Who else lost any livestock to PGE stupidity?

[kalare]

I have a generator, but my power went out at 11pm while I was sleeping...7 hours later even with my putting blankets on the tanks in preparation, some got cold. All tanks looked OK in the morning. I have 8 tanks, the larger ones and the freshwater fared fine. As soon as I woke up I turned on the generator and all tanks had power. I lost almost all my fish in one of my bare bottom Q tanks. My losses:

- 4" goldflake angelfish, 2 years owned...found it gasping for air on its side in the morning in one of my higher stocked tanks, threw it in the lighter stocked Q tank and it perked back up with more oxygen...this was a mistake.

- A pair of madarins, one of which was eating flake foods, 6 months owned.

- A TRUE chrysogaster clownfish, 6 months owned....freaking unreplaceable....

- Copperband butterfly

The only surviving fish is a skeletor moray. All in all, probably 1k with of fish losses, but money isn't everything...

The Q tank has been healthy with no new additions for months, I typically treat prophylactically with CP but for some reason, didn't this time and was observing...well nothing was observed for months. I've always been in the always Q and treat camp...no matter what people say about how long they've been doing this and how succussful they've been without Q...and I've been doing this for 25 years. I broke my prophylactic treatment rule once, and this is the aftermath.

I fully believe the power outage and colder water stressed my fish out to the point their immune systems were compromised and they contracted velvet. I immediately dosed with CP and did freshwater dips after noticing parasites. Freshwater dips helped and fish looked better after, next morning all dead.

Super sad, first because I'm always sad when a life is lost, especially under my care. Second because one of the fish, the clownfish is almost quite literally unreplaceable...and was a dream fish for me. I'll be on the hunt for a pair again, if anyone knows of any for sale, please let me know.

Angry at myself for not having been awake to put the generator one. Angry at myself for hastily throwing the goldflake in the Q tank to "save" it and get it more oxygen, in retrospect since I had turned the power back on, I should have left it in it's own tank, and at least that fish would have survived. Super angry at PGE for absolutely ridiculous shut offs in areas that have low fire danger, simply to cover their lack of maintenance.

Glad everything else is OK. Anemones and coral still seem to be thriving, all other fish in the 7 remaining tanks are doing well...so that's good. It could have been worse. But I just also keep thinking it really could have been better too.

Hope nobody else suffered any losses too big.

 

[MichaelReefer]

It really isn't completely PG&E's fault, our incompetent governor, Moonbeam Jr, gave them the ability to do it.

It does suck though, luckily I am in the Smud area.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I've very sorry to hear about what happened. IMO it's just PG&E holding the state hostage because of all the lawsuits from when they burned whole cities last year due to their negligence. Rather than fix the problem, they just shut off the power. PG&E spent billions in California investing in "clean" energy rather than updating their infrastructure. And yes, I too blame Moonbeam and Sacramento as much as PG&E.

I'm not sure where you live, but was your town not updating the power shut off times? In San Ramon we were getting updates throughout the day on Facebook, NextDoor, Twitter and others when the shutoff would actually happen. We knew to the minute. This was thanks to our police department, not thanks to PG&E.

 

[Silver14SS]

Sorry to hear about the losses. Out of curiosity, how low did the temperature get in the affected tanks?

 

[thewalkingdad]

So sorry about your loss.

Also very happy I moved away from the Bay this summer.

 

[RandyC]

Sucks man!

I too had a generator and eventually lost power, but because of the shifting times for power outages, I set up my Cobalt battery powered air pumps anyway in case the power went out when I was available to start up the generator. They'll detect when a power outage occurs and will turn on automatically when power goes out. I think this might be the norm for us, so the pumps are probably a good investment.

 

[kalare]

Thanks everyone...must move on. I've had power outages before over the years and never lost anything, but there's always a first time. Just like I used to not quarantine and never lost anything for probably 10 years, but there's always a first time...

I'm not sure where you live, but was your town not updating the power shut off times?

Yeah, I was looking up different websites for Alameda County and we had updated times from 12pm, then 8pm, then no updates. Shutoff never came and I covered tanks with blankets best I could, but beyond that I had nothing else I could do. I have an 8 month old and am perpetually exhausted so staying up to see whether or not power would shot just wasn't an option, I wouldn't physically have been able to do it without massive amounts of coffee and severe repercussions the next day.

Sorry to hear about the losses. Out of curiosity, how low did the temperature get in the affected tanks?

I believe it went do to 68-70 in the larger tanks (80g and up) and low to mid 60's in the smaller tanks (20g-50g). I tried to keep the house temp up before power went out, but of course without a blower, I couldn't keep the furnace going.

Sucks man!

I too had a generator and eventually lost power, but because of the shifting times for power outages, I set up my Cobalt battery powered air pumps anyway in case the power went out when I was available to start up the generator. They'll detect when a power outage occurs and will turn on automatically when power goes out. I think this might be the norm for us, so the pumps are probably a good investment.

I just learned about these of course this last week. I have the old style ones with D batteries that are horrible...I should really keep up with new tech. Definitely going to buy a bunch of these for the future, thanks for the link!

 

[ddrueckh]

Sorry to hear about your losses. I fell asleep just before the power outage just as you did. I had a generator ready but didn't get it hooked up until 5:30am when I woke up and saw we had no power. Lucky for me, non of my fish died and everything looks fine. I sure wish I had the money to purchase a Powerwall or something.

 

[USMA36]

I wouldn’t think 70 would kill fish so fast. was it lack of oxygen or were your pumps on a battery back up?

 

[kalare]

Definitely lack of oxygen and possible combination of colder temps that lowered their immune system. It wasn't outright cold temp that caused the deaths. I don't however think it's a coincidence that one day after the power outage all the fish besides the eel contracted velvet in a tank that had no signs of disease for the last year.

 

[User1]

I've very sorry to hear about what happened. IMO it's just PG&E holding the state hostage because of all the lawsuits from when they burned whole cities last year due to their negligence. Rather than fix the problem, they just shut off the power. PG&E spent billions in California investing in "clean" energy rather than updating their infrastructure. And yes, I too blame Moonbeam and Sacramento as much as PG&E.

I'm not sure where you live, but was your town not updating the power shut off times? In San Ramon we were getting updates throughout the day on Facebook, NextDoor, Twitter and others when the shutoff would actually happen. We knew to the minute. This was thanks to our police department, not thanks to PG&E.

To the Op - mind if I ask why you didn't leave the generator on?

With regards to the post I quoted - voters fault with regards to this and many other things in the State. But I do not want to derail the thread other than ask why the generator wasn't left on.

Also sorry for the losses. I lost my 100 gallon back in round one of the rolling brown outs due to ENRON. So I can understand your frustration.

 

[kalare]

As stated before, generator wasn't on because power wasn't out when I went to sleep. We had no updates on if/when power was going to go out, just a warning that it was possible and that it would have been 12pm, then 8pm, then nothing further. It was 10pm when I went to sleep and still had power. I was hoping they weren't going to turn it off. I don't think leaving a generator on all night, and plugging my tanks into it when I had power was a great idea, and I don't think my neighbors would have been too fond of me if I had a generator on all night while power was still connected. Once I woke up, the generator was continuously operating until the power kicked back on and then for another hour after that just in case they shut if off again.

In retrospect I was ill prepared, however we were only given like 1-2 days notice of possible shut off. I'll be purchasing enough usb battery powered air pumps for all my tanks shortly, and will be looking into UPS to run circulation pumps till I can get a generator up and running. I'm hesitant to blame myself for something that could have been avoided happening in the first place.

I'd really rather keep the politics out of this thread. I had a long post written about my thoughts on it and realized people would just argue over that rather than post about anything fish/loss related. People have their opinions and most won't be swayed.

 

[Stoney]

I just learned about these of course this last week. I have the old style ones with D batteries that are horrible...I should really keep up with new tech. Definitely going to buy a bunch of these for the future, thanks for the link!

Sorry to hear about the fish. Do you have the battery pumps with cord that automatically turn on when the power goes out? I've got some Penn plax pumps that have been going for over a decade now. They're always on the tank so oxygen isn't an issue if I'm asleep or out of the house during a power outage. I wanted to get a UPS, but haven't found one large enough to run the pumps for more than a few hours. The d cells in the air pumps last for a few days.

 

[Tamberav]

In the last power outage I wasn't home and lost 4 fish, one expensive and 3 rare. I was super bummed and even took one of the tanks down.

 

[User1]

As stated before, generator wasn't on because power wasn't out when I went to sleep. We had no updates on if/when power was going to go out, just a warning that it was possible and that it would have been 12pm, then 8pm, then nothing further. It was 10pm when I went to sleep and still had power. I was hoping they weren't going to turn it off. I don't think leaving a generator on all night, and plugging my tanks into it when I had power was a great idea, and I don't think my neighbors would have been too fond of me if I had a generator on all night while power was still connected. Once I woke up, the generator was continuously operating until the power kicked back on and then for another hour after that just in case they shut if off again.

In retrospect I was ill prepared, however we were only given like 1-2 days notice of possible shut off. I'll be purchasing enough usb battery powered air pumps for all my tanks shortly, and will be looking into UPS to run circulation pumps till I can get a generator up and running. I'm hesitant to blame myself for something that could have been avoided happening in the first place.

I'd really rather keep the politics out of this thread. I had a long post written about my thoughts on it and realized people would just argue over that rather than post about anything fish/loss related. People have their opinions and most won't be swayed.

I may have missed the point about power on before lights out. So I probably also missed the part about if you have a controller and if so what brand. If you do, do you have heart beat enabled or any other process that could notify you if power is out?

I guess that also would depend on how heavy of a sleep you are...

Again - sorry to hear. It is always easier to second guess after the fact so I get it. Not trying to poke the bear but maybe small things for next time.

 

[MnFish1]

Really sorry - I had a mated pair of gold flakes - one suddenly jumped out after breeding. I didnt notice it. (I have a lid now) but it was devastating - curious though - how long did the fish die after the incident. Second. after a power outage here - I bought a generator that kicks on automatically when the power goes off - has worked without a hitch - and though a little more expensive - this one can power the whole (or almost the whole house) - it was about t$7000 installed - and I assume will add a similar value (depreciated) when the house is sold.

 

[C_mo97]

Battery backups are defiantly the way to go in this situation. You can also only plug the life support systems in to conserve battery and have it last longer. Another way to make a battery backup last longer is set the controller to turn off anything non essential during an outage. It works either way. Sorry for your losses

 

[DivingTheWorld]

It was a really tricky situation for people around Northern California (something like 800k). I first heard about it Monday evening and the power was out (luckily not our neighborhood) by Wednesday evening. Some people who don't watch the news or go on social media found out even later or not at all. All the local stores were sold out of generators by Monday evening, so if you didn't already have one you were out of luck.

There are lots of good suggestions on this thread like battery back ups and other things, but just to point out, this was a first of it's kind event. We were not prepared and had little to no notice. In California we're not use to major storms and power outage events. When the power does go out, it's usually just for a couple hours tops. The new normal is multi-day power outages from Hurricane PG&E.

Now that we've been through it, many of us can start preparing for the next Third World power outage. Keep the suggestions coming though as I think that will help a lot of people whether they were effected or not.

 

[Kyl]

Whole house NG generator or a power wall are basically the only long-term options to completely avoid what that power company is going to be doing to you guys, what seems fairly regularly, going forward. Sorry for the losses.

 

[kalare]

...Now that we've been through it, many of us can start preparing for the next Third World power outage. Keep the suggestions coming though as I think that will help a lot of people whether they were effected or not.

Yep, no notice, some people had power out on Tuesday. I'll definitely be getting some usb/battery operated air pumps and researching into UPS for circulation pumps...perhaps connecting to marine batteries. I was looking into whole house generators however I'm also hoping to go solar in the next several years so I think that would be a waste for me. Solar and battery reserve is hopefully in my future.

I do have an Apex on the reef, though the reef was absolutely fine as it's lightly stocked fish wise and the live rock can take care of nitrogen cycle. The FO tanks and Q tanks however depend on HOB filters, which are off during power outage so I'm sure in combination with lack of oxygen, there were ammonia spikes. I of course threw some prime in every tank the minute I got up. I may program it to keep the temp lower around 72-74 and only run the WAV pumps during power outage and on UPS. I will however have to figure out to do that programming!

As to how long the fish died after the outage, 3 days. They were fine and eating the next day, noticed white dots the 2nd day - still active and eating, added CP thinking ick from stress, completely covered in white specs third morning, dead in hours. Most likely velvet...maybe brook. First time dealing with anything that moved that fast. Now the tank has one eel in it, no spots on it at all. I'll be maintaining theraputic levels of CP in the tank for at least 4 weeks, probably 6.