I blame Vera...

[Jseymour]

This might not be the right place, but just had to vent my frustration. So few days ago, Vera Water and Power came by because they had shut off the gas in the neighborhood and needed to make sure the electronic pilot relit. Well, today I came home and my house was crazy hot, all my high light tanks were in the 90's. The air conditioning was off. Went and checked the furnace and the panel wasn't on all the way, which caused the AC to shut off! Only one immediate loss, my canary yellow Acropora caroliniana, although a couple others don't look happy. I've gotten the temps back down, but anything I should do to help the others through this so I don't lose them?

Since I figure in order to replace this coral it's going to cost me a pretty penny, do you think I could get compensation from Vera for this? I doubt it, unless I want to go to small claims. Maybe if I lose more. My roommate also has ALS. Imagine if he had gone into heat stroke while I was at work. I'm so pissed!

 

[Jseymour]

Ok, so the canary yellow may not be a complete loss. There is about a 1/4" of the base flesh still alive, it was the most recent growth as it was still encrusting. Anything I can do to help this survive? It's 16" almost directly under a 250w getting moderate-high flow. I question moving it to bring on more stress, but I'm wondering if I should move it to higher flow to protect it from infection? Everyone else is a bit unhappy still, but look like they should be ok.

 

[SaltwaterNoobs]

I'm not sure what to tell you about saving the coral, but when we were going through that heat wave here in Seattle, we kept a few gallons of saltwater in the refrigerator, so when our tank started getting hot, we did a small water change in exchange for the cold water to keep the temperature in check. Everything in the tank was just fine when we did this. I would suggest doing this with your tank - get some water ready for your tank and refrigerate it for about an hour or so, then do a water change. That will help at least lower the temperature. Good luck!!

Oh, and I'd definitely at least contact the company and talk to a supervisor about what happened. May not be able to compensate you, but those that were careless may get reprimanded. They need to understand the importance of doing their job right. I wouldn't go down without a fight!

 

[Jseymour]

I got the tank temps down quickly enough(started ac, added fans, turned off lights). I called earlier, had to leave a message for the manager. Waiting for them to call back.

 

[NanoReefer411]

I have Vera as well and I would be extremely pissed if I were you. I am really sorry that happened. I am pretty sure Kevin might suggest fragging the part that is still alive. Give him a call.

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
Once the temperature has been returned to normal you can leave it alone in the original spot if it was doing well there before the heat event. No reason to make any other environmental changes.
Almost always overheat events that cause tissue loss in SPS corals will quickly stop when the temperature is returned to previous levels. The exception is when a mass die off occurs. In that situation a large water change is required to reduce the buildup of decaying matter.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Slate]

What a bummer. If you are seeing an improvement I am sure it will come back. Our hobby is one where if the person you contact about something like this isn't familiar with it they probably won't sympathize. Especially a power company that holds a contract for an area.

 

[Jseymour]

The sliver of flesh is still there, same size with about ten or so tiny polyps. I'll give it a week or two, and likely cut off the top so it can encrust over the base.

Yeah, most people would just laugh at you if you held up a small piece of calcium glued to a piece of ceramic and said, "You owe me $65 plus overnight shipping." No call back from Vera. I'll call to complain again tomorrow.

I'm more upset about the situation with my roommate though. He has temperature regulation issues(sweats bullets at 75 degrees) because of his ALS and I had to cover him with cold, wet towels to cool him off. Thank God I came home right after work. Who knows what the outcome could have been.

Thanks for the replies.