What Next?

[hutsler]

I live in st louis missouri and we had a couple of storms roll through that kept the power off for 4 days, so after no water changes lights circulation or heater my tank was a mess. I filled a large bucket up with fresh saltwater unfortunatley made with tap water, put my live rock snails crabs and 2 clownfish in it and took it to a fish store about 45 minutes away, they said they would hold it for me until i get power again and my tank cleand up. so i have a few questions that you all may be able to answer.

1) my tank smells awful my bicolor blenny died, so is there any wayto know if the smell was from the fish or did my lve rock die?

2) i took out most of the water but left it about an inch above the substrate, do you think that all off the creatures in the sand are dead and that i should rinse it off and start fresh?

3)do i need to set it up and let it cycle again like the first time or since my live rock is cured and if it is still alive can i put it and the clownfishes in at the same time?

any other info or suggestions would be great and id like to get this done as soon as possible so any replies would be great. thanks to all of you very much

 

[SkiFletch]

Sorry to hear about your losses, power outages are never fun for reefs. I'm gonna assume that your LFS has put the LR in a tank with some circulation and the clownfish are also being properly cared for. Given that, here's what I'd do. Fill the tank with just the substrate back up with saltwater and get your powerheads going again. Monitor ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. If ammonia and nitrite do not spike, thats a sign that you dont have too much dieoff in the tank. If they do spike, wait until they come back down before you go to your LFS.

Once your ammonia and nitrite are back to zero, and your nitrate isnt out of control (if its 40ppm or higher do a BIG water change to bring it down), get a rubbermaid bucket, fill it with saltwater, heat it up to a little more than what your LFS keeps their tanks at, and head over there. If its not too inconvenient, it would be safest to do the transfer in two trips. First one for the LR, and let it settle in the tank (watch for ammonia and nitrite again), and then go for the clowns probably a few days later. If thats too inconvenient, you CAN do it all in one go provided you bring a tub of water, but you might risk a mini cycle from doing so.

Hope that helps