The 100 Hours War!

[attml]

Well, I was begining to believe that it was never going to happen but I finally got my power restored after nearly 100 hours. So far I have only lost my Royal Gramma and Cleaner Shrimp but my Yellow Porities has a little recession and bleaching near the base. I want to thank everyone for all of their words of encouragement. The last 4 days have sucked in ways you can't imagine and I appreciate everyone's kind words (especially M.Rogers who offer to come help me move all of my stuff to his tanks!!!) For those of you who haven't met him in person Mike is a really good guy and I am really glad we met through our local reef club - CMAS
Here are some shots of the neighbors yard. In this first picture I drew a yellow line where the beach and water line normally are. In this picture the water is between 6 & 7 feet deep where the beach and water normally begin.

 

[attml]

In this picture you can see the tips of some piles on piers that are completely submerged. The tops of these piles normally sit 8 feet out of the water.

 

[attml]

This is the neighbors yard which is normally completely grass! You can see a ton of debris has floated up from people who didn't prepare for the storm. Fortunately I sit up about 10 12 feet higher above water level than this house though they didn't flood.

 

[attml]

The good news part of this story is that my calcium reactor showed up and I have been chomping at the bit to try it out - now that the power has been restored I am hooking it up tonight!!

 

[overanalyzer]

congrats and I'd return the calcium reactor and get a generator .... a big 'un .....

 

[attml]

overanalyzer,
Thank you! If I see another storm heading this way you may see that thing in the used equipment section in a hurry! Every year my wife keeps asking for a 2500 watt gas powered generator as a anniversery gift - this year may be the year!

 

[m.rogers]

water water every where!!!!!!!
mark thanks for the nice words about me and if you mind me asking how much did you pay for the hole calcium reactor.
mike

 

[overanalyzer]

Originally posted by attml
Every year my wife keeps asking for a 2500 watt gas powered generator as a anniversery gift - this year may be the year!
Bummer man mine wants flowers, jewelry, time alone together NOT at a fish store ..... I'd surprise her with an even more powerful generator!!!

 

[nm reef]

Grerat to hear that you came through the storm with few losses...we were all worried about your system(and about you too!).
Looks like a sweet reactor...keep us informed on how it does.

 

[spsfreak100]

Hey Mark,
I'm glad to hear everything's okay and that you got the power back! Keep us updated on how that calcium reactor does.
Graham

 

[montanarocknreefer]

I guess we appreciate our good health and our reef tank when a crisis arises! Glad you are ok and your family and hope your tank is back to normal soon! Johnny

 

[stargazer]

SORRY YOU LOST SOME OF YOUR FISH .GLAD YOU AND YOUR FAMILY MADE IT THROUGH SAFTLY. ____DANE

 

[sebae0]

really sorry to hear about your misfortune, i went thru the blackout that hit michigan, ohio, new york and canada this august and i finally got me a generator because this will not get me again. 4 times lost power in the last 6 years, none as severe as the blackout, but the worry and the loss is too much to just keep saying i'm going to get a generator.
costco in michigan had a coleman 11 hp 5500 running wt 6875 total power for 480.00 great price so i picked one up. i know it has a tecuseh engine but compared to a troybilt with the same rating for 650.00 i thought it was a good deal.
good luck to you and your tanks.

 

[attml]

Thank you all for the kind words once again every one! Well here is a perfect example of speaking too soon! Right after I posted this thread the power went out again! Ugh! It finally came back on again about an hour ago. Everything seems OK but some of my SPS have browned up a little bit but hopefully that will color back up quickly! It's a little late for pic's tonight but I will try to get some tomorrow!
Mike,
Per your question on the total cost on the reactor: Reactor unit - $249, 10lb CO2 Cannister - $89 (you can get by without this if you leave a deposit for their loaner which was $65 for a 5 lb at Roberts Oxygen not sure the deposit cost on a 10 lb) Regulator/ Solinoid/Needle valve combo -$145, Maxijet 1200 powerhead (used as a feed pump) - $20 CaribSea ARM reactor media $15. A little steep but I have been saving for this for months. Long term it will save me $ Right now I dose apx $18 every 3 weeks for my calcium buffer. With the Ca reactor I will spend apx $20 every 8 months for a refill on my CO2 or longer on a 10lb) and $14 every 6-8 months for my Reactor media and that is it.

 

[jonthefb]

MArk, good to hear that you made it through...at least your corals are as tenacious as you are!
good to hear ya, and keep me posted on that ca reactor...ive also been looking at the geo for some time now!
good luck
jon

 

[attml]

Thanks Jon! I actually posted a reactor question about best reactors for the price on the SPS keepers section of that other place I see you occasionally and I got a lot of positive responses about the Geo. One of the guys from my local reef club who has a 350 gal sps tank that is really sweet has a custom Geo reactor (same as mine but larger) and he swears by it! When we were doing our club's summer tank tours he was showing us huge sps colonies that had grown from frags in just 1 year. Now there are other factors of course but all of that calcium carbonate had to come from somewhere! Didn't get to set mine up tonight because the power went back out but I will keep you posted with the results. Take care!
BTW - I am huge Broncos fan and watched the game tonight at a freinds! It is always a treat to beat the Raiders!!

 

[bdhough]

Maybe buy a generator JUST for your tank? We can survive outages and cold weather but they can't Sorry you got wacked. It was just a windy rainy day like Chicago, here in Raleigh...
EDIT: oh and amen on the reactor. I've heard nothing but good things about them if you set them up right... Not to mention the money you save.

 

[the claw]

I have heard of massive water changes but thats a little ridiculous to be able to stick a siphon hose out your window. I'm glad things are ok. The next time my wallet is a little fatter I'll be inquiring about that reactor. Good luck!

 

[attml]

bdhough & TheClaw,
Thank you both very much!

 

[scotts]

WOW dude, It sounds like you worked your a__ off during this. With all of that work I am glad that you did not suffer too many losses. It seems like all of your hard work paid off.
Luckily out here in California we only have to worry about earthquakes, fires, droughts, mudslides...I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but it never rains out here so everything dries up. Then when it does rain, it rains big, so many of the hills slide
Scott