What to do now

[scott0615]

For those of you not on our email list I thought I would post this here -

Power was out…..now what?
Due to a lack of oxygen and heat the biological filter shut down. Follow these steps to get it going again.

REMOVE ALL DECEASED ANIMALS – that being said give the fish or coral the benefit of doubt. The lower temperature has slowed metabolism to a crawl and many animals will re-bound regardless of how bad they may look.

WATER CHANGES – monitor ammonia and nitrite levels as your tank will begin going through the nitrogen cycle like it did when you first established the aquarium. Small percentage water changes every couple of days. Add Stability to the display to aid in re-populating your biological filter. Fresh carbon, Polyfilters, Purigen, and other chemical filtration media will also help keep ammonia and nitrite levels at tolerable levels for the animals still remaining in your tank. Let your protein skimmer work!!!! Empty your cup frequently as you will find it is working in overdrive skimming very wet foam.

FEED SPARINGLY - the more food that goes into the tank the longer it will take the bio filter to re-establish. Due to the temperature fluctuations your fish are susceptible to a parasitic infection. Prepare your frozen food with a garlic supplement, vitamin supplement, and Metronidazole to prevent infection.

MAINTAIN A CONSTANT TEMPERATURE OF 80 to 82 DEGREES – this will increase the metabolism of your fish to help fight infection.

CHECK ALL PUMPS AND MECHANICAL COMPONENTS – with several power “flickers” some pumps and heaters may have gone out.

CALL US IF YOU HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS
918-497-1212

[Newlin]

Great post. I can't think of a better way to restart a tank after being without power for a while. Good luck to all that have had to deal with this.

[TheMcs]

Scott, thanks for the extra research you've done to help us with questions (not referring to the above post). From being in his store I can see how Premier is a beacon this week, from babysitting corals & fish to having much needed supplies on hand, along with the knowledge to answer questions.

Thanks again Scott!