HELP! I think my corals are dying...I added water without salt

[Maria-Elena]

Hello! I need HELP, please. I have a 12 gallon jbj nano cube with 2 clowns and some corals. I made a 10% water change today, and I thought that the water I added was already with salt, but it was not. When I saw that my corals were kind of closed and small I measure the salt and it was VERY low. I added salt to the tank, but I don't know if it will help. Is there anything I can do to save them? Thanks for your advice.

[TonyD]

See if anyone close by you already have salt premade and aged. If you added salt to your tank directly, there's a chemical reaction going on with your salt dissolving in the water. You'll need to do another water change with saltwater that's been premixed for at least 24 hours. Where are you located?

[Valeria]

I think I'm close to you, I'm in lakeridge give me a call if you need aged water or if there is any way I can help

[Maria-Elena]

Thank you very much for your email. I live in Springfield, VA. Is Lakeridge in Woodbridge? Do I need to do it immediately?

[Maria-Elena]

thanks for your email. I live in Springfield, VA. Valeria lives in Woodbridge. I was asking her if I need to make the change immediately...

[Valeria]

In case anyone is concerned, I spoke to Maria Elena she has aged water at home. THe fresh water was just a mistake.

[Jan]

No need to panic for 1.2 gallons. The likelyhood that anything bad would happen from you mixing salt and water to already existing mixed water in your tank is slim to none. I doubt that such a small amount of water significantly lowered your salinity. The real issue would be for SPS. Significant would be less than 1.023, maybe. Fish can handle hyposalinity and even fresh water dips. The fact that you added mix right away probably prevented any damage.

 

In late 80's, before there were marine aquarist groups and the internet, there was very little instructions on how to make mix. All we had was the mfr instructions on the packaging. The instructions never said you needed to make mix in advance. I would mix water in a bucket and immediately pour it into my tanks. I did this once a month when I'd change 1/3 of the water in all of my tanks. All my fish survived 5 years of me doing this as well as days w/o topping off.

 

Let us know how it turned out.

[Reefoholic]

I agree with Jan. If anything your entire system went thru a fresh water dip. On the bright side, I you had nuisance algae or parasites, fresh water bath helped weaken them. Sps might have taken a hit from rapid change in salinity but noting to be too alarmed for.

 

I would mix salt water and do another water change. I have done rapid salinity increases before and it sure affects the corals but on the long run they should be fine.

[Maria-Elena]

I want to say Thank you for your advice. I am so happy my corals are fine, only one seems to be still sad, but I really thought none of them would survive. They looked so bad 2 days ago...I am preparing water for a water change. Thanks to all again! You were great!

[Jan]

Great news! I mark alll my containers. I write in red an "M" or "Mix" for mix and in blue "RO/DI" only because I forget what I did 3 seconds ago. Short of having to taste the water (which I've done ) or using my hydrometer, there's no way for me to know what's in any of my water containers once I put it down.

 

I want to say Thank you for your advice. I am so happy my corals are fine, only one seems to be still sad, but I really thought none of them would survive. They looked so bad 2 days ago...I am preparing water for a water change. Thanks to all again! You were great!

Edited December 20, 2011 by Jan

[matt bills]

welcome to wamas

 

 

[Kathy]

welcome to wamas

 

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

Hopefully someone can give me some advice on here. I have a giant Hermit Crab that I found eating a fish yesterday. I have seen him trying to grab fish before but I figured they would be fast enough to get out of his way. Also, found him a few days ago with a starfish in his grips. Saved the starfish and place it in the quarantine tank until I figure out what to do with this crab. Can someone tell me if this is normal and maybe what species of Hermit this is?

[Jan]

Thank you!

 

Hopefully someone can give me some advice on here. I have a giant Hermit Crab that I found eating a fish yesterday. I have seen him trying to grab fish before but I figured they would be fast enough to get out of his way. Also, found him a few days ago with a starfish in his grips. Saved the starfish and place it in the quarantine tank until I figure out what to do with this crab. Can someone tell me if this is normal and maybe what species of Hermit this is?

Yes somtimes hermit crabs get very big and they can go after whatever they want. If its small enough they'll kill it and eat it. Sometimes its because there isn't enough food for them. I overfeed just so my crabs gave enough food. Sometimes they go rouge. I've got empty shells in my tank from them eating my snails.

[Kathy]

Yes somtimes hermit crabs get very big and they can go after whatever they want. If its small enough they'll kill it and eat it. Sometimes its because there isn't enough food for them. I overfeed just so my crabs gave enough food. Sometimes they go rouge. I've got empty shells in my tank from them eating my snails.

 

 

The other 2 are have never tried to grab anything. They just truck around picking up the sinking pellets. I also feed them shrimp pieces. I guess I got a rouge crab! Not sure what to do with it now....I have it in a rubbermaid container with a heater and aerator. BTW it was a Firefish he ate. I have had smaller snails eaten by the smaller crabs when they were flipped and I didn't get to them in time.