Daddy, why aren't your fish swimming?

[JC Pollman]

The storm this week knocked out our power for a day and a half - enough to kill everything in my fish tank: fish, corals, everything. Now, instead of a 200 gallon aquarium, I have a big stink tank - and boy does it stink. Some of my fish were over 5 years old.

 

What to do? I am not going to do anything until after I finish the upstairs remodelling - which will probably take until August. I am just going to let the pumps run until then. Eventually I have to take all the rocks and the 500 lbs of sand out - not something I can do in a day. My plan is to rip the tank and stand out as I did not build the stand correctly and it needs to be replaced anyway. Then, I will either build a new tank and stand, or drywall up the hole and forget aquariums. I have some time to think about it

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/jcpollman/Aqua...910638929750978

[dtfleming]

That sucks, This why I have to serious come up with something to run powerheads or battery air pumps.

[rottloverr]

Very sorry about your losses :(

 

Sean

[zoozilla]

:( :(

[MLazar]

sorry for your loss...........

 

m

[steveoutlaw]

So sorry to hear! Don't give up on the hobby......you'll be even sadder down the line.

 

After hearing all these power shortages, I'm going out to buy a generator this weekend.

 

Let me know when you are ready to start stocking again and I'll shoot some frags your way.

 

Steve

[squiddly]

My condolences on your loss.

[L8 2 RISE]

:( :( :(

[JC Pollman]

One of the problems with a big tank (mine is 200 gallons) is that a small pump just isn't going to make any difference. I might look into a good car battery with a converter - should be able to get me through 24 hours with just a couple of pumps going.

 

I finally got up enough courage to turn on the lights and look inside. Dead worms everywhere. Surprisingly, the conch made it - but I think he is going to get lonely. Also, a couple of mushrooms and a fist sized leather also look like they survived. Anyway, they are going to be on their own for a while as I have no time, or inclination, to spend much effort on them. But at least the stink is slowly fading...

[Sharkb8]

Very sorry for your losses. You should have been in the car with me running around like a mad man all over town to find a solution like I did. But then I'd have to fight you for the one inverter that Radio Shack had. See my story here:

 

http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...c=22626&hl=

 

I lost most of my fish in a power outage last year. You'd think that would have taught me something. I thought I had a battery-powered pump in my closet but couldn't find it. However, do not lose hope on what is left. I re-started my tank with no problems, no need to clean it out, etc.

 

I live just down the road from you and have a very mature 90g reef. If you want some place to store the survivors, just let me know. I can be by anytime. Send me PM or email.

 

Tom

[jamal]

i know what you mean. i wet my pants when the power went off for like 2 hrs here. i need to stop buying corals and fish and invest in a generator. a couple hunds will save a couple thou for tanks 180 and above especially. i hope you dont drop out. just dont make any decisions for at least a week. anger and frustration can encourage you to make a decision you dont want to make. sorry

[SkiCurtis]

Sorry to hear about your loss. stick with it. I used to live in a area where the power would go out almost monthly it seemed like. So about 10 years ago I got a small generator like 500 watts ( now they are much larger) and it has given me some relaxing room,but i live in a new area that the power hardley ever goes out so I always have to run it just to keep it going. I have to much money in the tank to even think about losing it. So i would suggest to anyone that has more than $500 in live stock to get a generator. when your ready to stock up I have lots of frags for you.

 

 

 

 

Curtis

[gmubeach]

oh and join wamas it will save you a ton of money when you go to rebuild....I let my tank cycle after my massive hermit ate all my fish and corals... I would take the rock and scrub it when your ready to rebuild I am so sorry to hear about your loses!

[Guest webshout]

Sorry to hear of your loss. I hope you're able to get things back in order when you're ready.

[basser9]

GUYS i read post after post on wamas and cmas and i frankly cant believe what i am reading....power goes off ever summer ....sometimes 4 times a week if bad stormes....how in the world can reffers in a club not even be prepared for this......HERE IS A SIMPLE SUREFIRE ...UNDER 100.00 SOLUTION FOR MOST PEOPLE....a computor backup like a upc/ups runs around 80.00 used....apc/ups 1400 has a 900 watt reserve....this means a 18 watt sureflow 2000gal hr will run about 2 days....more than enough current/oxygen for my 150....for a smaller tank a 400 maxie sureflow pushing1000gal hr will run 4 days....I HAVE A SECOND READY INCASE IT LAST MORE THAN A COUPLE DAYS....if you have never seen a 2000 gal sureflow you are in for a big surprise....

[YBeNormal]

basser,

 

There is no solution that will fit everyone's budget, lifestyle and level of knowledge and computer UPS is not a fail safe solution by any means.

 

UPS batteries do not last forever and most of them actually have very short lives if they are not charged and used correctly. Leave it charging too long with no load and the batteries will never hold a load. Run them with a load when the batteries are not fully charged and they begin to lose charging capacity. Leave them sitting around with drained batteries for too long and the batteries may never charge back up. Use them correctly and they will still wear out after 2 to 4 years, maybe a little longer. You will usually find out that they are no longer useful only when you need them the most.

 

Oh yeah, I have lived in this house since October 2001 have never had a power outage--not every year and certainly not 4 times in a week. I have a generator just in case though and it will still be running long after both of your UPS units batteries are dead.