90 hours without power...

[brithor]

It's been 90 hours since Ike knocked out our power in Houston and beyond my wildest dreams, I have somehow been able to keep my 46 gallon reef tank from crashing. In some ways it gets more frustrating every day because I think if I can only get power back I could save it.
I have two battery back up airstones running and have done a 10% water change mostly to try and raise the temperature some. Normally run it 78-79 degrees but the tank has slowly been dropping temp to 72 currently as the weather in Houston is a lot cooler than it normally is after a hurricane runs through...which is a blessing for the millions of people without power.
My clownfish, royal gramma and six line wrasse are actually even eating although I am only feeding a little to avoid having excess food in the tank. My rose anemone looks like it is still managing. My other corals, mostly softies are looking a little ragged.
I actually haven't even been around that much because my second daughter was born right after the hurricane so obviously there are bigger and better things going on, but the family is pulling for the tank to come through.
Anyways, just thought I would share because honestly I didnt expect the tank to make it much beyond 12 hours.

 

[toosalty]

I live in Houston as well and I got my power back on Sunday. Do you have your power back or running off a generator. If you need to take your fish somewhere let me know I can hold them for you.

 

[anonome]

Whow, you really have your hands full. Best of luck with the new addition!! Such a blessing after such a horrible storm.
I went through this a few years back, but during the winter, and that was rough, trying to keep the tank warm. Our tanks are really forgiving if they were maintained well before the power went out. Excellent job in getting battery airstones in the tank. This not only helps to move water around, but gives the tank much needed oxygen. Keep up with the water changes, at least every other day, or every third day. Even a little water helps replenish needed vitamins, and minerals. Not to mention help to dilute the organics. This helps tremendously. Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[brithor]

I don't know how it happened but somehow after 9 days of no power, my tank and all of the inhabitants appear to have miraculously survived. We got power back today so after hearing the good news from a neighbor that had stuck around, we headed back to town after being gone for 4 or 5 days since my original post.
I had replaced the batteries in the backup airstone units before we left earlier this week and could tell the fish were in distress and the temperature continued to drop. I fully expected to come back to a dead tank and had already told my 3 year old daughter that Nemo had to "evacuate" as well and would probably be coming back in a few weeks to prepare her.
I really have no explanation as to how with no circulation, the water quality stayed livable. I had also forgotten to empty the canister filter and was surprised that when the power came back on the potentially toxic, stagnant water from the filter getting blown into the tank also didn't kill anything.
The only thing I can think that helped was the drop in temperature which was steady and probably slowed the fish' systems so that they didn't panic and use up all the oxygen or create a lot of waste.
I did a 20% water change when I got back and will probably do another one in the next few days to try and get as much of the old water out. Still can't believe the tank made it but thought I would share my good fortune.

 

[rebelprettyboy]

Glad everything in the tank turned out great!

 

[dmyers557]

Good to hear. Keep us posted on how things are going.

 

[anonome]

I am so happy for you!! What a good story to a horrible situation.
Don't change out too much too fast though, take it easy with the water changes. No more than 20 percent at any time. Feed sparingly, and you should be one of the lucky ones. (You might want to run some fresh carbon though).

 

[small triggers]

great news, oh and hey what did you name the new baby??

 

[brithor]

Thanks for all the kind words and advice. I finally got a new power center and some new bulbs for my lights as they had all shorted out so my tank is fully back online and appears to be recovering nicely. The only casualties were 1 hermit crab and 1 or 2 nassarius snails.
One other thing that I think may have also helped the tank during the outage is that I have a marine plant (dead man's finger) in my display tank that probably helped absorb nitrates and balance out any water quality issues. I noticed that it actually grew over the past two weeks. You can't see it in the pic attached because it is behind the rockwork on the left.
Here is a pic of the tank and our new addition, Carolyn. I think she was freaking out because a large clownfish was headed her way...