This sucks..

[TheTim]

Just got electricity back (south carolina) tank was without heat, 20 degrees outside, no lighting, sump and all was down.... we lost yesterday at 3pm or so. It is now 7:20. Temp got down to 59 degrees....im slowly raising the temp back up, perk clown is down, my regal tang is pretty pale, damsels kick ***, and he seems to be doing well, the maroon clown is actin kinda funny but hes out and about. Anyone encountered something similar? Any pointers would be spiffy.

Tim

[Alastair]

Exposures to temperatures below 72 degrees for extended periods of time will, IME, almost invariably result in an outbreak of ich. This would be a particular concern with a fish such as a regal tang, which is already highly susceptible. I would prepare to deal with ich, and, as soon as the regal is looking a little less stressed / more stable, I'd isolate him into a qt tank if you have one, so that you can treat him as necessary.

[TheTim]

started treating as soon as the power went on heh.

[Alastair]

Sounds like you're on top of things, then ;)

[TheTim]

perc still not doing so hot, regal tang gaining color back and moving around like normal.

Learned my lesson, I will have a generator for the next ice storm!

[Dale W.]

Watch for any cloudiness and test the tank regularly as you will more than like run into a bit of die off of the microbial types. this is very probable if you have any LR in the tank so you should be ready to do some water changes as well.

[OrionGirl]

Just to clarify something here--ich is NOT present in all tanks all the time, and must be introduced to an aquarium. If the parasite is not present, no amount of temperature changes or other stressors will cause an outbreak.

Otherwise, monitor for ammonia, and be ready to do water changes.

[mogurnda]

Yeah, I agree with OrionGirl on this one. If you haven't seen ich in the tank recently, it's probably not there. Nitogen from die-off is probably the big issue.

On the other hand, if you do see any signs of cryptocaryon, it will support my theory that you can have apparently healthy carriers in the tank for extended periods of time.

[JasonA]

I've talked about this on other boards, but for how much $$$ we all have invested in our tanks, EVERYONE needs a generator just in case some type of disaster should happen...

Even if you only spend $300 on one of those loud contractor units, you only have to run it in little steps to keep the tank up, put a long extention cord on it and you're set..

plus your neighbors will want to leach power off of you also so it can be a good thing...

or spend some more $$$ and get a quite Yamaha or Honda that can run 5ft. away and still talk at a normal level..

I myself have the new Honda 1000u which will run everything I need, plus the big unit in the Motorhome incase I need big power...

but Since I'm in Cali, usually we only loose power usually when we lose our homes so there's no tank to worry about anyways:o

But we've been without power for 13hrs. before a gen. saved my parents tank..

[mogurnda]

We got a 5500W unit after Isabel, and I have had no regrets. Not just the peace of mind about the fish and corals, but also about the fridge, etc. We have outages every time someone sneezes, so it has been getting a lot of use.

[JasonA]

It's almost a requirement nowaday it seems...

and gens are so **** cheap... on Ebay, used, garage sales, etc...

Funny how people will blow $500+ on lighting to keep $1000's of live rock and coral alive...

But a $300 or under Honda on ebay is out of the question...

My buddy scored on the little portable 1000e Honda for like $399 and used 2x. what a great deal.

and my other bud bought a Honda Harmony 2300w gen for $300 and all he had to do was buy a carb rebuild kit for $30 and it runs like a champ cause the owner before him left the fuel in with no stabalizer.

[Dale W.]

Mogurnda,

To suport your theory of cryptocaryon irritants being present in the aquarium in a healthy environment, I will say yes. There can be a number of fish that are carriers of this parasite but are healthy enough to not allow the crypto to actually develope into its full cyst stage which is wahat we see on a fish as white spots. I have timae and time again proven this to be true in various situations. It has always been a contraversy as to the presents of crytocaryon in most fish being present at all times. This is kind of a loaded question and theory at best. If you are running a completely sterile tank and you have treated all your fish prior to going into the tank for crypto and you are 100% sure that you do not have crypto present on any fish already in the system, then more than likely you do not have it present. However, most of the people out there do not have this type of set up and more than likely do have the parasite present but in a dormant stage. If there is a stress in the sytem which weakens the imune system of the fish, it will allow the parasite to take advantage of the weakening to do what it does best, multiply. We know that crypto is prolific in most waters around the world and fish have the ability to keep it under control in optimum conditions. If this was not so, then we would not have any fish in the ocean. I do have tanks that I know for sure have the parasite in them as it rears its ugly head on ocasion but with the health of the tank it is gone within a day or two without medications or ill effects.

[OrionGirl]

I agree that fish--SW and FW--can have sub-clinical levels of infection, most frequently in the gills. The fish live comfortably with one or two parasites--this is the goal of the parasite. Parasites that kill hosts don't thrive. But, too many people insist that ich just springs from nowhere, and don't recognize that the parasite must be introduced in order to be present. If a tank runs fishless for a few months, it will not have ich present, until it's brought in on a sub-clinically infected fish.

[TheTim]

good news - the perc is back up and happy and spiffy.... Everyone has electricity again and what not, and about the generator thing - You're all right, and we learned our lesson. We're getting one soon

Tim