Left The Pump Off For 10 Hours

[Mola Mola]

Hi,
Made a really stupid mistake last night. To cut a long story short, I turned the pump off for a few moments at 10pm, and didn't remember to turn it back on until 8am this morning.

By 8am the level of ammonia was somewhere close to 0.75ppm, but I only had time to do a small water change.

By the time I got back at 12:30pm, the ammonia was still around 0.75ppm, with no nitrite detectable.

The tank is 80L but I reckon that it only had about 70L in it. I changed 12L at 8am and then I changed 60L just after 12:30pm. So, I reckon that was about a 17% change, followed by an 85% change, which I reckon is about an 87% change in total.

I have checked the ammonia since the change, and am planning to leave it for an hour before taking a reading.

I hope that I matched the water temp pretty well, but was rushing to get as much water changed as possible.

I suppose the next couple of days will show whether there will be any short term consequences, but I do fear if I have done any long term damage.

Feel really stupid!

 

[the_lock_man]

Easily done.

I went to do a WC a couple of weeks ago, and found the pump and heater switched off - I believe my 3yo was "investigating".

 

[Mola Mola]

Easily done.

I went to do a WC a couple of weeks ago, and found the pump and heater switched off - I believe my 3yo was "investigating".

I'm ashamed to say that it was actually my 5 year old that noticed the pump was off this morning.

If they hadn't, I dread to think how long it might have been off for!

 

[Tizer]

i've turned off all the electrics to my tank before when someone slept over and it was rather noisey. Not such an issue with the new tank/filters but i wouldnt worry too much

 

[KittyKat]

What sort of filter do you have running? If it's not one where the media could have dried out, the filter should make a full recovery in the next few days.

Your tank is quite heavily stocked, as you can see. You may want to consider decreasing your reliance on the filter by adding more plants (which are able to use up ammonium).

 

[Hermithall]

Just goes to show how quick ammonia builds up in the water column without water flowing through the filter media, and I regularly see advice about decreasing filter water flow!
Well done with the water changes, hope the tank recovers super quick

 

[Mola Mola]

Just goes to show how quick ammonia builds up in the water column without water flowing through the filter media, and I regularly see advice about decreasing filter water flow!
Well done with the water changes, hope the tank recovers super quick

Thanks, and thanks to everyone else who commented. The advice and support is much appreciated.

I checked the water about 2 hours after the water change and ammonia seems to be back to 0ppm (nitrite is also zero). I'll keep my fingers crossed for a couple of days!

 

[lucasluke]

If the media was kept damp then it will be fine! The rise in ammonia is just because no water could pass through the filter.