Complete power failure - Help!

[Bugblu98]

32 Gal Coralife BioCube w/ 6 fish, 1 Anemone, corals, and CUC

Yesterday we did a water change and when plugging everything back in, we plugged the entire system into an outlet that was on a switch by accident. When we went to bed at 11:30pm we shut down the whole system. This morning at 7:30 I went to feed my fish and everything was off. I quickly realized what happened and got everything turned back on.

1 fish (Coral Beauty) was dead, 1 fish (Fairy Wrasse) on it’s side curled and breathing heavy, other 4 fish (2 clowns, 1 tang, and blenny) seem to be ok. Removed the Coral Angel. Put the Fairy Wrasse in a breeder net and have and air stone running directly under it to help push oxygen into him. Not looking so good.

The corals seem to look ok, and what CUC I see seems to be ok.

My Anemone is under a rock in the back of the tank and is completely pulled in. I really can’t see him but a few tentacles which are completely deflated and laying in the sand. In order to get to him I would have to completely take my rocks apart. What do I do? Do I chance that he’s ok and leave it alone or a whole or do I take everything apart to see if he’s still alive?

I’m devastated over this. I feel like such a horrible person. I know and will have a battery backup on this system ASAP. This is my first saltwater tank. I’ve done the research and know one should be on there. I’ve even look at them. Just haven’t hit one yet[emoji24]

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Ron Reefman]

What was done, is done and you've set things right by turning the power back on. Don't feel too bad, almost ever reefer has a story of some screw up or poor decision they've made that cost them loses. I had a chiller that turned on and didn't turn off all night. The next morning my tank was 55 degrees and I lost 98% of my sps corals that were in a 125g tank that was 80% or more sps. I was broken hearted at the loss of 2 years of coral growth and about $1000 to $1500 worth of sps coral colonies!

You may have some further die off, but IMHO it a low risk concern. Your anemone is a 50/50 deal. They can be resilient, but if it dies it won't be holding on to anything anymore and maybe just blowing some water at it with a turkey baster could get it to move out where you can collect it. Good luck.

If I were you, I'd plug something, anything, even a child proof outlet blocker into that outlet that is switched. We have some in our house where there are 2 outlets and only one is switched. I just put a label above the switched one as a reminder. And given that it is switched, it's unlikely (but not impossible) that that outlet (both switched and not switched) are not GFI protected. I put a new circuit breaker in our box, used a GFI breaker and ran 2 lines to the wall the tank is on. Even if you have to pay an electrician to do this, it's probably worth the effort and cost.

 

[Retro Reefer]

sorry about your issues.. you need to get oxygen into your tank ASAP, point power heads toward water surface and make water for more water changes. I would leave the anemone alone for now

 

[Retro Reefer]

Just another note.. you where way overstocked on fish in that tank which probably expedited oxygen depletion, be sure to research everything you put into your tank tangs need 70+ gallons as a absolute minimum

 

[Bugblu98]

Just another note.. you where way overstocked on fish in that tank which probably expedited oxygen depletion, be sure to research everything you put into your tank tangs need 70+ gallons as a absolute minimum

Thank you! The tang I have is the size of a half dollar at best. I know that he will eventually need to be re-homed and my goal was to learn on a small tank and then upgrade to a larger one. The tang, 2 small clowns, and Blenny are fine. The Angel was the largest fish I had. Is that why he went first or just because Angels are so delicate?

 

[Bugblu98]

sorry about your issues.. you need to get oxygen into your tank ASAP, point power heads toward water surface and make water for more water changes. I would leave the anemone alone for now

Thank you! I have the power head and the fan pointing up. I also put an air stone in to create more oxygen.