House Flooded!!

[wrassecal]

The day before yesterday, my sewer backed up and flooded a lot of my house with yucky gross sewer water Insurance sent out the"emergency decontamination crew" and now about half the carpet etc in most of the rooms are gone. I'm going to have to get all my carpets replaced. Other than the hassle and the fact that I just remodeled less than 2 years ago, I'm really worried about having to take the tank down, move it then put it back after the carpeting. Luckily I have replacement insurance for it. The adjuster said that the insurance would pay if I have a professional move the tank for me.....but, they won't cover if anything dies. I don't know if we're better off to do it ourselves or have the lfs guy we trust do it. Anyone been through this before?

 

[melbournefl]

What the heck, if insurance is paying for it, have your trusted LFS person do the physical labor and you stand there and stare at him as he works
Just my .02 of course but I'm *really* lazy about that kind of stuff,
Later,
Paul

 

[scotts]

I agree with Paul, let them do the work, but just watch them. Also does the lfs offer anytype of gurantee. Maybe the easiest way would be for them to "loan" you tank of the same size and then just move everything into the "loaner" tank.
Just a thought I have never been through this.
Good luck
Scott
At least you will get new carpet.

 

[wrassecal]

I don't think he guarentees, how could he when we will be taking a fairly stable system and just taking it apart. I don't know the whole idea of getting it where we wanted it in the past year and now having to tear it down just upsets me.

 

[goldrush]

Save yourself a lot of aggravation and carpet around the tank.May sound simplistic,but sometimes that's best.

 

[wrassecal]

Goldrush, I've actually been thinking about going that way too. I just don't know. It's probably all these giant fans and dehumidifiers going all over the house messing with my head to where I can't think straight. I feel like I'm living in a wind tunnel right now.

 

[melbournefl]

Is this room of your house on concrete or wood?
Thinking of options,
Paul

 

[phoenixrising]

WOW!!!!
I thought that kind of thing only happened to me!
We had a flood here back in June due to the weather. I got 6" of water in my beautiful finished basement in the blink of an eye. The insurance company did indeed cover every single thing down here...including my tanks and all of their inhabitants.
The fella that runs the LFS here (100% SW) came over with 5 men and for a major sum of money (thanks Nationwide) moved my tanks into the middle of the floor so they could tear off the wall behind and the carpet from beneath. A few months later they came back and once again tore down my tanks in order to return them to their original locations. I had tile installed everywhere where the fish went, and carpet everywhere else.
I lost a few things from the tanks through the ordeal. A few small fish that got crushed in rock and a few pieces of coral. Nationwide replaced everything without question or hesitation. They covered every single expense incurred from the flood. I'm sure your insurance company will do the same.
It is so upsetting to have this happen. I cried for hours and hours over it. Had a huge flood 2 years ago as well and had a nicely refinished basement from that experience as well. I just couldn't believe that it was happening again. I have a big generator now so hopefully this situation will not repeat itself.
Reason for the tile under the tanks is because I decided I was NEVER going to move those tanks again! I has taken this long for things to really start recovering fully. If the basement ever floods again, they'll have to work AROUND the tanks. They taint moving again!
One suggestion...when the folks come to move your system, try hard to get them to at least leave your DSB alone. The guys who came here, 6 in all, removed the rock into containers, caught the fish and removed the inverts and corals. Then emptied all but about 1" of water and left the DSB alone. They carried the whole tank...including the stand as one unit. There were lots of men and the tanks were sure heavy but the guys took their time and inched 'em to their temporary location and then back again.
LOTS and LOTS of effort and worry, but it all turned out fairly well in the end. May I wish you the best of luck! I sure have walked a mile in your shoes...and recently too! My thoughts will be with you. I know first hand what you are going through.
P.S. email me anytime for emergency emotional support!

 

[wrassecal]

Cindi- OUCH twice, I think I'm going to have a breakdown just getting through this one. The insurance said they would pay for everything EXCEPT if I lose any fish, good thing my dogs didn't drown. I am worried about the dsb. Your tanks are bigger than mine, a 55gal. and a 20 gal, both have dsb and total 125lbs lr. (OK so, I could do the 20 myself)So it's taken about 6 months for your tanks to get back to normal?...that got my mind going. Hubby has done all our remodeling to date, so I'm wondering how much I would save on labor if he redid the tile work that will be going into 3 of the rooms. Hmmm, maybe we can end up happy and with the 125gal we want. If we have to mess with it, which we do, then might be the best time to move everything into it's final home. There is only one place the tank can go while the work is going on and that is the middle of the kitchen.

 

[richard rendos]

Sorry to hear about your flooding. It sucks no matter how you look at it. If it were me, I would do it myself. I don't trust ANYONE with my tanks. I would invest in a few big rubbermaid containers and garbage cans. I think if you plan it in advance, you won't lose anything. I switched out tanks a while back and it was nerve racking, but in the end...I lost nothing (except some hair maybe)...you will need the following.
1) containers, containers, containers
2) a power head for each container
3) a heater for each container
4) a few more containers with fresh salt water made up for when you go to fill back up
5)4 or 5 packs or cigarettes
6)4 or 5 six packs of your favorite beverage
7)a couple of strong friends for the heavy lifting
Drain water from your aquarium into the containers, move livestock into containers, turn on PH's and heaters. Drain the tank down but leave an inch or so of water over your sandbed. (if you ever wanted to change out your substrate...now is the time) Move everything out of the way...let them lay the carpet and possibly new floor decking. Move everything back in place. Drain some of the water out of the containers back into the aquarium. Place livestock back in aquarium..fill the rest of the way up with fresh batch of salt water. Will be like they just got a big water change. (in theory)
This method is not guaranteed, but it worked for me.
Best of luck!

 

[wrassecal]

Richard, I really think I'm going to take your idea/approach. We have worked so hard on it and l really don't think I trust anyone else as much as I trust myself and hubby. In other words, no one loves my tank and everything in it like we do.