Help runaway heater 93 f

I woke up this morning and my tank was 93 degrees F. My pulsing xenia is bleached lying on its side and looks like it is melted. Everything else is retracted, including my LTA. The fish look fine. I put a big bag of ice in the tank to try to cool things and I'm now at 90. Making water for a change. It could have been this way for up to 18 hours or perhaps more. Anything else i can do? Im afraid of loosing everything in the tank.

 

Whats the minimum time i can let my salt water mix before i can put it I'm my tank?

 

I've added freshly mixed saltwater 10 minutes after mixing it (in small quantities. Just stir it real good until it looks clear. No worries there. I assume you just drained it down enough to allow room for the bag of ice? I would let the ice cool it down, and then top off with the new salt mix. Couldn't be more than a couple of gallons or so. If the first bag of ice melts, add another. Make sure the bags of ice aren't leaking fresh water into the aquarium or you'll need to adjust the salinity. It should cool down quickly if you have good flow. After it cools down, I wish you the best with your livestock.

 

Thanks.. i have the ice double bagged so it does not leak. My ammonia is up so obviously things are dying. Guess i ll just have to wait and see how bad it s gonna be. Im very sad.

 

Document with pictures everything that is happening...the heater company, if at fault, could be liable and have to pay for the damages.

 

So sorry to hear this...

Corals are fairly sensitive to temp increases over 2F. Hopefully some will still survive. If you have Prime or can get some ASAP, that will help prevent losses from the ammonia spike.

 

Good points on the prime and the pics also... thank you for the replies.

 

Corals are sensitive to long term temperature changes of a few degrees above the seasonal average temperature. Short term, they are much more tolerant. See degree heating weeks Coral Bleaching: NOAA Watch: NOAA's All-Hazard Monitor: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: U.S. Department of Commerce

Anyways though, 93f is pretty extreme, but if you bring it down and reduce stress, it's possible that your corals could recover. Do you have the lights off? I would do so, in addition to the ice bags, as light may be stressful at this point.

 

So far i have done 15 gal of water change in my 75G tank. The water is very cloudy and looks horrible!! The temp is now down to 82 F which is much better. The Xenia is completely melted and gone and i removed as much as i could. A few others look as if they are starting to bleach. The nem appears to be hanging in which is good......trying to make water as fast as i can........ I'm so very unhappy!!

 

Great ideas guys!

Good luck dienerman, hope your tank makes it ok. PM me when ya get things settled and I'll see about getting ya a good frag of waving hands xenia to start things back up with. hopefully you're in western PA???