My 5 1/2 yo mixed reef is dead.

[Palting]

Left for 3 days, came back to a dark tank. The GFI had tripped, and shut the tank down. Here is the tank after what I assume to be 3 days worth of stagnation.

All the SPS are melted, all the fish are dead. My favorite fish, an 8" Naso, and my show fish, a full grown Purple tang, and the whole rest of the gang... gone. Moved what still seemed alive to my FOWLR. A few LPS mostly, and my old hardy clam. Several softies like shrooms seem to be alive in old the tank, but are stuck on rocks and I don't want to move dying rocks to my pristine FOWLR.

Mixing 40 gallons, my whole RODI stock, for the largest one time water change I can do. Will do another one tomorrow.

Man, oh man, oh man.

 

[reefaddictionrx]

So sorry to hear that. Glad you were able to salvage the clam and a few other corals. Our power flashed at midnight but I didn't notice being asleep, and the GFI tripped when it came back on. I woke up at 0130, and checked on the tank and noticed no water was flowing.

Can people set an alarm with a backup battery and an apex to alert their phones and prevent not knowing this?

 

[olesalty]

Can people set an alarm with a backup battery and an apex to alert their phones and prevent not knowing this?

to answer yes. my apex will text and email me when the power is lost. not sure on a backup battery but with the things an apex can do i assume it could be done with some knowledge.

 

[Reef Pets]

That is absolutely horrible to see and I know the feeling! Sorry for your loss. If you decide to get up and going again please contact me, I will certainly donate some coral to help recover.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

So sorry for your loses! :Cry:

 

[luxauterna]

sorry! Good luck on salvaging!

 

[ARVERLY]

My heart just dropped after reading this.. So sorry

 

[Palting]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I may take you up on that offer, ReefPets. I'm doing 40 gallon daily water changes, that's about the maximum I can do at one time. I am hoping to salvage some more coral that I cannot take out from the tank.

I don't want the above pictures to be the last picture I post on the tank. I would rather remember the tank like this older photo:

 

[Fin]

Believe me, I know exactly how you feel. I lost a 6 year old 75 gallon as the result of long term power loss from a hurricane. It sucks and I have never really gotten over it. It is the tank in my signature. I have another tank now, but it just isn't the same. Your tank was beautiful and it is good that you have pictures of it the way it used to be. Hang on to them. You will look at them a lot in the future.

For future reference, a simple battery powered air pump or two (it cuts on when the power goes off) can run for days and create enough water movement to save your reef. Very cheap insurance. A friend of mine saved his 135 for days during the same hurricane, until someone could rescue his livestock. He didn't lose anything.

Also, EcoTech VorTechs MP series pumps can be run by a backup battery for up to 36 hours. You can daisy chain two or more batteries to provide longer run time.

 

[jason g]

You will bounce back, sorry for the tank loss. Just tragic to hear.

 

[saltyphish]

Sorry for your loss

 

[Eienna]

Oh.....T-T

 

[cmaxwell39]

Sorry to hear about your loss. It has to be just devastating. Hope you can salvage some more out of the tank and in a few weeks get the fortitude to try and get it going again.

 

[Velodog2]

My worst setback happened exactly the same way with the gfci. Lost almost everything. But it did inspire me to attempt to failure-proof mt tank as much as possible.

As others have said water stagnation is the quickest killer in this situation. Say whatever you want about the price or efficacy of Vortech powerheads vs the competition, their battery back-up system that will last through a 3-day weekend is what gives me more comfort than anything else when I leave town. It is simple and independent of any other system. Of course beyond that I now also have the Apex controller with UPS on it along with the UPS on my modem and router, but that will only (hopefully) notify me if anything happens again, not keep anything essential running for an appreciable length of time. And it's a complicated system that can in itself fail.

Good luck. You tank looked very nice but with the experience you have now it will come back even better!

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Oh wow!! I am so sorry!!

 

[currentking]

Terrible!
Sorry for the loss. PM me if you decide to get back going. I will surely send you a few things.

 

[Njoy]

So sorry man!!

 

[joesreeftank]

I am so so sorry!! I would like to thank you for sharing this on the Forum, by sharing your loss may have just saved many others from experiencing the same.
I for example will get my battery powered air stone hooked back up in my tank and I will look into any other battery back up systems I can operate on my tank. My Apex does send me alerts whenever there is a problem so that does help. I have in the past used me truck and a power converter to keep my tank flowing during extended power outages. I am tempted to purchase a generator, I could always tell my wife the generator is if the refrigerator.

 

[JOKER]

Sorry for your loss. I too will send you some frags if needed.

 

[joesreeftank]

I to would be happy to ship you some coral when your ready just let me know. Joe

I am so so sorry!! I would like to thank you for sharing this on the Forum, by sharing your loss may have just saved many others from experiencing the same.
I for example will get my battery powered air stone hooked back up in my tank and I will look into any other battery back up systems I can operate on my tank. My Apex does send me alerts whenever there is a problem so that does help. I have in the past used me truck and a power converter to keep my tank flowing during extended power outages. I am tempted to purchase a generator, I could always tell my wife the generator is if the refrigerator.