djrab52
08/02/2006, 08:55 PM
Just wanted to let everyone know that I feel the pain of so many reefers who become frustrated and break down their tanks after a power outage or something else destroys their reef. My situation happened this past weekend, started on Friday and ended on Saturday night. I don't want to give up company names but lets just say I live in PA, near Philly. Oh, did I mention it all started while I was out of town on business. Anyway, the storm came thru early Friday afternoon and it knocked down trees onto the power lines in the back of my house. I had the power line going to my house laying on my children's playground and across the rest of my yard.
The problem comes into play because the wife contacted the power company and let them know the situation and they informed her they would fix the problem ASAP. Well, of course they didn't and I didn't come back into town until late that Friday evening. So, the tank has been without power for 5 hours so far, and I sent the wife and newborn baby to her mother's. So, now I call the power company and ask again how long and they tell me by 3 in the morning. Well, I knew that wasn't going to happen - and I call a little later and now I hear by 4 p.m. the next day. Now, I did the best I could by making waves in the tank, but I couldn't stay in the house in the dark all night. OK, before anyone throws it in my face, it is my fault for not bying battery powered pumps.
This is the heart braking part, because I had to leave the tank. Next day, the wife and her sister went by the house at 7 a.m. and gave me the bad news. Most of the fish were gone, and the last few were gasping for air. Of course at this point I am saying to myself that I am done with the reef. I finally made it back to the house about 10 a.m. with a buddy of mine and we started to remove what died and started to save the survivors. Now, I will list what did not make it:
9" Blonde Naso Tang with streamers
6" Lieutenant Tang
5" Male Watanabei Angel
5" Female Watanabei Angel
6" Male Genicanthus melanospilos from Fiji
4" Male Psuedochromis
Harem of Anthias
Now the only fish that survived after I rented a generator were:
Purple Tang, GSM Clown, Lawn Mower Blenny, and a Damsel in my sump.
Needless to say I calmed down after a few hours and the power company informed me I could file a claim for my losses. So long story short, the power came on at 7:30 the next night and the corals and inverts seemed to be fine.
Now I have to plan for a backup generator for the house and restock very slowly. Now, if anyone has links to backup generators could you please send them to me. I found one at Home Depot for $3000 installed, which powers 8 breakers in the event of an outage. I want a permanent fixture like this:
http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_160_94&products_id=370
The problem comes into play because the wife contacted the power company and let them know the situation and they informed her they would fix the problem ASAP. Well, of course they didn't and I didn't come back into town until late that Friday evening. So, the tank has been without power for 5 hours so far, and I sent the wife and newborn baby to her mother's. So, now I call the power company and ask again how long and they tell me by 3 in the morning. Well, I knew that wasn't going to happen - and I call a little later and now I hear by 4 p.m. the next day. Now, I did the best I could by making waves in the tank, but I couldn't stay in the house in the dark all night. OK, before anyone throws it in my face, it is my fault for not bying battery powered pumps.
This is the heart braking part, because I had to leave the tank. Next day, the wife and her sister went by the house at 7 a.m. and gave me the bad news. Most of the fish were gone, and the last few were gasping for air. Of course at this point I am saying to myself that I am done with the reef. I finally made it back to the house about 10 a.m. with a buddy of mine and we started to remove what died and started to save the survivors. Now, I will list what did not make it:
9" Blonde Naso Tang with streamers
6" Lieutenant Tang
5" Male Watanabei Angel
5" Female Watanabei Angel
6" Male Genicanthus melanospilos from Fiji
4" Male Psuedochromis
Harem of Anthias
Now the only fish that survived after I rented a generator were:
Purple Tang, GSM Clown, Lawn Mower Blenny, and a Damsel in my sump.
Needless to say I calmed down after a few hours and the power company informed me I could file a claim for my losses. So long story short, the power came on at 7:30 the next night and the corals and inverts seemed to be fine.
Now I have to plan for a backup generator for the house and restock very slowly. Now, if anyone has links to backup generators could you please send them to me. I found one at Home Depot for $3000 installed, which powers 8 breakers in the event of an outage. I want a permanent fixture like this:
http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_160_94&products_id=370