Without power for 8 days

[bencc]

I live in Oklahoma and have been without power for over a week. I couldn't get a generator but I bought a gas heater to try to keep the house and the tank warm. I had to leave town and was hoping the power would come back on while I was gone. I get home still no power and the tank is completely dead. The fish, crabs, snails, even the bad bristle worms are dead on the sand bed. Is the rock and sand salvageable or is it a complete loss?

 

[perfectdark]

WOW Sorry to hear of your loss. Yes the rock is definatly salvageable, and IMO So is the sand, just rinse it in RO Water to get any residual dead tissue and debris out of it. And then you will have to start over as a brand new tank. Again sorry to hear of your loss that must suck.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by bencc
I live in Oklahoma and have been without power for over a week. I couldn't get a generator but I bought a gas heater to try to keep the house and the tank warm. I had to leave town and was hoping the power would come back on while I was gone. I get home still no power and the tank is completely dead. The fish, crabs, snails, even the bad bristle worms are dead on the sand bed. Is the rock and sand salvageable or is it a complete loss?
Sorry for your losses, that's a tough situation to be in. The longer the rock is in that water without heat and water movement the more die-off you'll have. You may be able to salvage some of the bacteria, but at this point it could be just pretty base rock. You should take it out and put it in fresh saltwater and if you have anywhere to keep it that has power add a powerhead and heater, and maybe a light, and just test the water every couple of days. The sand is harder to salvage, and I can't really suggest anything for that side of things that might help other than rinse it well if you decide to use it again. Someone else might have a better idea for the sand...

 

[teen]

the rock will be salvagable, but i wouldnt use the sand. just buy new.

 

[reefstar22]

Your sand is fine if you rinse/boil it over. - Yes it will be DEAD sand, but over time it will come back to life. - No need to throw it away.
The issue is it will take awhile to bring it back.

 

[mie]

This is a big fear of mine. Myself and angler man are going to put frags from each of our tanks into the other, so if one has a power prob and we have death then at least we still have pieces still alive to help put the pieces back together. I also mentioned this in another thread about buying a deep cycle battery and a camping conversion pack, so you can run your essentials untill power comes back up. And way cheaper than a generator.

 

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by mie
This is a big fear of mine. Myself and angler man are going to put frags from each of our tanks into the other, so if one has a power prob and we have death then at least we still have pieces still alive to help put the pieces back together. I also mentioned this in another thread about buying a deep cycle battery and a camping conversion pack, so you can run your essentials untill power comes back up. And way cheaper than a generator.

That wont get you a week.

 

[lmarc78]

that really stinks how long have you had your tank?

 

[mie]

Originally Posted by ninjamini
That wont get you a week.
Whats nice about this is you can recharge the battery with a charger or jumper cables. This is a very cheap way to avoid a massive loss. Important reason to buy a deep cycle battery.

 

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by mie
Whats nice about this is you can recharge the battery with a charger or jumper cables. This is a very cheap way to avoid a massive loss. Important reason to buy a deep cycle battery.

Yea or blow up your car.
If you open the hood the grease will jump out and attack you.

 

[mie]

Originally Posted by ninjamini
Yea or blow up your car.
If you open the hood the grease will jump out and attack you.
Sorry man no grease under my hood, nice and clean.
Are you kidding on the blow up your car statement?

 

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by mie
Sorry man no grease under my hood, nice and clean.
Are you kidding on the blow up your car statement?

Gee I hope so.

 

[calvertbill]

Chillers, skimmers, calcium this and phosphate that...With all the $ we spend on this infectious disease of a hobby I would have thought that a b/u generator of some type would be basic equipment! I would certainly think it a lot less expensive than replacing all the livestock!
When I first bought my tank someone asked my on one of these threads how much I'd spent so far on this hobby (I also remember someone posting a thread asking that as an open question!). My responce was "counting or not counting the propane generator?" Although my longest PF so far was only 29 hours, I've had neighbors only 3 miles away go w/o for 22 days! That convinced me. I'm very attached to my critters!

 

[wattsupdoc]

You guys got hit pretty hard over there didn't you. I'm sorry for your loss. The rock/sand will be OK as stated. We dodged it here this time around. Last Jan. we got hit pretty bad. I have some family over in Miami OK. Dint know yet how bad they had it.
Really the inverter is a good option. They are relatively cheep and you can use them as stated. It you get one large enough to handle your whole tank then you can even start up the car and run your lights and all for a few hours or more depending on how much gas you want to use. But the battery must be maintained in order for it to be "at the ready".
But why spend the cash on a battery/inverter set, when if you google harbor freight you can find a 2800watt Chinese jobber for 300.00. You and angler man should go in on one of those instead. You will be able to run some lights etc in your house with it. I have a pellet stove also, so I can run both my tanks, my freezer & fridge, the pellet stove, a few lights and tv's etc with my 5500 watt generator if needed.

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by mie
Sorry man no grease under my hood, nice and clean.
Are you kidding on the blow up your car statement?
Your car won't blow up, but you can actually blow up your battery. It isn't very likely but possible. You can also fry your computer in the car too.

 

[chadman]

sorry to hear about your loss....the same thing happened to my tank...have you gotten your power back yet?

 

[hopping]

sorry @ your tank I live i BA and lost power all week also had a power inverter but it blew up after 1 hour we lost everything but our corkscrew aminamies and the pagoda that i took to my inlaws in bucket. by the way anyone in Oklahoma want a corkscrew