Hurricane Irene's Aftermath

[smitty]

Hurricane Irene came and left a devastating death toll on my aquariums. I blame myself for not being properly prepared for the extended loss of power.
180 gallon: Hemiancistrus (L128); Leporacanthicus Triactis (Three Beacon, L091); Pseudolithoxus Anthrax (Flyer Cat, L235); Ancistrus sp(l071); Parancistrus Nudiventris (Peppermint Pleco, L31, L176, L300, LDA004); Peckoltia; Scobinancistrus cf Pariolispos (L048);
200 gallon: Dekeyseria (L052); Baryancistrus (L142); Baryancistrus Xanthellus (L018, L085, L177, LDA060);

I am going to give myself a few days to see how I feel but I am considering shutting it down. I the borough I live in is notorious for having power failures though I never loose anything but I am just tired of the daunting task of having to go into damage control every time something happens. If I do decide to stay with it I am pretty sure I will not replace the ones I lost.

[MatsP]

Sorry for your losses. How long where you out of power for?

Hindsight and all that, but a petrol generator is a life-saver in these situations.

--
Mats

[smitty]

Mat you are right. I was out of power for a little over 24 hours which I could not figure out why I lost anything since I have been without power once before for 3 days and did not lose anything. But I thing a number of factors came together at the wrong time for me.
1. My last water change was 8/21/2011
2. I fed my managuense about 300 goldfish just a couple of days prior.
3. I fed and fish and plecos right before the power went out.

The time it went out before I did a water change the day before or the day of the power outage. I really did not think the storm was going to be bad. Which even the weather people have said was not as bad as forecasted. The problem was to power company said they did not know where the problem was at which caused me to be without power for over 24 hours. Because my tanks are below ground level I could not change water.

[exasperatus2002]

Thats sad to hear, both of your loss but that you may get out of it. They sell battery back ups, used alot for computers incase of power outtages you may want to look into. they also have battery operated air pumps (for live bait) thats handy in a pinch. I was lucky, I was out for 12 hrs & the fish were just starting to surface when it came back on. I got out of the hobby once, when I lost my prized male discus. He'd spawn with a pair of sister red turq's. He'd gotten stuck in between branches of driftwood & suffocated. I tore it all down, gave the others away. I regreted it. Its a learning experience for us all. Before the hurricane, we all should have stopped feeding 24-48 hrs befores to cut back on ammonia production & done a large water change.

[smitty]

After thinking about it the goldfish did not factor in because I actually fed them before the water change. But me feeding them just before I lost power I know for sure played a part. Live and learn.

[andregurov]

You already seem to know exactly where you went wrong, but sometimes we just get lax in the face of an emergency. Unluckily for me, hurricane/aquarium drills are pretty commonplace.

Don't quit the hobby yet, just be cautious about your feeding and water-change regimen (and your filter cleaning too!). Perhaps we need a few "errors" to remind us of our responsibility to our charges?

[smitty]

andregurov, I am definitely listening to everyone. It is funny that you mention filters because I just service all my canisters filters 3 weeks ago. On my 180 I have a Eheim 2217,2260 and a fluval 405 along with 3 aquaclear 110 power filters and 2 110 aquaclear power heads. On the 200 I have Eheim 2250, 2262; Fluval 405, 4 aquaclear 110 power filters, 2 aquaclear 110 power heads. But what good are they with the power off. Right now I am frustrated and mad as f... at myself. It has not been a good f...ing day for me. I am kicking myself for feeding. Actually I am mad I let my guard down. I am going to be messed up mentally for a while.

[andregurov]

Sorry, I forget not everyone HAS to evacuate for a hurricane! One big issue to remember (for us, at least) is that if power is lost and filters aren't cleaned right before, it is possible that power comes back on and spews the nasty murk into the tank, thus killing the inhabitants, ironically, once the power comes back on. I've several friends that have lost fish this way over the years.