Power outage in Toronto

[MikeInToronto]

I'm not sure how many of you lost animals from your tanks because of this ice storm. I have officially lost everything in my tank.

It wasn't lack of air in the tank, it was the drop in temperature. I have been out of power for 4 days now. Unfortunately my family was also out of power. By the time my dad got power back the temperature had already dropped to 9C in the tank and I was working so I couldn't be around to add hot water to the tank on a constant basis. For my own health I abandoned the dying tank and left for dad's. I took what I could: my LTA, starfish, a ricordia, and a piece of GSP, and filled a spare tank with warm tap water and salt and hoped for the best. I couldn't find the nigripes clownfish so I think she died before I got to her. Last night the mushroom went, then the star, and when I got home this evening the anemone had gone. My tank at home is a brown soup. I literally have to start all over again.

It was 2.5C in the house this morning. I think the tank was 6C. I'm afraid what it will smell like once the power goes back on.

It breaks my heart. This was my 'somewhat' dream tank but it bothers me most that I couldn't save the animals in it.

I think I might remove the sand and pick a different anemone/clown combo.

 

[Dashylock]

Sorry to hear about your loss mate...I am sure you will recover with an even more spectacular tank!

 

[MikeInToronto]

Thanks. I've switched gears for the "new" tank. I can get another purple LTA in about a month but I've decided to remove the sand and go for a rock dwelling anemone. That leaves a BTA or magnifica. Well I chose A. melanopus as my clown of choice and that leaves a BTA. Not my favourite but easy to keep.

My previous anemone was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. But I guess it was time to move on. Very sad.

 

[Pinkskunk]

sorry to hear that. it is always my worst fear, i have a power generator but i am still very nervous everytime there is a wind storm of some sorts.......

 

[Breadman03]

That stinks!

Prior to SS Sandy, I wanted to get a small, efficient generator. Sandy convinced my wife that we should have one, so I got a Yamaha EF2000is, which can run for about 8 hours on a gallon of gas. Fortunately, Sandy was just windy and wet for us, but lots of folks in New Jersey and other coastal areas found out that gas might be in short supply for weeks after such a storm. Generators were useless when people had to drive for 4+ hours each way to find a station with fuel.

 

[MikeInToronto]

That stinks!

If you really want to know what stinks it's the rocks that are re-curing in the barrel. It literally smells like urine. I debated whether I should have just left the rocks in the tank and cured them there but now I'm glad I chose to remove everything. The smell is so bad I had to do a partial water change to get the smell down. I don't even know if the rocks are worth keeping. Knowing my luck, the bubble algae will be the only thing alive.

I removed the DSB and surprisingly it didn't smell, even near the bottom. So either I did everything right or everything completely wrong. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to dump it or keep it. Maybe it can be given away(?).

I found out that a $200 generator would have saved everything. Never in my life has this ever happened before so I didn't expect it. The longest I thought I'd have to deal a power outage is maybe a day so I have a battery powered air pump. But 5 days? I hope it never happens again but in the meanwhile, I'm going to pick up that generator; just in case.

 

[faith04]

I live just outside of Toronto, and got "lucky" and only lost hydro for 10 hours. There are so many sad stories of people who STILL don't have hydro and have lost everything, we have some People around who are housing other peoples livestock in qt until they get hydro back. Some really nice people willing to extend a helping hand and open their homes to others, truly inspiring. Others have taken this opportunity even though they have lost everything to see the bright side and will rebuild even bigger and better than before. Here's to hoping everybody has a safe and happy holidays despite the circumstances!