Emergency Drywall in aquarium

[Mr. Silly Goose]

Had a tree fall on the house last night and there's a chunk of drywall that ended up in the tank. Currently triage has electrical service restoration above addressing the tank. I can't easily get it out because there's debris on the lid (and the whole kitchen). What are the thoughts? I can likely get it siphoned out in a couple hours (been about 5 hours since the tree fell). Unsure I'll be able to do a full water change as the water won't be heated. Generator and battery backups will be started after tree cleanup. The tank itself is on a 2kwh battery, so full run time is 12ish hours.

Trying not to freak out and hope the fish will be okay.

Thanks!

 

[Unexpected]

Pick as much out as possible and then water change.

 

[Koan]

Trying not to freak out and hope the fish will be okay.

Here's a breakdown of what's in your drywall:

What is Drywall Made Of? Key Materials and Varieties - Opple House

What is drywall made of? Learn about its core components like plaster and fiberglass. Check out standard and specialty options. Start planning.

opplehouse.com

The things like mold preventives and paper glue are not great for the fish, but are quite low concentration in the piece and also not necessarily super soluble.

All you can do is fish it out as soon as you can, and heat some water for a water change when you're able to.

Your bamboo shrimp are likely to be the most affected if you're able to move them to gh/kh matched water in a bucket then do. But if matching water is too hard to do right now then don't, transition shock would be worse than just leaving them where they are

I'm so sorry there's a tree in your kitchen!

 

[JayP]

I find it very admirable that at such a stressful time, you're still showing this concern for your aquatic pets. A friend just had a tree come down on her house last month. We've had some storms with crazy straight line winds come through our area the last couple months and it's made me a bit anxious seeing the trees around my house bending.

 

[Kwyet]

What about putting a bag of Purigen in the filter?

 

[FreshTides_Neal]

What about putting a bag of Purigen in the filter?

Purigen won't help with anything in this case, there are a lot of myths around what activated carbon and Purigen are actually capable of doing; better off saving your money.