nacl-h2o
Active Member
Sorry to have disappeared for a while. On February 25th my kitchen burned, the fire started in the wiring in the top of the microwave/hood vent and spread out and around the kitchen. My neighbor saw the bright flickering threw the window and called 911, I was at work. The fire didn’t get beyond the kitchen, but the kitchen area is open to dinette and family room. The fire dept. says it was a short in the appliance wiring that shortly after last use began smoldering and the slowly spread into a real fire. There was a lot of damage in the kitchen. And I have had to move this past week.
When I was allowed in, I checked on the tanks to find the temp in all tanks still off scale high (above 86 deg.). The only fish still alive in any tank were 3 of the green chromis (in the 125g & died within a few hours) which were gasping at the surface as if needing O2. One of the firemen stated that the O2 levels in the water were probably extremely low, saying as the fire depleted the O2 in the air in the closed house the water movement which usually oxygenates the water, released the O2 into the O2 deprived air. This sounds reasonable and would explain the fish behavior. If this is accurate they weren't just cooked but also suffocated. The 2 FW planted tanks (90g & 29g) in the dinette and family room were very warm and all the fish were dead and plants were obviously damage (turned to mush in a couple days). They are both cycling. The 2 reef tanks (72g & 125g) were in the living room and while still to hot and deprived of O2, they were much better off. I have lost all the fish most of the corals and several other inverts. These tanks are also trying to cycle, but sense there are still living things in them I have tried controlling them with water changes and NH4 & NO2 detoxifiers. I appear to be over the hump at this point. And should be able to salvage most or all of what little is left.
It looks like at this point I've lost all the FW fish and plants. And all the SW fish, the shrimp, cucs, a few snails and most of the corals. My losses in livestock are about 90% and though it appears all the hardware is OK, I wont know for sure for a while the 29g was the closest and I’m worried about the seals and how hot it may actually have gotten from the radiant heat. For now it's holding water. After 14yrs in these hobbies I feel like I have to start over.
The irony is after the insurance post a few weeks ago I called and asked and was assured that my tanks were covered. I found out that the TANKS, hardware and stands are, but not the livestock. I don’t think I've lost any of the hardware, but 90% of the livestock is gone and not covered. If anyone that stated they acquired insurance for their tanks can confirm it covers hardware and livestock from disaster let me know.
When I was allowed in, I checked on the tanks to find the temp in all tanks still off scale high (above 86 deg.). The only fish still alive in any tank were 3 of the green chromis (in the 125g & died within a few hours) which were gasping at the surface as if needing O2. One of the firemen stated that the O2 levels in the water were probably extremely low, saying as the fire depleted the O2 in the air in the closed house the water movement which usually oxygenates the water, released the O2 into the O2 deprived air. This sounds reasonable and would explain the fish behavior. If this is accurate they weren't just cooked but also suffocated. The 2 FW planted tanks (90g & 29g) in the dinette and family room were very warm and all the fish were dead and plants were obviously damage (turned to mush in a couple days). They are both cycling. The 2 reef tanks (72g & 125g) were in the living room and while still to hot and deprived of O2, they were much better off. I have lost all the fish most of the corals and several other inverts. These tanks are also trying to cycle, but sense there are still living things in them I have tried controlling them with water changes and NH4 & NO2 detoxifiers. I appear to be over the hump at this point. And should be able to salvage most or all of what little is left.
It looks like at this point I've lost all the FW fish and plants. And all the SW fish, the shrimp, cucs, a few snails and most of the corals. My losses in livestock are about 90% and though it appears all the hardware is OK, I wont know for sure for a while the 29g was the closest and I’m worried about the seals and how hot it may actually have gotten from the radiant heat. For now it's holding water. After 14yrs in these hobbies I feel like I have to start over.
The irony is after the insurance post a few weeks ago I called and asked and was assured that my tanks were covered. I found out that the TANKS, hardware and stands are, but not the livestock. I don’t think I've lost any of the hardware, but 90% of the livestock is gone and not covered. If anyone that stated they acquired insurance for their tanks can confirm it covers hardware and livestock from disaster let me know.
Sorry to hear about your loss, I am just glad no one was hurt
