34g Reef Freaking Disaster!!!

dsaundry · #1 02-14-2011, 04:13 AM

So I get up today and head out with the wife and we have a very pleasant day out, we have a great time so much so she even alows me to drag her to King Eds to look around.While there I pick up a nice little Coral Beauty for my 34g at the shop. Well to make a long story short we stop at the shop on the way home to put the new addition in the tank and as soon as I opened the door I knew someting was wrong. First of all the tank was cloudy and then I could smell decaying organism's, so I run to the tank and the first thing I do is feel the side of the glass,,,,stone freaking cold! So after doing a bit of investigating it turned out that the electronic power bar did not reset itself after a power failure last night. So the list of casualties is {2} Ocelaris clowns, Yellow tailed damsel, Lawnmowwer Blenny, Pajama Cardinal, Canary Wrasse, Cleaner Shrimp, Fire Shrimp, Bristle Starfish, Orange Starfish, Some Hermit Crabs and Snails, A Green bta, a White bta, and an Urchin. and now for the coral list, A toadstool leather, a whack load of various Zoanthids that I have collected over the past, a bunch of mushrooms, ricordia's, gsp, blue cloves, Zenia and a few other small misc things. There were only a couple of snails that survived and I am hoping that some of the corals that didn't look so good may come back as I have rushed them home to my 140g. I will see if anything survives over the next day or so. So now I have had to put the new Coral Beauty in my 140g with another coral beauty and cross my fingers that they get along. I am shutting down all remnants of the tank at work and will never set up a tank at a place I cannot monitor on a daily basis. I am so bloody upset about this I have actually made myself physically ill. So my venting about this on the forum is keeping me from putting my fist through a wall right about now...In my 12 years of reefkeeping I have never had a system go down like this and hope to hell it never happens again!

matinbc · #2 02-14-2011, 04:22 AM

So very sad. I would not be honest if I said I did not worry about the same thing. But to look on the bright side, (If there is one) You can put the money towards your home tank and spend the same every month that you would have been spending on 2 tanks, and not set off alarm bells in your shared account. Keep your babies close to home.

what kind of power bar was it? (to ensure that I am not running the same one.) The electrical portion of the reefing hobby has always been the concern for me. As salt water finds it way everywhere through evaporation and is an excellent conductor.

sorry about your loss....

Borderjumper · #3 02-14-2011, 05:05 AM

I feel so bad for you. I know all to well what your feeling right now. Clean it all up and put it away for now..Give yourself sometime. I'm sorry for your loss.

Chaloupa · #4 02-14-2011, 05:15 AM

Ah man, that totally sucks. I feel for you. But as Borderjumper says, put it away, give yourself some time to recover, and you might just find that you do put it up again. Here's hoping your Coral Beauties get along!

Frenchie2 · #5 02-14-2011, 06:19 AM

I'm so sorry for you and all these poor little critters... We all learn a lesson or two in this mysterious hobby... Get better soon!

eli@fijireefrock.com · #6 02-14-2011, 06:21 AM

what a terrible thing to go through.
Sorry to hear about your loss.

daniella3d · #7 02-14-2011, 10:31 AM

How can this happen? don't you have heating at your work? It should not have dropped so low that it would kill everything.

My aquarium temperature is at 76F. Was at 74F for a long time and everything was doing great. The room temperature is 72F and that would not have killed anything in my tank. Even if I would keep the house at 70F it would not kill my fish and corals.

How can an aquarium inside a house could be stone cold unless there is electricity outage?

And then you put the new fish with your existing fish without quarantine, another disaster waiting to happen. I surely hope it does not carry any disease like velvet.

I am really puzzled...

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsaundry

So I get up today and head out with the wife and we have a very pleasant day out, we have a great time so much so she even alows me to drag her to King Eds to look around.While there I pick up a nice little Coral Beauty for my 34g at the shop. Well to make a long story short we stop at the shop on the way home to put the new addition in the tank and as soon as I opened the door I knew someting was wrong. First of all the tank was cloudy and then I could smell decaying organism's, so I run to the tank and the first thing I do is feel the side of the glass,,,,stone freaking cold! So after doing a bit of investigating it turned out that the electronic power bar did not reset itself after a power failure last night. So the list of casualties is {2} Ocelaris clowns, Yellow tailed damsel, Lawnmowwer Blenny, Pajama Cardinal, Canary Wrasse, Cleaner Shrimp, Fire Shrimp, Bristle Starfish, Orange Starfish, Some Hermit Crabs and Snails, A Green bta, a White bta, and an Urchin. and now for the coral list, A toadstool leather, a whack load of various Zoanthids that I have collected over the past, a bunch of mushrooms, ricordia's, gsp, blue cloves, Zenia and a few other small misc things. There were only a couple of snails that survived and I am hoping that some of the corals that didn't look so good may come back as I have rushed them home to my 140g. I will see if anything survives over the next day or so. So now I have had to put the new Coral Beauty in my 140g with another coral beauty and cross my fingers that they get along. I am shutting down all remnants of the tank at work and will never set up a tank at a place I cannot monitor on a daily basis. I am so bloody upset about this I have actually made myself physically ill. So my venting about this on the forum is keeping me from putting my fist through a wall right about now...In my 12 years of reefkeeping I have never had a system go down like this and hope to hell it never happens again!

Delphinus · #8 02-14-2011, 02:41 PM

What a terrible thing to happen.

Sorry for your losses.

Coleus · #9 02-14-2011, 03:16 PM

I am very sorry to hear. Hope thing will turn around better for you

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniella3d

How can this happen? don't you have heating at your work? It should not have dropped so low that it would kill everything.

My aquarium temperature is at 76F. Was at 74F for a long time and everything was doing great. The room temperature is 72F and that would not have killed anything in my tank. Even if I would keep the house at 70F it would not kill my fish and corals.

How can an aquarium inside a house could be stone cold unless there is electricity outage?

And then you put the new fish with your existing fish without quarantine, another disaster waiting to happen. I surely hope it does not carry any disease like velvet.

I am really puzzled...

Maybe not just the temperature, the lack of oxygen also kill

dsaundry · #10 02-14-2011, 03:48 PM

Lack of oxygen and cold was the main factor imo, this tank is at my shop which traditionally doesn't stay as warm as a house. The main issue is that at the shop there is always a day or two that it is closed and therefore not monitored. The "powerbar" is electronic which is the main culprit, had it been a cheapo push button type it all would have been ok. Instead of switching back on when the power did come on, it stayed off for some stupid reason...guess where the powerbar is now? On a more positive note it does appear that some of the corals have survived, will know more when I get home from work today,,as near as I can figure the power was out for just over 24 hours...way too long for a reef tank. I still have my 140g and I may set up the 34g at my house but for now it will stay down.