Tank EMERGENCY-BISHOP, GA

[ga_daisy]

We moved my 235 gal this weekend....everything that could have gone wrong did, but I had a backup. I had bought a 60 gal from someone.....that come to find out had a leak in it. So....I then had to take my fish out of the 60 gal and separate them up into two Nano Cubes (24 gal , 28 gal). I have a 6" Foxface, 8" Regal Tang, 10+" Sohal tang, 4 clowns and a 12" Engineer Goby. We thought we had someone coming last night to help us get the big tank plumbed, but....he didn't show and when we found out he wasn't coming it was too late.

I"ve now lost my Naso Tang and the other 3 bigger fish are heaving for air and at the bottom of the tank. We are on a well and it is taking FOREVER for the RO/DI to make water. Should I just do a half water change with water from the tap? I know I've got ammonia issues.....but I've dumped Prime over in the tank hoping that would help reduce the issues.

I've got to leave for a test very soon (and should be CRAMMING now). My boyfriend will be here, but he has very little experience dealing with aquariums. Is there anyone in the Athens area that could come help him?

What would you guys suggest as far as getting through this without loosing anymore fish? My local FS doesn't open until 11:00. I've emailed them, but no response yet.

If there is someone out there that could come help (we are in Bishop, GA right on 441) please call my boyfriend David at 706-255-1118. We are in dire straights. I will try to check back on here in a little bit.....but I will be leaving soon.

 

[jesspete]

Oh, god help you. Wish I was closer. I would say fresh water from the well would be better than water with ammonia in it, but it's been a minute for me and I'm no expert. What are the ammonia levels at and can you match the salinity of the tank water?

 

[heathlindner25]

hell yeah use tap water!! it's gotta be better than ammonia water.

 

[realfish]

I think you'll be fine with tap water. People ran salt water tanks for years with tap water. Long-term it's not a good solution, but I think it probably best in your situation.

I would also head to Home Depot and get the largest rubbermaid containers you can find. Walmart also has some pretty large containers as well that aren't too expensive.

Make sure you have good circulation and throw a heater in.

 

[ga_daisy]

Honestly....due to the move and the insanity of everything....I have no idea where my test kits are.

 

[heathlindner25]

realfish;807119 wrote: i think you'll be fine with tap water. People ran salt water tanks for years with tap water. Long-term it's not a good solution, but i think it probably best in your situation.

I would also head to home depot and get the largest rubbermaid containers you can find. Walmart also has some pretty large containers as well that aren't too expensive.

Make sure you have good circulation and throw a heater in.

++111!!!!!

 

[ga_daisy]

Next issue......

I just ran tap water into a paint bucket (clean of course) from Home Depot.....you know they're orange. I threw my salt over in there, Prime, and Clarity. I circulated it for about 15-20 minutes and then dumped it over into a CLEAN cooler. (I figured that would work better than Rubbermades since it is insulated) The FRIGGIN water that is coming out of these pipes is ORANGE (couldn't see that in the Home Depot bucket). The landlord had told us that the well had a high iron content. NOW....how do we feel about me using the tap water here?

 

[eagle9252]

do the tap water for now if you have an air stone stick it in there to increase the o2. but i had a well and the water was real hard and we only had fw back then.

my simple sump upgrade from a 55 to a 75 took me 15hrs and 3 trips to HD from turning the water off to back on at 3:30am. so i know just how well murphy acts up.

i hope this is a leason learned. i had read before to never do anything to your tank the night before or the day of needing to do something big. as in leaving on a trip or a big test. i said it would never happen to me and i forgot to turn off the ato and while draining the sump for a wc it would never drain. then i realized what had happened and it dropped the sg in the sump to 1.020. luckly i had it off line of the dt so i was able to fix it but it made me almost 3 hrs late for my trip.

edit: i would not use it then. be sitting at your LFS at 11am to buy water or go to wally world and get distilled

 

[ripped tide]

Why is the 235 not plumbed? Is it complicated or did something break?

 

[frantz]

You can also buy gallons of water at less than a buck a gallon at most grocery stores. With the well water, just let it run a little bit, you're pipes should run clear after they flush out. If you have copper pipes you want to get rid of that water anyhow if you have inverts, and who wants to clog RODI filters unnecessarily.

I also am curious to the challenges of plumbing the 235. Unless it's using multiple rooms or something, if you at least get a loop going you can typically add stuff later without redoing everything. Feel free to snap some quick pics and post em and we'll help you out.

 

[jamescook]

I'm here 205 Jade Dr 30605 and have RODi and 250g SW mixed at all times if you need it.
call 706 340 2253, sorry i can't come over and help.

 

[ga_daisy]

I know nothing about plumbing. My boyfriend doesn't know anything about aquariums. Its not a complex set up. Its been an issue of having to run here and there for EVERYTHING and we both work (he works two jobs jobs...one full time and the other is practically full time). I put in 115 hours last week at my job PLUS I go to school.

I am supposed to be leaving for class NOW and was supposed to be studying for a MAJOR exam.

So....its not so much the complexity of the situation it is all of the obstacles that have came up. Like....we had the back up tank......but in mid swing yesterday it started leaking. The main tank had some plumbing break during transport.....so once we realized that.....we had to run to the store.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Go to any grocery store and buy water. It would be the safest way to go. Not the cheapest for sure. Add air to the tanks via air stone. There's not enough oxygen to support those fish. If you have one, add an external filter such as a Eheim, fluval or such.

 

[jesspete]

I would definitely send the boyfriend to James' house for some stable saltwater and use those buckets with a heater and an airstone or some sort of pump until you can come home.

 

[frantz]

Jeez, you're not busy at all!
Check this site out if no one is able to get over there in time. It's got alot of design that you can skip over for now, but also has sections on how to attach various types of plumbing.

 

[ga_daisy]

Ok.....professor called and gave me until tomorrow to come in and take the test. I'm heading to James' place to get some quality premix. The boyfriend just about has this thing plumbed up.....but needs another part (that friggin broke) from Lowes. The kid is no longer throwing up....she is just hacking her head off in the bedroom. See....don't you just love it when a "plan" comes together? lol.....fish people are great. Thanks a million everyone.....its funny, I KNEW all of this stuff, but when you've got a gazillion other things going on a fish going belly up....the common sense portion of the brain seems to shut down.

 

[franciscosalazar]

Just an FYI, You can always get RO Freshwater from your local grocery store's freestanding Glacier vending machine.

 

[kilralpine]

Just keep in mind those kroger and walmart glacier machines dont have the DI stage so its not a perfect 0tds.

Edit: Close though from what I hear.

 

[coolsurf]

Any updates on this situation. I hope things go for the better. As long as you have the Prime or store water, you'll be fine until you can get everything under control. I hope for the best.