Lost a lot of my fish...

[Newt]

I haven't posted on MFK in a long time, mostly because I've been too depressed to think about fish. Our house lost power on December 23 and I lost a lot of my fish because of it.

It was an electrical problem with our main shut off. Two electricians worked on it all night, but we only had power to run our furance for two weeks until we could get it fully fixed. I moved as many fish as I could to my parent's house (hour drive) in tubs, but still suffered loses.

Fire eel, black ghost knife, puffer, congo tetras, butterfly fish, flounder, elephant nose, oscar, threadfin rainbows, red badis are ALL GONE.

The ray managed to make it by some weird stroke of luck.

On top of the power loss our basement (where the fish room is) flooded when the power went because the sump pump stopped working.

This is one of those things that I thought would never happen to me and I wans't prepared. I was caught totally off guard during Christmas. I wish I had more tubs, air pumps, nets, and more help. I wish I had a small generator, one big enough to at least keep the two big tanks going.

Don't think it won't happen to you, because it could and you need to have a plan in case it does.

 

[Juxtaroberto]

What a terrible Christmas. So sorry for your loss.

 

[derekp]

That sucks to hear that something like that happened. I am fortunate to have two generators at the ready if and when a power outage happens. Glad to hear the ray survived though. I am sorry for your losses.

 

[NCStateFisher]

oh wow :\ sorry that happened, rather than tubs you could throw a comforter over the tank to insulate the temperature and use battery operated air pumps

 

[ScatMan]

i feel for ya, that really sucks. i have a small generator that i backfeed into the house when power goes out. i luckily only had to use it once for about 24 hours, but thank god i had it.

if i was an optimist i would say "now you have an excuse to buy new fish!".

 

[Newt]

oh wow :\ sorry that happened, rather than tubs you could throw a comforter over the tank to insulate the temperature and use battery operated air pumps

That wasn't an option because I knew I couldn't keep the tanks warm for two weeks that way. They had to be moved to somewhere with power for the heaters and filters. We had to go to my parents house to stay until the power was fixed so the fish came with us.

If the power problem had happened at a time other than the holidays then it wouldn't have taken as long as it did to get fixed. It really was a crappy Christmas and New Years. Not only because of the fish, but because so many family plans, etc. had to be cancelled or changed.

 

[Sniperofgods]

Wow sorry to hear that >< my sisters husband lost 4 of his fish when a storm hit about a year ago, none the less sorry for your lost i'd be depressed as well

 

[Chicklette]

Wow, sorry that happened. You do think it will never happen to you but it can.

 

[Newt]

i feel for ya, that really sucks. i have a small generator that i backfeed into the house when power goes out. i luckily only had to use it once for about 24 hours, but thank god i had it.

if i was an optimist i would say "now you have an excuse to buy new fish!".

My husband actually told me to buy whatever new fish I want, no matter the cost. He knows how hard this was on me. I have a new eel ordered and some tiny fish, but I'm probably not going to order anymore until spring.

 

[Laticauda]

I'm so sorry to hear this. Just last night we wrapped all of our tanks in the thick window plastic because a big snow storm was making its way up here. Luckily, none of the power went out, but I'm glad we prepared in case it did. My dad lives about three hours away and has a generator. He's told me before he will drive up here and let us borrow it, or us drive down and go get it. I'd do whatever it took, but honestly can't afford my own generator, they are SOOOO expensive. But I guess you have to weigh that against how much you have spent on these fish you could lose.

Anyway, I'm glad you at least have one survivor, it's a pretty amazing story.