Emergency--fish Might Die!

mrs.fish

mrs.fish

New Member
Can someone please help? I am in charge of a fifty gallon saltwater tank (not mine) and there was a power outage. When the power came back on, water from the tank, A?O unit and refugium started to overflow onto the MANY power cords in the back of the tank. Sizzling noises, smoke, and brief electrocution (of me) followed...so obviously I had to turn off the power to everything tank-related. What do I do about the fish and the TONS of live rock in the tank? I don't want them to die but I can't turn anything back on b/c I don't want to set anything on fire or electrocute anyone. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by mrs.fish
Can someone please help? I am in charge of a fifty gallon saltwater tank (not mine) and there was a power outage. When the power came back on, water from the tank, A?O unit and refugium started to overflow onto the MANY power cords in the back of the tank. Sizzling noises, smoke, and brief electrocution (of me) followed...so obviously I had to turn off the power to everything tank-related. What do I do about the fish and the TONS of live rock in the tank? I don't want them to die but I can't turn anything back on b/c I don't want to set anything on fire or electrocute anyone. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!
Is there other tank equipment in the house? Of course this would happen while you are watching someone else's tank! First, dry off the equipment and try running a powerstrip to another outlet. It may just have been because it was wet.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by mrs.fish
Can someone please help? I am in charge of a fifty gallon saltwater tank (not mine) and there was a power outage. When the power came back on, water from the tank, A?O unit and refugium started to overflow onto the MANY power cords in the back of the tank. Sizzling noises, smoke, and brief electrocution (of me) followed...so obviously I had to turn off the power to everything tank-related. What do I do about the fish and the TONS of live rock in the tank? I don't want them to die but I can't turn anything back on b/c I don't want to set anything on fire or electrocute anyone. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!
Don't take things out of tank!
How long are you in charge of keeping it? The tank will be fine without lights for a few days. The important thing will be to get heat and water flowing. Do you know why the water overflowed?
 
mrs.fish

mrs.fish

New Member
i don't know what happened...power outage this morning when i came in and i don't know how long the power had been off (could have been as much as 4 hours)...when i kicked the circuit breaker back on, water started overflowing from the A?O unit and from the top of the tank itself...i don't know if there is a pump problem or what...the tank temp is already down to 74 degrees and the actual cords for the pump, lights, etc. got pretty wet from the water...they've been drying for hours but i couldn't move them so i'm not sure that they are safe...this sucks!
 
mrs.fish

mrs.fish

New Member
i don't even know what powerheads are!!! i was only supposed to have to add water to the refugium and feed the fish, which is where my 'expertise' in this matter ends...
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Where are you located?
Can you describe what you see IN the tank? Powerheads are small pumps used for circulation in the tank. Not the main pumps. It won't result in water flowing through the refugium or anything. Big thing is some circulation in the tank and a heater. Even if you get an air pump and air stone and a heater, run from an extension cord to another outlet.
 
trigger11

trigger11

Member
The first thing to do is get as many of the cords as dry as you can. Might even need another surge protector if it took a hit. It also is sounding to me like the overflow is not functioning correctly to get the water to the refugium. Can you tell if it has a U-Tube kind of cyphon? (It sounds to me like the cyphon got broken somehow.) Or some other device connected that uses power to get the water to overflow? Getting the heater to work pretty quickly will help too. As the Journeyman states the biggest things to focus on are the heat and water movement.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
without circulation, it will be a problem. At a minimum, I would get circulation (either from a powerhead or an airpump and airstone) and a heater working. A Walmart would even have some of this equipment if you have doubts about what is there.
 
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