Power went out while on vacation, lost everything

[thefeds]

I’ve “skimmed” (no pun intended) your build thread and noticed you have an Apex. Did it not send an alert?

It did, but I was out of town, and nothing could be done. I had a sinking feeling as I came home it would not be good.

 

[littlefoxx]

I had this happen to me as well, breaker issue. It was horrible and I almost threw in the towel. But take a break, figure out what you want to do with your tank, take time and process the loss and get it back up when you are ready. I think your rocks will be fine in the saltwater buckets until you are ready to put it back together and re cycle

 

[backbayreef]

It did, but I was out of town, and nothing could be done. I had a sinking feeling as I came home it would not be good.

Got it - that's horrible. Hope you'll come out of this disaster with a bigger & better setup? ;) I'm more optimistic than most... lol

It's a great hobby so enjoy the journey.

 

[thefeds]

I had this happen to me as well, breaker issue. It was horrible and I almost threw in the towel. But take a break, figure out what you want to do with your tank, take time and process the loss and get it back up when you are ready. I think your rocks will be fine in the saltwater buckets until you are ready to put it back together and re cycle

Thank you. I had just purchased these TBS rocks, I hope I can still re-use them sooner. Do you think I'll need to re-add bacteria or anything? I have already cleaned my tank and set it all up again, I am just waiting on water to be made. I also just emptied the bucket of rocks with cold salt water and added fresh salt water back in. The smell was awful. I hope a few rinse with fresh salt water and I can place them into the tank will be good enough?

 

[thefeds]

Got it - that's horrible. Hope you'll come out of this disaster with a bigger & better setup? ;) I'm more optimistic than most... lol

It's a great hobby so enjoy the journey.

Thanks, I really do enjoy the hobby. In fact, I have 2 tanks in the house, the smaller nano was not affected. I was able to re-organize my cables and put the orbit on the other wall.

 

[william Lutman]

Came home from "vacation" and my aquarium was completely dark and no power. All my fish, coral, crabs, shrimp, live rock is dead. I am crushed! I have no idea what do and am seeking some advice on how I can possibly save my TBS rock. It must have been 3-4 days with temps running in the upper 80's and low's 60. It smelled really bad, and my wife helped me empty the tank and move it outside overnight. I have my rock in a bucket with fresh salt water, but I don't know if it will be saved. This were turning the corner, and now this.

Little late, but I am adding battery backup - ReefBoxx

30 AH of lithium batteries, ReefBoxx and step up transformer to 24 volts. It will run my return pump for well over 24 hours

 

[Biokabe]

Thank you. We've been having AC issues. I brought in a portable to help keep room cool while we were gone. I can only guess it tripped the circuit. I don't have a dedicated room or anything like, this is just a simple hobby for me, so my tank is in my office next to me. I have started to make water, I meetings until 3pm today so I won't be able to get to cleaning tank until then. I don't have an extra heater, if I left the rocks in cold salt would that be ok and still usable until tomorrow?

That portable is what did you in. Portables are major power hogs, and the spike when the compressor kicks on can easily trip the circuit, especially if it's already a hot day. It happens to us with enough frequency that we now limit what we have on when the portable is running, and we never run it when we're going to be away from home for an extended period of time.

 

[littlefoxx]

Thank you. I had just purchased these TBS rocks, I hope I can still re-use them sooner. Do you think I'll need to re-add bacteria or anything? I have already cleaned my tank and set it all up again, I am just waiting on water to be made. I also just emptied the bucket of rocks with cold salt water and added fresh salt water back in. The smell was awful. I hope a few rinse with fresh salt water and I can place them into the tank will be good enough?

With mine I did a very large water change, waited two weeks for the ammonia to go down and then slowly added fish back. Mine was overnight when that happened in the middle of summer and no AC.

It wasnt cooking like yours was for that long, so I probably would add bacteria and just re cycle. But with the smell Im thinking you might have a lot of dead stuff on the rocks. I had that happen to me during a tank transfer after a cucumber nuked my old tank. The rocks just keep leaching ammonia into my tank. I bleached them for 48 hours, rinsed them super well, let them fully dry then re started. Some were also TBS rocks (not a lot) but the rocks were 2 years mature at that point. Sucked but was the only way

 

[thefeds]

greeeeat....and now my light just died!! ***!

 

[thefeds]

ReeFi UNO PCB board blew. Warranty request submitted.

At least I have my Lagoon back up and running with RO water currently warming up.

 

[areefer01]

Having experienced something similar back in 2000 - 2001 with ENRON and Ca's power grid manipulation I had a circuit breaker trip while on vacation and lost everything. I will never forget the horrid smell upon entering the house. Total loss.

Here is what I did, more or less based on what I remember from back then.

• Make water, treat it as an emergency (tap water, lots of prime, and instant ocean salt)
• Grab a trash can
• Grab a 2 or 3 tote / storage bins (I had food grade, safe) but buckets also work (clean buckets, saltwater ones, etc)
• Open windows
• Put on some calm music
• Gloves
• Ladder, stepping stool
• Towels
• Remove lights, power heads, equipment
• Remove all dead animals be it coral or fish or snail, everything using hands or nets
• At this point I had everything out but the substrate and rocks plus any corals attached to rocks
• Start removing rocks, place in bins
• Took outside, removed corals to get base rock, place in a bin or bucket with fresh saltwater, heater, and powerhead - part one of saving
• Next I cleaned out the sump again removing equipment, junk, cleaned it up, put it back
• Back to the display. Add fresh saltwater, power head, add back rocks, verify everything is working, no leaks, note on display date, time, and watch the cycle

Something along those lines. Basically I juggled making a fresh batch of saltwater using tap water with prime to make it useable. Cheap salt. I needed water and did not want to wait for rodi. In parallel cleaned out display, cleaned rocks, removed crap from sump, and got it fired back up to put the rocks back in. No lights are needed so I kept them off. I did keep the skimmer running though. Couple weeks later turn on the lights and started to see some zoa's that I thought I had scrapped off come back to life. It finds a way.

Hind site being 20/20 had I had my neighbor check in I could have prevented this. Another option is of course partial battery backup for power heads but that will last only so long and if out of town, country, well, it is a problem. 2 unique power circuits is ideal but of course most homes outside of custom or added circuits later are in the whole room or groups like den, bedroom, etc.

Sorry this happened. If you have a trustworthy neighbor or a family member nearby after my experience I check to see if they can visit once a day or be available by phone.

 

[themcnertney]

Happen to me back in 2010 only different circumstances. After six months I added a sump. The silicone I used wasn’t aquatic safe and leached something in the water. Everything gone in 12 hours.

I fixed the sump. Did 100% water change. And basically recycled or built up bacteria. Took a month or so and was back in business. The only positive about this is I knew much more since I started. Chose my fish and coral that I didn’t like the first round

I also had a major tank crash when moving my 220 downstairs. Lost most coral and all my fish but my clowns.

 

[hatfielj]

As others have said, your live rock is fine. It just needs to cycle for a few weeks. I would add Microbacter7 or similar product to the water to help it along.
Otherwise, just think of it as a fresh start and learn how not to let the same mistake happen again. Look into investing in a battery back up system for a powerhead or return pump. That alone could have potentially saved you.
I'm considering adding one of these capable of running a pump for days depending on which size you get and how much power your pump uses: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B8...d_r=3e2e7334-1ec2-4ad1-aa37-fe7f87321f91&th=1

You could even get a bigger one capable of keeping your entire set up running if you wanted.

 

[Brian_68]

As others have said, your live rock is fine. It just needs to cycle for a few weeks. I would add Microbacter7 or similar product to the water to help it along.
Otherwise, just think of it as a fresh start and learn how not to let the same mistake happen again. Look into investing in a battery back up system for a powerhead or return pump. That alone could have potentially saved you.
I'm considering adding one of these capable of running a pump for days depending on which size you get and how much power your pump uses: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B8MXPRDB/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&aaxitk=6cd1213662428f779fae7ea5a76884c4&hsa_cr_id=0&qid=1756163668&sr=1-1-9e67e56a-6f64-441f-a281-df67fc737124&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_dlcd_asin_0_img&pd_rd_w=hNoak&content-id=amzn1.sym.9f2b2b9e-47e9-4764-a4dc-2be2f6fca36d:amzn1.sym.9f2b2b9e-47e9-4764-a4dc-2be2f6fca36d&pf_rd_p=9f2b2b9e-47e9-4764-a4dc-2be2f6fca36d&pf_rd_r=CATK4MN9EN5DNKEG5ZG6&pd_rd_wg=KxtsW&pd_rd_r=3e2e7334-1ec2-4ad1-aa37-fe7f87321f91&th=1

You could even get a bigger one capable of keeping your entire set up running if you wanted.

You would need a bigger one than that to get a day run time. That one won't run a 10 watt pump for 24 hours and most pumps are way more than that. I was looking at a 1000wh one to at least have time for someone to stop by in a reasonable time. I just was out of town for two weeks and had cameras on a lot too.

 

[hatfielj]

You would need a bigger one than that to get a day run time. That one won't run a 10 watt pump for 24 hours and most pumps are way more than that. I was looking at a 1000wh one to at least have time for someone to stop by in a reasonable time. I just was out of town for two weeks and had cameras on a lot too.

Not sure how you calculated that, but a 256 watt hour battery can run a 10 watt appliance for 25 hours. With a Vortech MP40, if you use the battery back up port and connect it to the DC output on the back up battery, it would run at half speed, so 10 watts is a very realistic power consumption for a back up situation like that.

The reason I linked to that battery as an example is because it's the same price as an Ecotech battery back up but it's a way more reliable and long lasting lithium battery with more run time than the Ecotech battery (at 12 volts).

 

[Should I]

Risk you take when you leave the tank alone for days/weeks/months

 

[Brian_68]

Not sure how you calculated that, but a 256 watt hour battery can run a 10 watt appliance for 25 hours. With a Vortech MP40, if you use the battery back up port and connect it to the DC output on the back up battery, it would run at half speed, so 10 watts is a very realistic power consumption for a back up situation like that.

The reason I linked to that battery as an example is because it's the same price as an Ecotech battery back up but it's a way more reliable and long lasting lithium battery with more run time than the Ecotech battery (at 12 volts).

You did not consider the efficiency of it which is typically around 85 to 90% conversion for those. So the 256wh is actually around 220 and that is when the batteries are brand new, not over time which drops even more.

 

[Jimbo327]

Most likely the portable AC is tripping the breaker. Try not to run anything else besides your tank equipment on the same circuit. If you have to, use an extension cord onto another circuit. Or have an electrician run a dedicated circuit with its own breaker to your tank. Some people run 2 breakers to 2 plugs for their big tanks as bigger chillers and heaters pull a lot of juice and start-up amp can trip breakers.

Sorry for your loss. This is quite common, so it’s a mistake than many of us have made before. It sucks, but the rocks is still alive can be re-used after die off.

 

[thefeds]

Update time.
As of this morning, I have all my TBS rock back into by tank and it is cycling in the dark. I also shipped my ReeFi out for warranty so it kind of works out. I will leave it cycling in the dark for 2 weeks, then do a water change. Would 50% water change be a good idea?

 

[Malcontent]

The newer portable ACs with inverters are better at not tripping breakers but it can still happen. I probably would've left it off or moved it to a different circuit. I have mine on a 12 ga extension cord...