Tank NUked by storm

[Mike]

I woke up Yesterday to a foul smell eminating from the basement and when I went down I discovered all the fish had died and fouled the water and the Acropora had mostly melted away. Pretty bummed out to put it mildly. Today I am going to run a bypass so the things that lived (chalice corals) can be maintained while I empty and clean the big tank. I am puttting in an auto transfer generator in the next two weeks. I anticipate teh estimate this week and hope to have it in next week. I will never ever ever have a tank again (especially one loaded with fish) without one. I slept through the storm and woke up to a disaster.

[MUCHO REEF]

Wow Mike, I'm so sorry. You have had more bad luck, GEESH. You don't deserve this my friend. Hang tough and keep the faith.

Mucho Reef

[jimsflies]

Sorry to hear about this Mike. Where you not home when the power was out? Or did it happen that fast while you slept? Seems like you'd have a few hours to potentially respond before total catastrophe?

[Rabidgoose]

I'm sorry for your loss Mike.

[Mike]

He cchalices dont even show signs of stress

[Manoj's Reef]

Sorry to heart that Mike, dont loose hope.

How about this , I will hook you yup with a SPS pack to help you start again.

[kozyreef]

so sorry to hear this also you had some awesome wrasse's and some incredible colonies . i have 7 of the 12 frags you gave me are still present and when they are full blown colonies i would be happy to cut a nice branch for you.

[Sir Patrick]

On my way out to ypsi. Just called ya and left a message. If you could use a hand for a bit, call me back. I left my number in the message. Gonna stop in over at fish doctors.

[Mike]

I will give ya a call

[Mike]

Sorry to hear about this Mike. Where you not home when the power was out? Or did it happen that fast while you slept? Seems like you'd have a few hours to potentially respond before total catastrophe?

I think it was the size of the fish and potentially the bacterial load that accelerated the process. I have never had so many fish and never so many large ones. I woke up at 7am (later than normal because no alarm clock) for work and the tank was melting away.

[kgood1]

So sorry to hear about your loss Mike...............@#$!!!!!!!

[Sir Patrick]

When you are ready for a few sps peices- let me know. I got a few for you.

[pjr]

I think it was the size of the fish and potentially the bacterial load that accelerated the process....

Do you think probiotics had any factor in such a quick degradation of the oxygen?

[Mike]

PAt,

It is hard to say that it would not have done the same thing wihout it. I had some pretty large fish that likely consumed a lot of oxygen as well. I still plan on running my system on a bacterial driven method.

I blame myself for being so foolish as to not have had a stand by generator installed. I have been on the fence for a few years and thought how many other things I could get with the roughly 3500.00 one would cost. That power outage cost me that and then some. I am literally sick about it (not so much the cost) but losing my fish. Some people think it is silly to get attached to something like a fish but I really loved mine.

[Tom@HaslettMI]

So sorry to hear about your losses. I'm not an SPS guy but I'd gladly share anything else I have that you're interested in.

Tom

[Hopkins]

That sucks! Sorry to hear about your tank, Mike.

[Mike]

I will be going back down tonight to get the little bit of sand and water that is left. Scrape the coralline clean and buff out a few scratches. I guess the good news (if there is any) is I can hang the LED's now pretty easily now where I want them. I also think the closed loop is coming off for now too. I have the Tunze's and that Vortech on the way. Those are way less expensive to operate and will be less of a load on the generator. The vortech has he Battery back-up coming with it.

[180wall]

Mike that is horrible.

I've never had a tank melt down that fast. I hope I never do.

[taziam10797]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your fish. That would be a hard one to take. Glad to hear you are starting over.

[Mike]

I just finished the vinegar and water wash down to deodorize and take care of the any latent bacteria / decayng matter. Next is the fun task of coralline scraping. I will be buffing it out this week and hopefully have the rock work back in by the weekend. NOthing living is going in until after my generator is installed though.

[stunreefer]

Damn dude, so sorry to hear this Mike.

Great move on the back-up power, can't go wrong there! Also, make sure to test your VT batt back-up weekly while in use.

Good luck with the rebuild man, lemme know if you need any help.

[thefishgirl]

Mike, I was very sad to read about this. You had some really gorgeous fish, and of course super corals as well. Let me know if I can help in any way.

[Mike]

The electrician from HD just left and I ended up getting a 12kW whole house GE. The entire panel gets wired into the transfer panel. It will be able to run pretty much all the things in my house. We dont have an electric dryer so that is a good thing. Mostly all NG appliances with the exceptions being the micro, dishwasher and refrigerator. We can set the priority of power too. The generator will shed loads if need be to power the essentials, one of which will be the recirc and skimmer on the aquarium. Cost right at 7K (1 year interest free installed). The cool thing is we can take it with us if we move.

[thefishgirl]

That's awesome Mike!! And of course, priority power to the fishes!!! Would not have it any other way! :)

[Mike]

It is a big investment but it serves the entire family and will for years to come.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5/R-100661781/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

The labor is as much as the unit. The electrician said it will take around 6-8 hours to install it. I want it done right and believe in you get what you pay for. It will be a master electrician doing the install for me. It also includes any site work, the permits, inspection, etc.

[180wall]

Nice Mike. You run natural gas or propane?

[Sir Patrick]

That is one monster of a generator!!!

[Mike]

It is going on NG. I started working on aquascaping a few minutes ago. I am hoping to finish by Monday or Tuesday and start adding water.