Two weeks ago, the power went out during an intense thunder storm. Generator was not working and the intense heat created the perfect conditions for an oxygen deprived reef tank. The fatalities included all of my acro crabs and most of my fish. Oddly enough, most of the SPS came through unscathed. My large green Acropora millepora lost patches of tissue on some of the peripheral branches. Apparently some of the coral tissue died and was sloughed off after the pumps were powered up. 48 hours afterwards, my yellow watchman goby and his tiger pistol shrimp emerged from their burrow looking for food. This watchman goby is around 10 years old and I was glad to see him alive and well. To remedy the situation, I removed all dead fish and crabs and started water changes. I also added additional carbon and Phosban for absorption of organics and phosphate. I gave the tank 4 water changes over the next 4 days to remove some of the bacterial bloom and excess nitrogen. After 1 week, water tests showed nothing too unusual with the following parameters: pH 8.4 Ammonia 0 Nitrate 15-20ppm Phosphate 0 (undetectable) KH 8 dKH Calcium 350 Salinity 1.026 This tank has a history of high nitrate levels so additional water changes will be made to keep it within acceptable levels. There is a small dinoflagellate bloom and some cyanobacteria activity. I have also been adding 4 ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide which is keeping the dino's in check and dosing kalkwasser at night. I will be weaning the tank off of peroxide when the dino population starts to die back and the oxygen debt has been reduced. Finally, I purchased an APC 450 watt UPS battery back-up and will keep my DC return pump running for 30 hours. Oddly enough, the acros coloration has intensified and polyp extension is quite good. I am hoping to slowly add some fish and replace some of the specialized organisms that live with the acros. Until then......................Jim
as soon as me and my dad realized how much money were investing into this hobby and just how delicate everything is we had an electrician set up the circuit box so that we can plug the generator right into the house and just flip the breakers from main power to the generator just by flipping the switches. this makes is extremely convenient when the power goes out. i too just went through a nearly 48 hour power outage after the thunderstorms this week. in less that 5 min everything was up and running, and when it came back one everything was back on the main line and the generator was put away in less than 5 min. my timers on all of my lights didnt even reset so it was like nothing ever happened.
I recommend a generator to every one, you dont need a fancy set up like ours. but if you get a generator big enough to power your tank and your refrigerator then things will be a lot easier for you and your animals when the power goes out.
of coarse after submitting this i realize i missed the part about the generator not working. sorry .
Sorry for your losses Jim It is amazing about your Acros though. You'd think they would have been the first to go.
Here's to your tank coming back even better then before!!!
Thank you for the comments. Losing the fish was a tough one. The green clown goby was a resident for 6 years, the leopard wrasse was about 3 years. The leopard wrasse was starting to transform into a male and that was the most grueling loss. Right after acquiring the fish, I used to wake up at 2 am to feed the tank so the poor wrasse could get some food while adjusting to Eastern daylight savings time. The cherubfish was the last fish to go into the tank and was a resident for about 1.5 years. I expected the acros to die off, but they seem to be doing well. I was able to bring back the water quality slowly and that is key to salvaging a crashed tank of acros! The Acropora granulosa I retrieved from under some Anthelia is showing some nice color. Hopefully we are now better prepared for disasters..................Jim
Sorry for your loses. We just got thru a 18 hr power outage ourselves. Normally not an issue but this time. The generator would not start and could not find a carberator rebuild kit. Fortunetly I recently installed battery back ups on each MP 40. The wife at the time thought it was a waste of money. After the power came back on and we realized we had no loses she quickly commented that the battery's we're a tank saving idea. As I realized that I should make a maintanace plan for the generator. I.E -- start it every month ! And make sure the fuel is good and run the carberator dry after the test run so it will not gum up. But most of all check the back up batteries to ensure they work as well! !! It does look to most people that battery back up is an expensive addition ,it is a small cost compared to the expense of the livestock we keep and even cheaper if you consider the time you invest in your tank. I am sorry about the fish you lost. You obviously put a huge amount of time in careing for them. A back up plan would have most likely allowed you to avoid the loses you experienced. If I have learned anything this year about the hobby (after the Apex went nuts and ran the heater full blast for 12 hours,which the chiller was able to keep under control !! Luckily ) Is to make sure key equipment is backed up and to install fail safes whenever you can. All the computer control in the world is nice but one little problem like a gummed up carberator can really ruin your day if you haven't considered a back up plan!
Hi Jamie--yeah it was a major hit to the chops. We'll slowly restock until we get the tank back to normal. I have to do quite a bit of fragging to encourage coral growth. I trimmed the dead branches off of the green Acropora millepora and am still doing water changes to keep nutrients in check. The pistol shrimp was out with the yellow watchman--they are relishing the extra available space without any competitors. Hey Binford--Glad to hear that your battery backup worked. 18 hours of no water circulation would have wiped out your livestock. Dc pumps work very well and for a long length of time with backup battery systems.........................Jim
The dino bloom ended 2 weeks after the power outage. Two tiger pistol shrimps and the yellow watchman goby made it through and seem to be doing well. I did have a ballast failure on my T5's and the replacement came in yesterday. Due to the lack of lighting for several days, the SPS are slightly bleached, but have good polyp extension. I purchased several new fish including a Lubbocks fairy wrasse and a young male lyretail Anthias. Both are doing well. Feeding the fish will help the acros to replenish their photosynthetic symbionts. I hope to purchase a leopard wrasse very soon. One of the local shops is holding one for me as it needs to be observed feeding before even thinking about bringing it home...........................Jim