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Sad day for my saltwater


Lovesalt

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I'm away on vacation and I get a call yesterday that my tank cracked down the front and is empty. All the water is now in my basement and everything in the tank is dead. Fortunately Holly (gilandfin) ran over there and rescued a few crabs and maybe some zoas but mostly it's a total loss [emoji30]. Such an unexpected thing to happen. I'm pretty crushed, and I haven't even witnessed the devastation yet for myself. I'm really hoping my house doesn't smell like dead fish when I get home tomorrow.

 

 

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Ouch. Sorry to hear that. I hope that quite a bit of the zoa's were saved. They are hardy little things. You know...even some of the SPS can withstand being out a water for a while. Maybe than you think are alive. Gil&Fin did the right thing by going by.

 

Just be positive.

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When you get home if you want help getting it back up hit me up. I can come over and help out, donate some frags.

 

Let us know what you need. One great thing about this community over the last 10 years I have seen is that we all support each other.

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How completely devastating!! That's so awful. I am also happy to donate a frag or two. Heck maybe we can even do an auction to help you get on your feet again.

 

That's an awful feeling when you aren't even in town. What a completely helpless feeling.

 

Nice work Holly helping what you could.

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Man - that sucks. 

 

The tank cracked down the front panel? That's rough - I wonder if a rock slide or something caused it? 

 

I don't know how big the tank was (and thus how much water we're talking about), but I had EXTENSIVE conversations with my home owners insurance company about covering water damage from the tank exploding and everybody I spoke to said it would be covered completely. They wont replace the tank or the inhabitants, but technically it's no different than a washing machine breaking or a hot water heater. They said it's treated as flooding from an appliance and that's covered.

 

Might not be worth the increase in your policy rate, but if we're talking 10k worth of damage, it's something to look into. 

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Man - that sucks.

 

The tank cracked down the front panel? That's rough - I wonder if a rock slide or something caused it?

 

I don't know how big the tank was (and thus how much water we're talking about), but I had EXTENSIVE conversations with my home owners insurance company about covering water damage from the tank exploding and everybody I spoke to said it would be covered completely. They wont replace the tank or the inhabitants, but technically it's no different than a washing machine breaking or a hot water heater. They said it's treated as flooding from an appliance and that's covered.

 

Might not be worth the increase in your policy rate, but if we're talking 10k worth of damage, it's something to look into.

That is great information for all of us thanks for sharing!

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So we came home and the basement isn't too bad. My awesome neighbor mopped up what he could and then put fans in the wet areas so they dried pretty quickly. Unfortunately my newly refinished hardwoods in my kitchen are swollen and cupped. Probably will need some work there. Holly did manage to save a few things for me so today I will round up a temporary system. We are just starting a remodel and once that's done I'm going to start again. Can't wait actually. Thank you for the kind words and offers. This is a great little community [emoji4]

 

 

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I am absolutely amazed at how many things are likely to pull through. Like Susie said, there was a complete crack in the tank and ALL the water drained out. At best, there were some moist spots. As I recall, Susie said it happened sometime between the night before and the morning the neighbor came to check on things. It was at least 3 hours and more likely 12+ hours by the time I got there. The neighbor had taken the cracked tank outside where it was relatively chilly.

 

I brought a bucket of saltwater with me. The damage was heartbreaking. All of the fish were on the sandbed, stiff as a board. Two of them were not completely dried out so I took them, which was silly really. The only thing in the tank that was moving was one huge blue legged hermit crab, which is actually kind of funny (if there is anything funny about this) because it is the one animal that Susie had complained about knocking over her corals. Anyway, I took almost all of the snails and the two hermit crabs.

 

Susie had a number of anemones, but they were laying flat and melty on the rocks. I picked them off, one by one, and the ones that didn't disintegrate in my hand went in the bucket. The dried trumpet corals went into the bucket. All the zoanthids that were on a plug or could easily be removed from the rocks went into the bucket. I might have been able to pick a few off the rocks but I had no safety glasses and they were not looking good in any case. There were two nice-sized ricordeas and I think two smaller ones. Into the bucket. There were a couple of small birdsnests and a digi, too. Maybe a couple of more small things that escape my memory now.

 

I brought them home and set up a 20 gallon to put them in. I did a little culling (the fish and an anemone I think) and put the rest in with just a heater and small pump to keep the water moving. Within an hour or two the water was fouled, so I pulled out a couple of trumpets (which were really bad off) and changed the water. I did this six times over the next 24 hours, then did a reality check and threw out almost anything that did not have a chance.

 

So here is one of the lessons I learned--Be discerning when deciding what to save and what not to. I erred on the side of keeping anything that might possibly be saved. That was to the detriment of those things that were likely to live because the disintegration caused the water to foul something awful. I did not test ammonia, but I imagine it was through the roof.

 

Another lesson learned--If there is any way you can keep a spare 20 gallon (at least, depending on your DT size), heater, and pump, do it. We always think of a spare tank as a quarantine or hospital tank. But if I didn't have that 20 gallon to set up in a pinch, either all of those things would have died or I would have put my own tank at risk from the die-off.

 

What was left went into my frag tank. The two large ricordeas and two of the three anemones were gone within a the day.

 

BUT, many things survived! Both hermit crabs, five out of seven snails, one of the three anemones, a small ricordea, and--fingers crossed--all of the zoanthids.

 

Last lesson learned--If there is an emergency with your tank, let your fellow reefers know. There are many that can/will help. Look at all the reefers above that have already offered to donate frags! It's things like this that really bring out the best in us and in a world that sometimes seems like everyone else is out for themselves, it is refreshing to be part of a group that rises above that. Now I better go before I get too sappy. :onthego:

907bbd9c908aa8a8bea71ae5b5c9e49c.jpg58b9e70e1570034ab4da06132ed70282.jpgf504d5483e622fd26601e0c8600aee5c.jpg33091fba80075362a7999d801cfa3fe5.jpgae5db3d77577229a677904e2cb06ee66.jpg

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Wow Holly you went above and beyond! Very impressive and great advice there! Hermits are pretty hardy. 

When we set up the Pioneer tank it was originally planned for 2 weeks prior but that fell through but unfortunately the live rock and some hermit crabs sat for 2 weeks and they did great.

Zoas are amazing too. Some people ship them in just paper towels. 

 

I'm glad that all was not lost! This is a great community! :applause:  :applause:  :applause:

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I am absolutely amazed at how many things are likely to pull through. Like Susie said, there was a complete crack in the tank and ALL the water drained out. At best, there were some moist spots. As I recall, Susie said it happened sometime between the night before and the morning the neighbor came to check on things. It was at least 3 hours and more likely 12+ hours by the time I got there. The neighbor had taken the cracked tank outside where it was relatively chilly.

 

I brought a bucket of saltwater with me. The damage was heartbreaking. All of the fish were on the sandbed, stiff as a board. Two of them were not completely dried out so I took them, which was silly really. The only thing in the tank that was moving was one huge blue legged hermit crab, which is actually kind of funny (if there is anything funny about this) because it is the one animal that Susie had complained about knocking over her corals. Anyway, I took almost all of the snails and the two hermit crabs.

 

Susie had a number of anemones, but they were laying flat and melty on the rocks. I picked them off, one by one, and the ones that didn't disintegrate in my hand went in the bucket. The dried trumpet corals went into the bucket. All the zoanthids that were on a plug or could easily be removed from the rocks went into the bucket. I might have been able to pick a few off the rocks but I had no safety glasses and they were not looking good in any case. There were two nice-sized ricordeas and I think two smaller ones. Into the bucket. There were a couple of small birdsnests and a digi, too. Maybe a couple of more small things that escape my memory now.

 

I brought them home and set up a 20 gallon to put them in. I did a little culling (the fish and an anemone I think) and put the rest in with just a heater and small pump to keep the water moving. Within an hour or two the water was fouled, so I pulled out a couple of trumpets (which were really bad off) and changed the water. I did this six times over the next 24 hours, then did a reality check and threw out almost anything that did not have a chance.

 

So here is one of the lessons I learned--Be discerning when deciding what to save and what not to. I erred on the side of keeping anything that might possibly be saved. That was to the detriment of those things that were likely to live because the disintegration caused the water to foul something awful. I did not test ammonia, but I imagine it was through the roof.

 

Another lesson learned--If there is any way you can keep a spare 20 gallon (at least, depending on your DT size), heater, and pump, do it. We always think of a spare tank as a quarantine or hospital tank. But if I didn't have that 20 gallon to set up in a pinch, either all of those things would have died or I would have put my own tank at risk from the die-off.

 

What was left went into my frag tank. The two large ricordeas and two of the three anemones were gone within a the day.

 

BUT, many things survived! Both hermit crabs, five out of seven snails, one of the three anemones, a small ricordea, and--fingers crossed--all of the zoanthids.

 

Last lesson learned--If there is an emergency with your tank, let your fellow reefers know. There are many that can/will help. Look at all the reefers above that have already offered to donate frags! It's things like this that really bring out the best in us and in a world that sometimes seems like everyone else is out for themselves, it is refreshing to be part of a group that rises above that. Now I better go before I get too sappy. :onthego:

907bbd9c908aa8a8bea71ae5b5c9e49c.jpg58b9e70e1570034ab4da06132ed70282.jpgf504d5483e622fd26601e0c8600aee5c.jpg33091fba80075362a7999d801cfa3fe5.jpgae5db3d77577229a677904e2cb06ee66.jpg

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