Grr Fish dead

Ok so I'm a huge saltwater fish enthusiast, And I have 2 salt water tanks..., recently there was a pretty decent storm, and the power went out... what i didn't realize is that there was also a power surge, and wouldn't ya know it, this specific tank didn't have a surge protector on it. it didn't like kill the fish, but it knocked out the filter on my tank. one day like 2 days after the storm i noticed the water level was ridiculously low, so i checked on it, and the filter was out, and most my fish were dying from lack of oxygen. i was able to move 2 of the fish to another tank (where they are currently being thrashed by other fish for territory). my favorite cinnamon clown fish who was 4 years old, and my coral banded shrimp both died this morning... i don't know if the other 2 fish will make it. i have another little 2 gallon reef tank set up, but it has to cycle for two weeks before i can put fish in it... the tank itself is foreign so it takes like 6 months to order a part for it (trust me i tried before)... so i'm literally screwed, and i'm about to lose close to $80 worth of gorgeous saltwater fish...

Yeah, that sucks pretty bad man.

yea i have a freshwater tank, and when my fish have died it is not that big of a deal cause they are not that much. but i can feel your pain from losing $80.

yup, the cinnamon clown was $25, the choral banded shrimp was $35, and the cup coral was about $25 as well... so actually $85

I know the feeling, I had a big fishtank years ago, and there was some sort of bacteria in it. So all my fish kept dying to a point where I just gave up on it.

the cycle really annoys me, i mean it's great how it's fine for the rest of the tanks life as long as nothing changes drastically afterwards but i've seen that kind of thing happen to my brother as well, many fish, lloss of filter, many dead fish, it's annoying but i see very little options for you in your case

yeah, TMV's tanks are gorgeous. and its really sad to hear that his one tank went down. ive recently tryed to get a salt water tank started, and the water was no where close to being suitable to sustain fish life. i had one fish that died after three weeks, which is really about three weeks longer then he should have lasted in that water. so thats going to be one of my projects this summer, get a tank running like TMV's. lol

sorry about your tank man.

[Coasterkidmwm]

I'd be in more of a tiff over the fact that the filter is crapped. Is it a wet/dry filter or something? Pretty much everything for a saltwater setup is hellishly expensive. I'm really sorry about your fish loss. People think aquariums are easy but in reality they're just as complicated as a dog or cat.

I would say they are even more complicated than having a dog or cat. A cat can pretty much take care of itself, except for getting new food and water and cleaning out its poo-box.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Well I was thinking more along the lines of that you have to interact with the cat or dog, maybe not depending on the individual cat or dog.

Then again if you feel it's a chore to interact with the dog or cat then it probably shouldn't be your pet...

^yeah, thats true.
but i think fish are trickier to keep alive, most of the time your not going to have to get 4 different dogs in a month.
if you do, then i dont know if dogs are for you.

ya fish are hard, especially salt water due to needing perfect nitrate and PH levels. However with live corals, everything becomes twice as expensive and twice as difficult...

[Oscar]

I trained my fish (Oscar fish) to hit the glass at the top to let me know when it's feeding time [:)] So whenever I hear them banging the glass, it's feeding time! Sometimes they want a midnight snack and I regret training them to hit the glass for food
Sucks about your tank, time to pop out the frying pan and stop letting the fish go to waste. Time to eat an expensive lunch!

Originally posted by Canadmos

I would say they are even more complicated than having a dog or cat. A cat can pretty much take care of itself, except for getting new food and water and cleaning out its poo-box.

Unless you have your cats trained to go outside like we do! lol

It's not worth the work it takes to have a fish. Dogs for life; but I want a cat.

[Coasterkidmwm]

The basic fish are pretty simple. Put in a new filter cartridge, feed, water change twice a week. Viola!

When you start getting into more complex setups THEN it starts getting complicated.

i have like, a bunch of wierd plankton and other worms and creatures growing in this tank now, due to not having the light on, and the salt content... I'm doing a 75% water change, and filling it with freezing water, to kill everything inside, all the plants, algae, so on, then I'll probably just sell the tank.

[Coasterkidmwm]

How much equipment was lost?

well actually only the pump, which is about $50 or so, but without the pump, no water or oxygen will circulate... i might be able to replace the pump and revive the tank, but it will take a long time to get everything back to standards

yeah, that tank had a lot of plant life in it. and it would just take a while to get back all the stuff he had in it. although you lost your shrimp, he was so bad ass. ill miss that shrimp. :[

[Coasterkidmwm]

Shame that happened. When I go back to school I'm going to give a planted 30 gal tank a shot and see what happens. I tried before my lighting was terrible cause I only had screw in lights and I was recommended an algae eater that didn't eat algae so the plants got algaefied . Anyways more research done and hopefully I'll be able to find prper equilibrium.

[Oscar]

my two oscar's had a nasty fight overnight. I think one of them might die and is quarantined now. He had the top back part skinned off and his flesh is exposed. Oh well. I redecorated the tank, check it out:

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