Post Katrina My Tank Is Destroyed Help!!!!!!!!!!!

[jewban]

:help: :help: So After Katrina, my power was out from thur night until this morning, and well Ive lostmuch livestock and many corals, my water is ultra cloudy and the tank smells absolutely horrible.....need some guidance as to my next step what im to do to get back on track...hope someone is able to help im pleading here....ive got peices of dead anemone everywhere just really nasty looking, the only thing that survived well is my gold striped maroon clown, ive removed so far that was dead, montipora, rose bubble tip anemone, lunar paddlefin wrasse, giant mushroom, purple linkia star, two sand sifter stars. I have no idea where to begin...should i drain and start all over, begin a new cycle? should i do a huge water change? i dont have any idea so anybody that can tell me please......please....polease..... :help:

:scared:

 

[cartman101]

i would just do a very big water change! You still have a fish alive, save his life, his life is in your hand

 

[lion_crazz]

Just do a very large water change and go from there.

 

[jewban]

How do i clear up the water? its ultra cloudy...

 

[dskidmore]

If you have containers to do so, you could segrigate out what is alive and let the inevetable cycle in the tank rage on. Unless you take out absolutely everything that has dead tissue, and do a big water change, you will see a cycle.
I agree with the water changes though, to mitigate the huge amount of junk in the water.
Depending on what you had dying in there, carbon may be a good idea, some critters put off poisons when they die. (The only two examples in mind are cucumbers and flatworms.)
Time settles all clouds, but the health of the remaining critters is what's at stake.

 

[jewban]

so how often am i to chagne the water...should i be cahnging everyday? every week everyother day? how much water? 20%????? 40%???? 10%???? Ive pretty much accepted that my tank is going to recycle, im thinking that im going to take my remaining livestock....mostly ricordia mushrooms to the lfs and have them hold on while i cycle for another two or four weeks.....

 

[jcrim]

Sorry to go off the subject but jewban what does your name stand for?

 

[viper_930]

jewban = jewish + cuban?
I'd just take all livestock out and do a single 50% water change. Wait 1-3 weeks until the ammonia and nitrite levels are 0 and other params are in check, then do another water change, maybe 30%, add some carbon, then start adding livestock back in the tank.

 

[dskidmore]

If you're going to take out most of the living stuff, I'd do as many 50% changes as necessary to keep the ammonia around .75, so the bacteria live through it to speed the cycle, but there is enough ammonia to enourage them to multiply.

 

[jewban]

viper is right about the name..
.Where am i supposed to put all my livestock? the lfs? im going to do a 20% water change today and then play it by ear maybe itll just work itself out maybe daily 10% I dunno not really too interested in taking all the livestock out...but if its the only solution then i guess i have no choice...

 

[bigarn]

Originally Posted by ViPeR_930
jewban = jewish + cuban?
I'd just take all livestock out and do a single 50% water change. Wait 1-3 weeks until the ammonia and nitrite levels are 0 and other params are in check, then do another water change, maybe 30%, add some carbon, then start adding livestock back in the tank.
I agree ..... and remember, Carbon, lots of carbon.

 

[beth]

You didn't have any battery backups for the tank??
Where do you live? How's your house doing? I'm in Panhandle Fla.

 

[dskidmore]

Originally Posted by jewban
viper is right about the name..
.Where am i supposed to put all my livestock? the lfs? im going to do a 20% water change today and then play it by ear maybe itll just work itself out maybe daily 10% I dunno not really too interested in taking all the livestock out...but if its the only solution then i guess i have no choice...
Test your ammonia and nitrite levels, base your water changes off of that. The risk of heat damage or suffocation passed when the power came back on. The real danger right now is a hard re-cycle.

 

[jewban]

I tested my ammonia and it was high like around 1 so i did a 20% and im going to test everyday based on that and to make sure im not re cycling my tank looks so sickly im debating just takign everything out and forcing a recycle starting over there arent that many things in there anymore anyway...
Beth...
Im in south miami....we got hit pretty nasty but nothign bad to my house a broken window is all....lots of down trees i was almost barricaded into my block by them....did you guys get any effects of her this morning? anyway, thanks for the help im debating taking out everytrhing and starting over....and im defintily buying a battery backup....thanks again....

 

[snailheave]

Originally Posted by Beth
You didn't have any battery backups for the tank??
Where do you live? How's your house doing? I'm in Panhandle Fla.
what kind of system could sustain long period of powerlessness? and that's affordable? i live in southern cal and i'd like to get one.

 

[ssweet1]

Bio spira sells an instant cycle live bacteria in the refrigerator section of your LFS. It does work I have tried it in an emergency like yours, I would do it immediately.
Someone asked how to sustain a system, well after last year here in Fl. I got a big generator!! Carrie

 

[psufan43]

we had a terrible noreastern hear on the jersey shore a few yrs ago, nothing like that hurricane though, but we lost power for 4 days i lost everything.
i just started totally fresh. it sucks but what can ya do.

 

[bret61081]

atleast u have power back! I have yet to have it....I've been gong thru HEL trying to keep everything alive...thank you Arbys for the free ice to help keep it cool and Exotic Aquatic for the free water so I could do a water change....to try to keep thing down...but my ammonia, nitrates and nitrites are still up there

and I sSTILL have no power...so lord only knows what else is gonna happen....

 

[jdragunas]

hmmm... sooo sorry about your losses. This may help out a lot, although i may get completely yelled at for even suggesting this...
About 4 weeks ago, I changed out my substrate from CC to sand. I have a 55 gallon tank, so i prepared about (11) - 5 gallon buckets of water. The next day, i took out all of my LR and put it in the new water, so the LR wouldn't die. I then took out my livestock (about 5 fish) and put them in another bucket with a few pieces of LR, a heater, and the light over it. I then took out all of my CC, and cleaned out the tank. I made new water for the tank, and poured it all in. Then i put my sand in (mostly dry sand, with about 20lbs of LS to seed it), and then my LR. That's day 1. I left the fish in the bucket overnight (they were absolutely fine), and the next day, when my sand was all settled, i put the fish back in. I've been keeping a very close eye on the water levels since then, and haven't had even the slightest spike in anything.
So if you think your LR is still alive, i would suggest doing this. You may be able to avoid having to re-cycle your tank - you've got nothing to lose...

 

[jewban]

So far so good i guess nothing really is dieing off or getting worse im going to just do changes every other day of 20% for a week then twice the week after then wait two more weeks doing one a week and after a month if everything is still normal ill start to add new things in to the tank...i was htinkign about adding lr over this month a little at a atime I only have 55lbs and my tank is 55gal with 40lbs ls.....i wanted to add like 50 more lbs and think this is a good time to do it....