Needing a direction...

Gareth elliott · Jul 24, 2019

Looking for ideas where to go after a tank failure.

Power loss and a failure of my back up systems, while not at home lead to a loss of all my fish.

99% of my corals look none worse for wear.
And my inverts seem fine, my crabs, snails, and cucumbers were were out doing their clean up duties.

Not sure if I want to restock tbh grew very attached to my fish. I am not really looking forward to quarantining, waiting for particular fish to be in stock, etc.

How do people feed invert only tanks? Any inverts that are outgoing that would make up for fish? Are they compatible with each other?

If i were to eventually get more fish what would be suggestions for a 40 gallon breeder when starting at 0. Mixture of gorgs, Arcos, and euphylia are the corals for the most part.

Peace River · Jul 24, 2019

Wow! I am sorry to hear about the loss of your fish. I understand how frustrating that is - been there. My suggestion is that you take care of the livestock that you have right now and make sure that your tank is stable and healthy. Additionally, I encourage you to take care of you. There is no hurry to add anything to your tank at this time and you will likely know when and if you're ready to add any fish.

saltyhog · Jul 24, 2019

So sorry to hear of your situation.

Just enjoy your tank for a while and see if you feel differently later. The fact that it bothers you so much just means you care and are good steward of the livestock in your care. Step back and ascertain if there was something you could do to make your back up more reliable. Don't beat yourself up, you weren't irresponsible. This can happen to anyone.

As far as feeding inverts I would turn the flow off so the food could get down to them and obviously feed much less. I would use larger frozen like Hikari jumbo mysis or something similar....just because I think it would be easier to keep track of how much is actually being eaten.

TheGreatWave · Jul 24, 2019

That sucks, sorry to hear.

I would have skeptical of a power loss and a failed backup if I hadn't recently gone through a similar thing. A power flicker was all it took to stop my Sicce pump even though it was plugged into a UPS dedicated to that pump.

I fared a little better then you in the sense that my fish survived, however I lost basically all my coral. In the months leading up to this event I had been removing aiptasia, long story short I didn't have all my live rock in there at the time, the tank was already vulnerable. Technically I lost the coral putting them in another temporary system for reasons I can only suspect, but you get the idea. The event was perpetuated by the failed backup, I came home from work, there was a pump not working plugged into what seems to be a fully functional UPS. In hindsight and based on your experience I over reacted and should have just changed some water, plugged the pump in and crossed my fingers.

You should be able to feed the inverts with some type of sinking shrimp pellet, even the freshwater kind. Snails and crabs love it.

No recommendations on type of fish as that is somewhat personal and impulsive depending on what is available to you in your area. My favorite fish have been ones that I really didn't know of, or anything about until I saw them in a LFS and looked up their suitability on LA using my cell phone. (Royal dottyback and Flame Hawkfish come to mind for a tank that size) My LFS rotates stock a lot and there really isn't another one around so I've never really planned fish lol.

Tastee · Jul 25, 2019

I’m 2 years into my reefing journey so please take my advice with that in mind.

I would guess that O2 loss was the biggest issue you had if the fish died and the corals survived. So if you are wanting redundancy to avoid the same issue that is the area to focus on. Maintain the return and water disturbance.

Without your fish the corals will have lost a big food source (poop mostly). You may need to increase target feeding with reef roids etc. I saw a suggestion to reduce flow, I don’t recommend this as corals, especially SPS need flow to maintain their health and remove excretions etc.

Beyond this it is all about automation, redundancy and battery backup. I personally run my tank on an Apex connected to a CyberPower UPS to give me short term coverage.

Good luck!

Gareth elliott · Jul 25, 2019

Thanks all for the comments.

Back ups were a solar generator and battery operated air pump, that was supposed to turn on when the outlet lost power.

Solar generator battery did not last long enough and the air pump never switched on after the generator switched off.

This was my post sandy plan, after 14 days of no power thought I needed something.

Admittedly i have not tested this system in some time. And never did a length of life test.

Generator was only plugged into pumps. 4 wave makers(2 on the sw, 2 on the saltwater, 1 dc return, 1 mag drive ac.

Will probably take this time to go fallow, till we move. This way only have freshwater fish to move in 3-6 months.

Maybe ill use the 40b as a grow out tank for corals as after the move was intending a 125g. With a multibar angel pair and evansi anthias.

My freshwater planted suffered no losses, the nearly decade old ram pair still going strong. Colony of RCS still breeding.

Pond fish also were spared.

Gareth elliott · Aug 28, 2019

Ok, i gave. I couldn’t find interest in the tank with the only movement being snails and my gorgs. Bought a single baby dwarf angel.

Katrina71 · Aug 28, 2019

Gareth elliott said:
Ok, i gave. I couldn’t find interest in the tank with the only movement being snails and my gorgs. Bought a single baby dwarf angel.

Pics or ya didn't

Gareth elliott · Aug 28, 2019

Katrina71 said:
Pics or ya didn't

These will be bad
Its still quite skittish. would have quarantined but theres no fish to infect i have a cycled 20 gallon if need to treat later.

Gareth elliott · Aug 28, 2019

Waited till now for the first few weeks my n and p have been all over the map. NO3 went to 50 dropped to 2, went back up. Po4 plummeted all together. Lost most of a highlighter colony, others lost tissues but grew else where. Stopped dosing any 2 part. Been stable the last 2 weeks.

Mastiffsrule · Aug 28, 2019

Hi

Sorry about all the troubles. Sounds like your are bouncing back in the right direction. I would not be too concerned with no QT. Feed a good diet and keep him strong.

JPergamo · Aug 28, 2019

Sorry this happened man. Glad you are getting back on the horse though. Sandy was brutal I'm on LI so I know the anxiety of power failure.

I guess my plan to mentally survive a horror story failure for my sps 180 would be to have some much needed changes I've wanted to do for a long time lined up. Let changes with the build, or equipment, and livestock obviously... help with keeping interest up and staying involved. I've walked away from the hobby but always come back so if you love it, just reset I guess. Good luck.

Gareth elliott · Aug 28, 2019

thank you for the encouragement @Mastiffsrule and @JPergamo.

Definitely was an eye opener what to do next time. Added a drawer of batteries for the air pumps, gave a key to someone when i am on vacation and taught them how to change them. And how to tell if they are working and what to do.

Sorry about your sandy experience.

Daniel@R2R · Aug 29, 2019

Man, that's been a rough road, but glad that you're bouncing back. It seems you're on the right track

vetteguy53081 · Aug 29, 2019

As in my case. . . A perfect time to re-group, re-scape the tank, reconsider any equipment and salt used and also adding a battery backup unit or two.
I commend you for NOT letting a tank loss kick you in the B*TT. You can and will win this battle.

Gareth elliott · Aug 31, 2019

Should have cleaned my phone lens lol.

But a Centropyge flavicauda, when i do fully restock after moving; Will have to plan additions around her. Not the most pleasant personality dwarf . So nothing too small or timid and definitely not other algae grazers.