Sad Day.......uuuughh

[jelwyoming]

Yeah, it sure is a disappointment, especially when I had the equipment on hand to prevent it. Well, UPSs are installed now. I have one on power heads and a second on the recirc and reactor pumps. I left the lights off of them since they are half my power load. I can go much longer without them.
I was really disapponted about the female clarkii. She was a breeding female about 5 years old. I hope that I can find a replacement soon that will accept the male. The sad part of it is that she was extremely docile with the other fish; not so clarkii like.

 

[chaseracing]

I am not discounting anything said above, but is it really possible to kill off so many fish just from a power loss?

This has never happened to me, but I find it hard to accept that just simply no lights or flow can kill off so many inhabitants in such a short period of time.

Am I wrong?

-=E=-

 

[jelwyoming]

In a heavily stocked tank, like mine was (18 fish), the water quality goes down very fast with no flow. In my case, I have a 120g tall, with less surface area than a standard 120g. Flow is a must in order to keep the water oxygenated well.
As soon as I started the system back up this morning, the remaining inhabitants came to fairly quickly. Please note that it was not just the flow. I lost heating too. The tank temperature had dropped to 70F, which some of the more delicate fish cannot handle for long.

 

[MeuserReef]

Sorry to hear about your losses. You sound like your taking this pretty well considering.... Keep your head up. As an alumni of the school of hard knocks, I can say that you will only be a better reefkeeper after going through this.

 

[MeuserReef]

oh wait.... Im still attending the school of hard knocks... and I dont see graduation on the horizon

 

[jelwyoming]

Yes, this wasn't the first knock, and I am sure that it won't be the last one either!
A couple of the fish we've had since we started saltwater tanks nearly 4 years ago. Sad!

 

[jelwyoming]

It looks like I am going to loose my prized copperband. He was one that made it through yesterday, but was not looking well after that episode. Today, he has developed a large bruised spot. Yesterday, it looked as if he had been caught between rocks and pinched at this point. It is just getting worse. He is so sensitive, that I don't dare try to set up a quarentine that fast.

 

[dc]

Sorry to hear this. I know it's a drag when stuff like this happens.

 

[jelwyoming]

Thanks. It is. Hard to replace some of it here in Wyoming as you may know. We're pretty limited to internet purchases.

 

[dc]

I live an hour from Salt Lake, so it's not too bad here.

 

[jelwyoming]

Good for you! Nothing like that over here on the east side of the state; long ways to Denver or Fort Collins too.

 

[bues0022]

This may seem like a really stupid question, but what is a UPS?

 

[MeuserReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10180729#post10180729 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bues0022
This may seem like a really stupid question, but what is a UPS?

Uninterruptible Power Supply

a.k.a Battery Backup

 

[jelwyoming]

The only stupid question is that one that isn't asked.
As MeuserReef said, it is an uninterruptable Power Supply. They are used to quite a degree with computer systems when you want to garrantee the power to your computer. It just happens that larger ones work great for aquariums. I am now using a 1000w and 1500w unit on my 115g tank. One for power heads, the other for the recirc pump. Lights and non-essential items go straight the outlet.

 

[jelwyoming]

After restarting everything and rebalancing the chemistry, all the rest of the inhabitants, less my prized copperband, returned to normal within a very short time. This tells me that there was no poison of some sort, ammonia or whatever else from a leaky pump ect. that could have done this. Tested that water and it shows perfect.
After the tally, I lost 9 of 18 fish. My copperband that I have had for quite a while, a mystery wrasse, a velvet wrasse and a female breeding clarkii among the most precious. I have found a potential female replacement clown. That is some consolation. One of our fellow reefers, EastonReef offered some frags to help. That is real nice; shows what this kind of forum is about. Thanks!
I am considering replacing the various wrasses with just a trio ofanthias. Does that sound reasonable?

 

[jelwyoming]

Oh yeah, I found a red serpent star that I am considering. I hear that they are not nearly as hardy as the stardard colored ones. Any experience there?