Boxxr December 31, 2008 Share December 31, 2008 (edited) Well I returned home from a 10 day vacation at 1am. It was eerily quiet when I walked in the house, but didn't understand why for a moment and I continued to unpack the car. Went into the fish room and discovered that my pumps were not on. Something had tripped my GFCI that I have installed. Long story short - all of the fish (with the exception of my clowns - and they are not looking good) did not make it. The temperature was 60 degrees, the tank was down by about 10 gallons (?) of water (I could understand that if it was the summer - maybe). My neighbor who has taken care of the fish before several times, once again said that she would do it. In the past she has called for something that wasn't right and I was able to help. But this time I didn't receive a call. Strange. I will have to talk with her in the morning. It appears that the power was out for some time. I guess that I should invest in AC III or something that can notify me when something is amiss. My inverts, and it appears that my coral, survived. So I am thinking that the lack of oxygen was the real problem. I am surprised that my inverts are ok since the salinity must have been very high. I didn't check it before I added my RO/DI. It is still a little high but not too bad. Nothing else I can do tonight (this am) so hopefully the clowns will make it through the next few hours. The temperature is up to 68. This sucks. Karl Edited December 31, 2008 by Boxxr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak December 31, 2008 Share December 31, 2008 darn man sorry that happened I had the same thing happen sort of, power went out then when it came back on and everything in my tank turned on at once it kicked my GCFI. It is very worth your time to get a wamas member or two to stop in and check on your tank while you're out. Good luck brining back the survivors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefhunter December 31, 2008 Share December 31, 2008 (edited) I am going on vacation this weekend for 8 days... Probably going to worry about this the entire time. Sorry for your loss. Last week I went to Blacksburg and stayed in my fraternity house in a room of a friend who has a salt tank. His return pipe had came loose and sprayed water on his power strip almost causing a fire but luckily it tripped the breaker. I found the tank under 70 degrees, fish laying on the bottom, no circulation, no heat, nothing. Every single fraternity member was home for the holidays... they could have come home to a burnt down house due to neglect... I as able to get it back up and running safely and saved everything (except the rug). He pretty much only has fish. So that is two in a week I know of.... Do you know what tripped the GFI? Edited December 31, 2008 by reefhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind December 31, 2008 Share December 31, 2008 I would add another GFCI and split your pumps/heaters on each so if one trips the whole thing doesn't go down. Or, invest in an ACIII like you mentioned. Did you have your lights on the GFCI too. Depending on your type of lights they can cause nuisance tripping. I keep my lights off the GFCI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rioreef December 31, 2008 Share December 31, 2008 Good advice to have at least two GFCI's. Also, it is a good idea to run off different house circuits. I have learned to have a family member watch things and to call every few days to get a status from them. I write down what to do and what not to do, including checking GFCI plugs. Always a good idea to provide the name a fellow reefer or one of the vendors here that do in home servicing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda December 31, 2008 Share December 31, 2008 Sorry to hear it. I just came home to about 15 gallons on the floor, but the livestock all made it. After coming home to several lost fish after a GFCI tripped last year, I now have the pumps on two separate circuits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheac12 December 31, 2008 Share December 31, 2008 Sorry to hear it. I just came home to about 15 gallons on the floor, but the livestock all made it. After coming home to several lost fish after a GFCI tripped last year, I now have the pumps on two separate circuits. I hate traveling with a saltwater tank at home. I was at home Monday, after traveling all week, and my main pump, only thing on one GFCI, tripped and I didn't notice it. As much safety as those things provide, I think they are a giant pain in the arse. I personally have an experienced reef sitter come over every day to check for me when I am away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Garrison December 31, 2008 Share December 31, 2008 I am going on vacation this weekend for 8 days... Probably going to worry about this the entire time. Sorry for your loss. Last week I went to Blacksburg and stayed in my fraternity house in a room of a friend who has a salt tank. His return pipe had came loose and sprayed water on his power strip almost causing a fire but luckily it tripped the breaker. I found the tank under 70 degrees, fish laying on the bottom, no circulation, no heat, nothing. Every single fraternity member was home for the holidays... they could have come home to a burnt down house due to neglect... I as able to get it back up and running safely and saved everything (except the rug). He pretty much only has fish. So that is two in a week I know of.... Do you know what tripped the GFI? No you won't, speaking of which, where's my list... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxxr December 31, 2008 Author Share December 31, 2008 Everyone: Thanks for the support. The female clown didn't make it, but the male did. All told, 11 fish are gone; one survivor. Nothing that rare, but some I've had for some time. I will really miss the naso blond tang. He (she) was just getting streamers. I really liked the orange lips. It also appears that the all of the SPS I had also have died or are in the process of with the exception of the two montiporas that I have. Luckily I don't have a lot of them. I talked to my neighbor and it appears that the power was off for about 36 hours from the best that I can tell. She feels really bad for not really paying that much attention to the lack of pump noise or no lights. I did roll back the light cycle while I was gone and she honestly thought that the lights being off was something that I had done. Lesson learned on my part - I need to explain this a little better. I believe, but cannot confirm, that one of the fish splashed water on the setup that I have. This has happened in the past and I placed a plastic cover of the outlet area. This was on the floor when I got home. Not sure why that was. I do have two circuits that supply the power to the tank. A non GFCI that supplies the tunezes, the auto topoff, skimmer, and some other ancillary things. The other circuit, the GFCI, powers the main pump, the heater, and the lights. I have a separate heater on the non-gfci circuit, that did kick in, but was way too small for the water value that I have. Other than a water change and testing levels is there anything else i really need to do? Thanks, -Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrubberbandman December 31, 2008 Share December 31, 2008 Everyone: Thanks for the support. The female clown didn't make it, but the male did. All told, 11 fish are gone; one survivor. Nothing that rare, but some I've had for some time. I will really miss the naso blond tang. He (she) was just getting streamers. I really liked the orange lips. It also appears that the all of the SPS I had also have died or are in the process of with the exception of the two montiporas that I have. Luckily I don't have a lot of them. I talked to my neighbor and it appears that the power was off for about 36 hours from the best that I can tell. She feels really bad for not really paying that much attention to the lack of pump noise or no lights. I did roll back the light cycle while I was gone and she honestly thought that the lights being off was something that I had done. Lesson learned on my part - I need to explain this a little better. I believe, but cannot confirm, that one of the fish splashed water on the setup that I have. This has happened in the past and I placed a plastic cover of the outlet area. This was on the floor when I got home. Not sure why that was. I do have two circuits that supply the power to the tank. A non GFCI that supplies the tunezes, the auto topoff, skimmer, and some other ancillary things. The other circuit, the GFCI, powers the main pump, the heater, and the lights. I have a separate heater on the non-gfci circuit, that did kick in, but was way too small for the water value that I have. Other than a water change and testing levels is there anything else i really need to do? Thanks, -Karl i suggest getting a new neighbor....and i would be happy to help you out next time since i work in woodbridge.(dale city) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now