Abandoned Hurricane Aquarium: Help Temper My Expectations

[Zakary2003]

By the way, a cheap camera would be a great investment Then you could spy on the tank from away.

 

[Tamberav]

I have a ring camera set up on the tank but it did not turn back on when the power and internet came back on.

oh thats weird, I bought a cheap $20 amazon one and it turns back on. Sounds like a bug or something.

 

[Zakary2003]

oh thats weird, I bought a cheap $20 amazon one and it turns back on.

It normally does. I even tested it beforehand by cutting the breaker to the tank to see what could and could not turn itself back on if the power is lost. It worked then, but not during the real deal.

 

[BristleWormHater]

At this point I've even considered bribing a friend who lives near campus to sneak onto campus and go to my dorm room to refill the ATO container, but I'm not sure how she'd get in since she doesn't have a key to the room.

 

[Tamberav]

It normally does. I even tested it beforehand by cutting the breaker to the tank to see what could and could not turn itself back on if the power is lost. It worked then, but not during the real deal.

Murphy's Law at work

 

[Charles Zinn]

Did you attend my school? It's Eckerd College. I'm not sure I mentioned that in my first post.

And yeah, I do think they're going to have to update the rules. Especially since they are the ones who told us students to leave behind our fish and other pets that can survive a few days to a week or two alone.

They are also the ones who wouldn't let me back on Campus in between Helene and Milton. They said I could have a 20 minute window on a Thursday. They would not allow me more time or give me a better time slot to accomodate the fact that I'm 6 hours away (give or take). There's no way I can pack up an entire reef tank alone in 20 minutes with a security guard looking over my shoulder.

No I went to FSU Jr and SR years had 2 fr3esh water tanks Girlfriend watched for half a year. I just set up when I first moved to ft. Laud, FL
I'm in Ft. Myers now but he4alth is declining. May move to Orlando Area to be near my son. n ''have 3 sw tanks, 8ft planet 28 planet cube and wb 25aio which is quarantine tankl. Hardest part will be moving them. Have gad strikes and vaccine has caused a bunch of other issues. When
I moved from Englewood to ft .Myers mover dsatroyed bulkheads and plumbing and walked, very dissapointed. Over $1000 in damages., hardest part is learning what makes good water and keeps it stable. have done ICP tests, installed a cal reactor and did a microbiome test in last 15 to 18 months finally have hard corals growing even the small frags. Stability is key. Find out changes, plan your next move, get some support, give what you can not save to friends move forward the best you can. have met severak individuals who weathered IAN. Even my LFS had all his saltwater go down fom a roof coming off an fresh water in sw tanks. you would never know he had had all the problems but gives you reason to change the things you didn't like. You find out who you friends are.

 

[Reefering1]

with the exception of a mandatory evacuation

Just to add to the conversation...
Even during mandatory evacuation, you have the right to stay in your home, nobody will drag you out. That said, once evacuated, there will be no 911 dispatched to help you if you call needing help. If you do evacuate and there is widespread destruction, the authorities may not allow re entry until they deem it safe. This last time, It was a couple days on ft myers beach/sanibel, manasota key was longer. After ian, when they wer'nt allowing access to the islands, people started running boats across to get around the road blocks. There were no repercussions for this after the fact.

 

[Charles Zinn]

The school sent me 4 pretty crappy photos. The mangroves look fine and I see a snail on the glass, so maybe not everything is lost. I also see something green and flourescent but I don't think I had anything green and florescent in that spot so it might be something that got knocked down or a little leather coral offshoot.

add some cuc, do a partial water change after scraping the glass. When I had ny last stroke I came back to a tank full off anenomes. have been removing 60 to a 100 a month since om the 8ft. tank. while in Hospital had someone feed fish every other day but no chemicals were added. so nutrients were way out of wack. did ICP weekly and slowly got in Order

 

[jmcdona6]

Just to add to the conversation...
Even during mandatory evacuation, you have the right to stay in your home, nobody will drag you out. That said, once evacuated, there will be no 911 dispatched to help you if you call needing help. If you do evacuate and there is widespread destruction, the authorities may not allow re entry until they deem it safe. This last time, It was a couple days on ft myers beach/sanibel, manasota key was longer. After ian, when they wer'nt allowing access to the islands, people started running boats across to get around the road blocks. There were no repercussions for this after the fact.

Agreed.

At the end of the day these are living pets you should be taking all measures possible that they will be cared for or don't get them at all. Its part of responsible pet ownership. In a dorm setting you just are not in control. Maybe a hurricane doesn't hit again for 10 years. Maybe the school gets hit by 3 next year. Maybe the dorm has an infestation and they spray pesticides without notifying you one weekend you are gone nuking the tank. You just aren't in control and aren't able to protect your pets the way you should in that environment.

I say all that, but I don't mean to rail against the OP and I apologize if it seems that way. It was just a suggestion and I respect/understand his response. Often times we focus on what we want more than what we should. I know I certainly have in the past. Its his decision, genuinely wish him all the luck and hope it works out better next time.

 

[Tamberav]

If I lived in a dorm, I would just have two 5g buckets and bubblers and pack it up and tAKE IT with. Doesn't take long to put everything in buckets and grab the light and heater/powerhead. Assuming you don't get on a plane anyways. Then just buy a tote wherever you land and have everything in the tote running.

 

[Zakary2003]

If I lived in a dorm, I would just have two 5g buckets and bubblers and pack it up and tAKE IT with. Doesn't take long to put everything in buckets. Assuming you don't get on a plane anyways.

Yeah, I would have done that if I realized we would be gone this long. I'll definitely do that next time. I tried to go back and grab the tank in between the two hurricanes but they wouldn't let me in.

 

[Tamberav]

Yeah, I would have done that if I realized we would be gone this long. I'll definitely do that next time. I tried to go back and grab the tank in between the two hurricanes but they wouldn't let me in.

Ya maybe for the next tank you set up, have a "hurricane" package with everything you need to bring it with. All in one spot, like a emergency kit for the tank.

 

[Zakary2003]

Ya maybe for the next tank you set up, have a "hurricane" package with everything you need to bring it with. All in one spot, like a emergency kit for the tank.

I'm thinking about how I could make the tank easier to move anyways. I have to move it between my hometown and college at the beginning and end of every year. I might glue the rock structure together into two pieces that each fit in a bucket, which would make it super easy to move for start/end of the school year or in case of another hurricane.

 

[Reefering1]

Agreed.

At the end of the day these are living pets you should be taking all measures possible that they will be cared for or don't get them at all. Its part of responsible pet ownership. In a dorm setting you just are not in control. Maybe a hurricane doesn't hit again for 10 years. Maybe the school gets hit by 3 next year. Maybe the dorm has an infestation and they spray pesticides without notifying you one weekend you are gone nuking the tank. You just aren't in control and aren't able to protect your pets the way you should in that environment.

I say all that, but I don't mean to rail against the OP and I apologize if it seems that way. It was just a suggestion and I respect/understand his response. Often times we focus on what we want more than what we should. I know I certainly have in the past. Its his decision, genuinely wish him all the luck and hope it works out better next time.

If I lived in a dorm, I would just have two 5g buckets and bubblers and pack it up and tAKE IT with. Doesn't take long to put everything in buckets and grab the light and heater/powerhead. Assuming you don't get on a plane anyways. Then just buy a tote wherever you land and have everything in the tote running.

Ya maybe for the next tank you set up, have a "hurricane" package with everything you need to bring it with. All in one spot, like a emergency kit for the tank.

This. All of it.
Things happen and sometimes the best you can do is learn from it. Now that you know what could happen, make a plan to avoid this problem in the future. Like they say, "hope for the best and plan for the worse".

 

[BristleWormHater]

Man...that really sucks, I already feel like everything's going to die if I leave for one day, couldn't imagine the anxiety of 1 MONTH. Hopefully you can get a fat insurance check to get back on your feet.
Wishing you the best!!!!!

 

[Zakary2003]

Man...that really sucks, I already feel like everything's going to die if I leave for one day, couldn't imagine the anxiety of 1 MONTH. Hopefully you can get a fat insurance check to get back on your feet.
Wishing you the best!!!!!

Yeah the insurance check would definitely help. But I'm still very upset I lost all those creatures. My female clownfish and pistol shrimp in particular definitely had personalities and I just know I'm going to be disappointed when I get replacement that aren't as personable.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Yeah the insurance check would definitely help. But I'm still very upset I lost all those creatures. My female clownfish and pistol shrimp in particular definitely had personalities and I just know I'm going to be disappointed when I get replacement that aren't as personable.

I know what you mean, my starry

blenny is adorable and he loves to cuddle up right by this favia every night. I know for a fact if I got a different blenny, it would never do that.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Any updates? Has anyone been able to check on it?

 

[Zakary2003]

Any updates? Has anyone been able to check on it?

Not since the last pictures I posted. Campus reopens tomorrow so I'll have an update then.

 

[Noodles_Jefferson]

I finally got a response from the school today. I don't know why it took them two weeks but I guess mentioning palytoxins got their attention. They saw a lot of dead inverts and no live fish (no dead fish either, but I'm not optimistic). The Dean of students couldn't tell if the corals were alive or dead but I'd assume dead.

Does anyone have tips for cleaning up and starting over?

This really sucks.

I feel for you bro. My son is attending USF the St. pete campus and had to evacuate like you did but he left his pets at home and i'm taking care of them.