Bad Morning(Overflowing Tank)

[gbreynol]

I woke up this morning to an overflowing aquarium. The float on my autofiller must have gotten stuck, and the refugium was just pouring water everywhere. I estimate a the water ran for about 5 hours. When I got the flooding under control I saw the salinity was 0, and the temperature was 74 degrees. The only life I could see was my 2 False Perculas playing in the current. The tank is a 72 gallon bow, with a 10 gallon refugium.

I got the salinity back up, and yes I have learned my lesson about the auto-filler.

So my question is who has the best shot at pulling through? Should I start the hunt for bodies?

2x False Perculas(Alive and swimming)
1x Watchman Goby(no sign)
1x Jawfish(no sign)
1x Blue Hippo Tang(no sign)
3x Peppermint Shrimp(no sign)
3x Emerald Crabs(no sign)
1x Sebae Anemone(spewing slime, an closed up)
3x Queen Conchs(not moving)
50x Hermit Crabs(not moving)
30x Astrea snails(fallen)
Zooanthid Colony(closed up)
Pulsing Xenia(looks ok)

[lotuskid]

Geez that sounds bad, glad you hadn't gone away for the week. I guess the more hi tech the tank gets then the more stuff there is to go wrong.

Sounds like the xenia and zoa's will survive but doubt they're very happy. not sure about the percs, if they're still swimin then there's hope for them. If you've not seen any of the other fish after a few hours then i'd be tempted to start havin a poke round to see if i could find em. If you see anything that you can confirm as dead then take it out so it's not fouling the water.

Hope you've not lost much & welcome to the site.
Tony.

[gbreynol]

Thanks.

The watchman goby and hippo tang are alive! No sign of the jawfish yet. Hermit crabs are all dead. I would of thought crabs are more hardy than fish.

Luckily I have hard wood floors, if I had carpet it would of been alot worse. So far the damage looks minimal, shorted out wireless router, and lighting system for the fuge.

[emonemo420]

as far as the hermits they are very sensitive to change in salinity, most inverts are in fact...thats why the need to be acclimated very slowly as to not shock and or kill them...im very very srry to hear about that though i almost had it happen to me once and i almost freaked....GL with everything i hope everything works out in the end

[clown-lover]

Make sure you get fans going to get everything dryed out quickly.. Even though you have a wood floor water if you have a basement or built on some sort of flooring joists the water can still get below to the subfloor and damage the supporting structures. Your best bet is to go to a rental place and get the big carpet dryers and get them going.

[rsw686]

Make sure you get fans going to get everything dryed out quickly.. Even though you have a wood floor water if you have a basement or built on some sort of flooring joists the water can still get below to the subfloor and damage the supporting structures. Your best bet is to go to a rental place and get the big carpet dryers and get them going.

I would be more worried about the wood floor. Hardwood floors are laid with a barrier between them and the floor. Some people use roofing felt which is water resistance and others use rosin paper. Water will get in between the seams and the boards will warp and become squeaky if you don't get it dried up. Depending where the tank is it is extremely costly to repair a hardwood floor. I have laid down hardwood flooring and since all the pieces interlock and nailed in the tonque it takes skill to remove a piece.

[Grins]

The burrowing fish may just be hiding out. The zoas will probably survive and are just pissy at the situation right now. The inversts and anemone is what would worry me the most.

[Subliminal]

Just as an aside, with the auto top off, a lot of people seem to have great luck running them a few minutes a day with a timer. Let it turn the pump on for a few minutes in the am and then off all day and a few in the pm. That way you have the double safety in case something sticks!

[Grins]

Good point, I've also seen people check the float switches during weekly maitenance. Salt creep can mess one up.

[gbreynol]

I invested in a timer today. I just need to make sure that cutting the power is enough to close the solenoid.

[Yuri De Lima]

That's really bad news.

I bet people here all had nightmares about waking up in the middle of the night and finding their tank overflowing through the whole house.

[Grins]

Hope you get everything back to a point where you feel at peace with it again. Awful to have something like this occur.

[BMorgan]

I have visions of waking up with my tank shattered and everything laying on the carpet. :(

[Almondsaz]

Being a little AR I only allow my ATO to have access to 5 gallons becuase between my sump and my tank it can handle it all being dumped in at once...luckily I change out the 5 gallon RO on friday evening so I am home to watch the first couple of gallons go by Sun evening.

Hope things get back to 'normal' for you shortly. Let us know how your anemone does.