Abandoned Hurricane Aquarium: Help Temper My Expectations

[Zakary2003]

yes on rock, again what are nutri3ent levels? you are in school, view this as project you will learn alot!

I would love to tell you those details but I'm not allowed to go back until Saturday. I'll test the nutrients when I return and I'll let you know.

 

[Zakary2003]

What about a friend that can get your "medication", that's local to Tampa, maybe that someone reading this can help out with a backpack of distilled water even, while getting your ahemmedicationahem.

That was a really good idea and I tried calling to set that up that this morning. Unfortunately they only offered to escort my friend to my room and stay with her while she retrieved the "medication" to make sure she didn't go near any of the hazardous zones, and she wasn't comfortable doing all of that.

It doesn't really matter anyways. I got a call yesterday. The Dean of Students informed me that everything in the aquarium is dead. I was just hoping she could video call me or send me pictures so I can see for myself if anything could be saved.

 

[JTP424]

I'm torn... I know its a marine life college, but after working in the residence halls many moons ago I have a feeling there may be some new rules they put in place next year regarding... pets...

 

[Charles Zinn]

I don't have any of those details for you. I'm not allowed back until Saturday. All I know is that I was called by the Dean of Students yesterday and informed that it seemed like everything in the tank was dead. The coral didn't look like it was alive and they saw no living fish (no dead fish either, but let's be real here. They probably didn't make it) and lots of dead inverts. I don't know about nutrient levels, electronics, or the status of the soft corals and I haven't recieved any pictures from them yet. My last update was a few weeks ago and all the electronics were working then, but we got hit by a second hurricane since then.

No way to know til you see it and reevaluate the situation

 

[Zakary2003]

I'm torn... I know its a marine life college, but after working in the residence halls many moons ago I have a feeling there may be some new rules they put in place next year regarding... pets...

Did you attend my school? It's Eckerd College. I'm not sure I mentioned that in my first post.

And yeah, I do think they're going to have to update the rules. Especially since they are the ones who told us students to leave behind our fish and other pets that can survive a few days to a week or two alone.

They are also the ones who wouldn't let me back on Campus in between Helene and Milton. They said I could have a 20 minute window on a Thursday. They would not allow me more time or give me a better time slot to accomodate the fact that I'm 6 hours away (give or take). There's no way I can pack up an entire reef tank alone in 20 minutes with a security guard looking over my shoulder.

 

[JTP424]

Did you attend my school? It's Eckerd College. I'm not sure I mentioned that in my first post.

And yeah, I do think they're going to have to update the rules. Especially since they are the ones who told us students to leave behind our fish and other pets that can survive a few days to a week or two alone.

They are also the ones who wouldn't let me back on Campus in between Helene and Milton. They said I could have a 20 minute window on a Thursday. They would not allow me more time or give me a better time slot to accomodate the fact that I'm 6 hours away (give or take). There's no way I can pack up an entire reef tank alone in 20 minutes with a security guard looking over my shoulder.

Hahah I did not! I attended a college in Georgia so I did deal with a hurricane evacuation. But situations like your fishy situation tended to cause rules to change fast and loose (I.E. I would have mentioned the Palytoxins too to attempt to get into my room, but mentioning something potentially life threatening might end up causing stricter rules) Please note I hope that doesn't happen. And not trying to scare you or anything! I'm sure you're not the first in that school to have that type of thing happen!

 

[Zakary2003]

Hahah I did not! I attended a college in Georgia so I did deal with a hurricane evacuation. But situations like your fishy situation tended to cause rules to change fast and loose (I.E. I would have mentioned the Palytoxins too to attempt to get into my room, but mentioning something potentially life threatening might end up causing stricter rules) Please note I hope that doesn't happen. And not trying to scare you or anything! I'm sure you're not the first in that school to have that type of thing happen!

I really think you are probably right. But maybe not... Eckerd uses their pet friendliness in their marketing a ton. They take a lot of pride in being the most pet friendly college in the country. And it is a marine science school, so I doubt they'd risk telling students their tanks are no longer allowed since a lot of students attend Eckerd to get into the aquaculture and mariculture business. There's literally a person in the room above mine attempting to breed sea urchins in their dorm room as part of their research on how to sustainably aquaculture echinoderms.

 

[JTP424]

I really think you are probably right. But maybe not... Eckerd uses their pet friendliness in their marketing a ton. They take a lot of pride in being the most pet friendly college in the country. And it is a marine science school, so I doubt they'd risk telling students their tanks are no longer allowed since a lot of students attend Eckerd to get into the aquaculture and mariculture business. There's literally a person in the room above mine attempting to breed sea urchins in their dorm room as part of their research on how to sustainably aquaculture echinoderms.

OK well now that school just sounds dope

 

[Zakary2003]

OK well now that school just sounds dope

Yeah it really is awesome... until you remember that we've been hit by 3 hurricanes this semester!

 

[jmcdona6]

Probably an unpopular opinion but perhaps wait until you are out of the dorms before you add more livestock?

Fellow Florida resident here, I worry about this this situation all the time. Fortunately, I own my home and can generally control what happens with the exception of a mandatory evacuation...which would likely only be for days not weeks.

As a dorm student you don't control your situation. Wait until you get your own place then go all in.

 

[Zakary2003]

Probably an unpopular opinion but perhaps wait until you are out of the dorms before you add more livestock?

Fellow Florida resident here, I worry about this this situation all the time. Fortunately, I own my home and can generally control what happens with the exception of a mandatory evacuation...which would likely only be for days not weeks.

As a dorm student you don't control your situation. Wait until you get your own place then go all in.

I respectfully disagree with that opinion. My tank survived a major hurricane two years ago with only one casualty (a fish that manged to fit between the gaps of the lid and jumped out). It survived Helene as well with zero casualties, and that was a historically strong storm for the Tampa Bay Area. If it wasn't for the extremely rare situation of two back-to-back major hurricanes of unprecedented strength, the tank would have been fine.

The odds of that happening again in my lifetime, let alone before I graduate, are pretty slim. I know it can handle one hurricane just fine, and I know it can be left alone for a week or two.

I just don't see another scenario where I'm forced to leave for an entire month without anyone being allowed to go take care of the tank again. But to be fair, I didn't see this coming either...

 

[stewy14]

I am so sorry about your current situation! hopefully stuff is still alive!
did u get the photos yet?

 

[Tamberav]

I've been informed that the school is going to send me pictures of the aquarium so I can file a renter's insurance claim for the dead stuff.

Should I post the pictures here or is that gross?

How do determine how much the tank was worth? Just literally adding up how much I spent on stuff? A lot of the corals were given to me or exchanged for other stuff, and all the big name online purchases I made were during sales. If I purchased everything right now from an online retailer like Top Shelf Aquatics or World Wide Corals, it might be 2 or 3 times more expensive than what I originally paid. Do I go with those higher values or would that be fraud?

Has anyone ever filed an insurance claim for a dead tank? I had no idea that was even a thing.

Did you read your renters insurance to see if anything would be covered? Fish tanks and living animals are sometimes/often different. Sometimes it has to be from a certain peril, not sure if not being allowed to return would count or not.

 

[Zakary2003]

Did you read your renters insurance to see if anything would be covered? Fish tanks and living animals are sometimes/often different. Sometimes it has to be from a certain peril, not sure if not being allowed to return would count or not.

I've contacted their customer support because the website and policy terms didn't make it clear. I recieved a response saying to submit a claim using the replacement values of everything lost during the storm but I'm not sure if they realized I meant the animals in the tank were the issue and not physical damage. I guess we will see

 

[Tamberav]

I've contacted their customer support because the website and policy terms didn't make it clear. I recieved a response saying to submit a claim using the replacement values of everything lost during the storm but I'm not sure if they realized I meant the animals in the tank were the issue and not physical damage. I guess we will see

Value, I would use whatever you paid for them as they may ask for proof of ownership or invoices or any info you have assuming they cover live things. Could be invoice, could be text you made, financial statements from bank/cc, etc.

Also check what you deductible is as sometimes they are petty high, $500-1k before you would see anything.

 

[Zakary2003]

The school sent me 4 pretty crappy photos. The mangroves look fine and I see a snail on the glass, so maybe not everything is lost. I also see something green and flourescent but I don't think I had anything green and florescent in that spot so it might be something that got knocked down or a little leather coral offshoot.

 

[Tamberav]

sps look dead but ya, I would say some live stuff too on the rocks.

Mesh is in the water, tank look too full to you? maybe flow through the back getting clogged with algae?

Did you leave a manual filter roller in it?

 

[Tamberav]

By the way, a cheap camera would be a great investment Then you could spy on the tank from away.

 

[Zakary2003]

sps look dead but ya, I would say some live stuff too on the rocks.

Mesh is in the water, tank look too full to you? maybe flow through the back getting clogged with algae?

Did you leave a manual filter roller in it?

Yes, it is definitely too full. The filter roller is automatic and is working, but there is algae clogging the overflow from what I can tell. Luckily there's an emergency overflow so it won't flood.

 

[Zakary2003]

By the way, a cheap camera would be a great investment Then you could spy on the tank from away.

I have a ring camera set up on the tank but it did not turn back on when the power and internet came back on.