Weekend Tank Disaster :(

[Snelly40]

hey everyone,
its with a sad heart and a discouraged love of this hobby that i type this thread. I went out of town for the weekend for my best friends wedding. We left on friday b/c i was in the wedding and had to get there early for rehearsal and what not. Before i Left i did a small 10 gallon water change and set up my auto feeder and headed for DC feeling confident that eveything would be fine for a few days. Well, after a great weekend i returned home last night and as we walked in the appartment my girlfriend, who walked in first, looked at me and said, "what is that smell?"
Me, forgetting to do the dishes before we left immediately looked to the kitchen, but quickley realized that was not where the smell was coming from, i then looked at my tank, " #$&!#$", first thing i noticed was a large LPS skeleton in the middle of my tank where a nice big frogswpan had been, then i noticed the skeletons of my Elegance Coral, Hammer Corral, sun coral, goniopora, bubble coral and my two SPS's which had taken so long to grow. I also lost my Zenia Colonies and my Duncans which were both sprouting new heads.
Aside from all the lost coral, i lost 3 chromis, my Christmas Wrass and my Yellow Eyed Kole Tang, and one of my pair of saddle back black clowns.

The only coral left are my zoos, which dont look as good as they did.

Amazingly my Carpet Anemone was alive when i got home too, and after a 40 gallon water change it has eaten and looks much much better today.

I dont think i'll ever know exactly what happened, the temp of the tank was 79.6 when i got home and i tested the levels just to see and with all that die off my ammonie had spiked up to 1, nitrites were still 0 and my trates jumped up to 20.
After the 40 gallon change they are all back down.

Anyway, i am down to 3 fish who survived the ordeal, my Gold Striped maroon clown, foxface and black saddleback clown.

The tank has lost much of its color, most of the purples and pinks appear dark now. I will be in a holding pattern for a while to get everything stable again. Thanks for listening guys

[BigAl07]

Man that SUCKS big time. I wonder if there was something wrong with the 10g water for the last minute water change.

so sorry bro! I have Xenia and anything else I have in my frag tank I'll donate to help you restock. Once you know your tank is stable and no more die-off let me know and we can work out some shipping or something. I have Elongia and Pom Xenia that I'll frag especially for you bro.

[Dentoid]

Jason, I'm so sorry to hear this. What a downer. I know it's hard, but try to keep your chin up. You'll rebuild bigger and better and get your enthusiasm back. Let me know when you are ready and I'll send you some frags.

[Snelly40]

thanks guys, u guys are awesome. I'll let u know when i feel comfortable adding some things back. I am trying to keep my chin up and my dad and girlfriend both said the same as you dent, " know u can rebuild and think of how fun that will be"
it sjust hard right now, i am just content on making sure my remaining fish and anemone stay perfectly healthy.
Thanks so much guys and i'll keep updated!!

[Woodstock]

Ohhh NOOOO!! So sorry Jason
We've had a lot of bad storms lately, maybe a power outage long enough to rob enough oxygen to begin a die off?
When you're ready, I will glady donate some frags to you! I don't have anything fancy but you're welcome to it.

[rlcline76]

I'm sorry to hear of this.
This would have me crying.

[Lee]

Oh my gosh, thats terrible. You have no idea what happened? Everything was on and running when you returned?

[Varga]

When this happened to me, the only thing that saved the survivors was major water changes, otherwise the rest would have died in the following week. good luck

[BigAl07]

Originally Posted by Varga

When this happened to me, the only thing that saved the survivors was major water changes, otherwise the rest would have died in the following week. good luck

Very good advice but also run CARBON! I run CARBON at the first hint of any problems. This would be a GREAT time to drop a carbon bag into the tank to try and remove any "crud" lurking around in the water column. Never know what toxins could have been introduced to the tank or released IN the tank by a dying critter.

good luck buddy.

Allen

[Snelly40]

hey guys,
thanks for all the tips and kind words, i will do another water change in a few days and i will add some carbon tomorrow, i just hapen to be out at the moment. I turned up my skimmer too so it is quite wet so i can get as much out as possible.
Thanks again guys, i appreciate it. Tough time

[Frankie]

That sux Snelly. first thing that came to mind was "power outage" like Doni said. When you get the water back to par send me a pm with your addy and i will jump in with the doc for some frags.

[vdituri]

That is the reefers all time nightmare.
So sorry to hear about the devastation.
Were the clocks in the house flashing from a power outage when you got home?

[Frankie]

He can call the power company and find out if his power was out during that time.

[jonas]

so sorry man thats a bummer, nobody deserves that. Try to hold it together and every body here will help you thrue the tuff times.

[Stacef]

Gosh Jason, I am so sorry!! I wish that I had some frags I could donate when your tanks ready again.

Keep your head up!! This time around you can do things the way you wanted to the first time. Example--aquascaping, I am constantly saying, I wish I would have done it this way..or that way.

Once again, I am sorry to hear all this!!

Al-that is so nice of you!!