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stage3-S4

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I havent had power in my house since thursday night and will not be restored untill 8pm tonight. Unforuntaly My house runs on electric heat and I had no way of getting access to a generator till today. My street was blocked off due to down 12kv transmisson lines so I had no way of getting out of my house for the past 2 days. All of my acans, elegence coral, frogspawn, all looks to be dead. The tank water dropped to 56 degrees so it is doubtfull that any thing will live. It sucks because I am a college student who doesnt have lots of money and the tank was only 6 months old. Anyone think I should complain to con ed for reimbursment? I was just wondering if the live rock and live sand would still be ok to use or will I have to start over. Any suggestions as to what to do would greatly be appricated.
 

KathyC

Moderator
Location
Barnum Island
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So sorry to hear this!

Were there fish in there?

Are you running off a generator now?
Can you bring the temp of the tank back up? You want to do this slowly!

Remove any coral that is dead and if possible do a water change - as much as you can. Also run carbon.

Can any of our reefers in Westchester help this fellow out?
With water, or go over and take a look and assess the damage?
 

stage3-S4

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I do not have access to a generator right now. The place I usually rent them from Decker tool rental in thornwood is all out of them and home depot only has a huge 5.5kw generator for like 900 bucks which is overkill. I small 1000w generator is more than enough. I do not have access to warm RO water unless I heat like 20 gallons of it on my stove. There was just one zebra barred dartfish which I paid 20 bucks for that im not so worried about. There are also 2 scarlet shrimps in there. At this point the only way to really bring up the water temp is with a generator so if someone has one I could borrow for today, that may be the best bit.
 

KathyC

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Location
Barnum Island
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You said power is supposed to be back on at 8?

Not a bad idea to warm some rodi water and float it in the tank in sealed bottles so you don't loose and more heat from the tank. Change it every hour or so and save it to make more new SW.

Most important thing right now is keep the tank oxygenated (are you doing that? How?) and take out anything you are sure is dead (even if you put it in a bucket if you are not 100% sure) so the water in the main tank doesn't foul even further.

Some tips in here - for loss of power.
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/42407-emergency-measures-use-now.html
 

House of Laughter

Super Moderator
Staff member
Vendor
Location
Ossining, NY
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Home Depot has a 5000w Coleman that uses a briggs and stratton motor that I bought for $399.

Uses regular gas, starts every time I pull it and have used it several times already - it has been worth it's weight in gold since I bought it.

I'd offer you mine, but I have an entire pine precariously perched on all of our power lines in front of my house.

If that takes the wires down, I'd be without it and can't afford that. Sorry I can't help out with the loaner, but figured I'd offer up the advice from HD.

As an aside, if you have a gas stove, you can heat smaller pots of tank water to bring the temp back up.

Good luck and sorry to hear.

House
 

stage3-S4

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Home Depot has a 5000w Coleman that uses a briggs and stratton motor that I bought for $399.

Uses regular gas, starts every time I pull it and have used it several times already - it has been worth it's weight in gold since I bought it.

I'd offer you mine, but I have an entire pine precariously perched on all of our power lines in front of my house.

If that takes the wires down, I'd be without it and can't afford that. Sorry I can't help out with the loaner, but figured I'd offer up the advice from HD.

As an aside, if you have a gas stove, you can heat smaller pots of tank water to bring the temp back up.

Good luck and sorry to hear.

House

Thanks Jim, I appreciate your wanting to help me out. The problem is Home depot is sold out of every generator except for the 900 dollar model. The only home depot around that has them is Yonkers. Our area really took a beating from the storm. Hardscrabble road is a total disaster, they now told me I wont have power till tuesday. I may just bring what I have left to a friends house for the time being. Anything I should do with the live rock or just leave it?
 

Keith P

Mr. No-Show
Location
Great Neck, NY
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I checked with lowe's web site. They don't have any affordable generators either (in danbury).

If I were you, I wold be calling every hardware/tool store I could.

Good luck. Wish I could help more.
 

bethzb

Experienced Reefer
Location
Croton on Hudson
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We returned a generator to Decker tool yesterday. Used it for my tank after spending all day Friday heating up water. I was able to keep my tank at 72 during the outage but broke down and got the last generator at Decker Friday afternoon. Sorry but it is back there now. OUr power was returned yesterday evening.
 

Keith P

Mr. No-Show
Location
Great Neck, NY
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Albano is correct. Heck, Ive had things live in a bucket of cold stagnant water for a long time. You'd be surprised what can bounce back. Just get the tank water quality back up. Carbon, water changes, etc...

Worse case, you know your MR family will help you :wink1:
 

stage3-S4

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yea, I have an air pump, I already bought 1500watt generator on craigslist for 200 bucks. Yea, I didnt throw anything out yet, Everything is just sitting in my friends tank. I knew for sure my Elegance coral was dead as it was just a skeleton left without flesh same for my frogspawn. My zoas are still closed up, maybe they will open up, Ill just wait and see. Albano I appricate the help, Ill let you know when my tank gets back to normal. It sucks to because I just bough an MRC calicum reactor setup for 250 bucks.
 

Lunareclipse

Fishes are cuddly
Location
Ohio
Rating - 100%
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Just in case something like that happens here, I always have tons of those Hot Hands hand warmers. Those kind where you rip open the package and shake them and they heat up. I tape them to the front and sides of the tank and wrap the tank in a comforter. The Hot Hands can get very hot, so keep an eye on them. They last for about 8 hours.
 

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