGH TO EXPERIENCE IT!! I found out about my exploded heater by being a part of a circut that included a heater( for 20gallons), a sump, through a pump, through the main tank, my hand, and a grounded light.

 

I can tell you through learning it the hard way that electricity definately has a strong effect on certain fish and anemone's. I had some preexisting issues with a "trial" theory of live rock and sand filtration on a tank that was not ready for it. However my BTA, Serpent starfush, Blue hippo tang, and two Emerald Crabs were hanging on like the little soldiers they were. The shock was so strong that within hours they all died. Yes they had survived a while of the high amonnia from my attempt at the natural filtration. However this was the only thing that could have thrown them over the edge. My crabs died instantly where they stood, the BTA did the same and began to melt within hours, my blue hippo tang hid as fast as possible only to die under a rock.

 

I may have learned this the hard way, but hopefully someone will read all this and NOT DO WHAT I DID!.

 

my suggestions to prevent heater foulups

 

ALWAYS HAVE PLENTY OF WATER- this includes backup water ready in case of a spill.

 

Get grounding systems in, try to keep them closer to potential problem sources like heaters. So the current does not go through coral, fish, and inverts.

 

ALWAYS submerge the heater to at LEAST the suggested depth.

 

I am no expert, but to any newbies READ READ READ!!!! Take any chance you can get to learn from someone else's mistake that you can get.

[Will]

Great list! Thanks... It is added to the collection.

 

We need a "thumbs up" button on post and responses... so people can know when their post is appreciated without having to scroll through many post. (not sure where this web suggestion should go)... But I am so thankful for all of those with experience that take time to teach us!

[dante411x]

What happened to the list? :(

[Origami]

What happened to the list? :(

I don't know. I saw the blank post in tapatalk, and, when I opened it, found it was all there. So I saved it and it reappeared.

 

Sent from my LG-V510 using Tapatalk

[dante411x]

Huh. Weird. It's back now.

[Squishie89]

Seeing the bit about keeping oxygen levels up makes me now not feel like an idiot from when my cucumber released toxins and I added a bunch of air stones. Some good stuff on that list!!!!