The ultimate OOPS! Probably killed all my corals

[Faciosity]

I recieved a call from my girlfriend while I was at work, that a small light fell into my sump. Everything got a good shock, and I'm not sure if much will make it through the ordeal. Fish are all fine, and hid at first, but by the time I got home an hour later, they are all swimming around and eating. The corals however are all closed tight (or shriveled up) and are not happy at all. The SPS are very slimy, and a couple of the LPS are sticking out their guts. My big clumps of xenia are laying over not pulsing, 90%+ of the zoas are closed as well as the shrooms. Anybody have experience with this and know if they can survive or not? If all the corals die, I think I will be too devastated to continue, and will need to sell it all and take a break. I see snails and tiny stars climbing around, so is it possible the pods, shrimp, and other inverts are still ok?

 

[Faciosity]

I added new carbon, and I'm starting a water change with a healthy dose of conditioner.

 

[mcdonaldjosh7]

I dropped a light in my sump once...yesterday actually. It didn't bother my corals at all...but then again I think I successfully kept most of the light out of the water

I also shocked myself with the same light yesterday...fail.

So all I can tell you from experience is that I survived a shock....:lol:

To avoid this in the future though, consider putting some sort of cover over the sump...It might melt a little if the light falls on it, but that is nowhere near as bad as electrocuting all the corals.

Was this in your 75 or you dual 180?

 

[Faciosity]

Electrocution isn't the only bad thing, it burned a hole through the fixture and broke the flourescent bulb while in the sump, and the water continued to be pumped through the whole system. That's why I need to quite typing for a bit, and get this water change done!

 

[WABlonde]

I have no experience with this but am really bummed out for you. Hope you have some survivors!

 

[Dalbery]

If you had this on a gfci (ground fault circuit interupt) it would've tripped the gfci breaker and there would've only been a nano second worth of shock. You may want to think about adding one. Sorry to hear about your situation. I don't know what electrocution does to corals, but I do know it's one of the few things that gets me cussing worse than a sailor

 

[Faciosity]

So far everything is alive, but not very happy with me. Most of them are making a slight improvement already, some more than others. Did a 20 gallon water change for now, and will do another in the morning if they aren't looking too happy still. I also added a good amount of fresh carbon, and enough water conditioner to treat every gallon worth of water in the whole system (little bits mixed in everywhere, not just concentrated in one dose).

 

[Faciosity]

And I did this 2 days before I'm going to host our monthly club meeting!
It would be quite an embarrassment for everybody to come see a dead tank.

 

[Ichthys]

Coral Vengeance

So far everything is alive, but not very happy with me.....

No reason that the corals should be unhappy with you, sit down and explain to them that despite your best efforts to care for them, your girlfriend tried to kill them all in a fit of jealousy.. redirect their anger to the GF, you will be fine.....

 

[Faciosity]

No reason that the corals should be unhappy with you, sit down and explain to them that despite your best efforts to care for them, your girlfriend tried to kill them all in a fit of jealousy.. redirect their anger to the GF, you will be fine.....

:lol: Your not too far off! She has threatened to do so in the past, but this time she actually risked herself to save them by pulling out the light. No explaination why the light fell, except maybe somebody stomping too hard (there was extra company in the house including a 3 year old). It was my fault for not having it secured properly. It was way underneath the tank where it would be unreachable to the children and dogs, so I thought it would be fine.

 

[Chichas01]

Dalbery offered you some great advice. This may end up saving your life as well as your livestock.

 

[mcoomer]

Not the ultimate oops...yet. You need a GFI receptacle on that circuit before you kill yourself. The fish and corals aren't going to be able to resuscitate you if you get zapped. It's cheap and it can save your life.

Mike

 

[jake65]

if you have some eggcrate throw it up on there.....I have extra if you need some

 

[returnofsid]

How's everything looking this morning?

 

[Coral Frenzy]

The other thing you might consider is a grouding probe. Six or seven years ago I was having problems with my corals opening up. I tested everything. Then I posted up and Mucho Reef recommended a grounding probe. Of course, I thought he was crazy. About 3 weeks later I decided to get one and sure enough, everything was OK. Come to find out I had a pump that was leaking stray voltage into my tank. Not enough to shock me but definitely enough to bother the corals. I have had one in every system since. They are pretty cheap, under $15 usually.

 

[Faciosity]

How's everything looking this morning?

They are looking good. About half the zoas are open, all the LPS are looking better (some more than others) and the sps are coming back out as well (just a little slimy still). My field of xenia looks really sad, laying over shriveled up and barely beginning to pulse again. The fish, pistol shrimp and anemones look like nothing ever happened. (although I havn't seen my mandarin goby, peppermint shrimp or large brittle star in a few days. The bigger tank gives them lots of hiding places.) Making a good turnaround so far. Need to test the water now.

 

[Faciosity]

If you had this on a gfci (ground fault circuit interupt) it would've tripped the gfci breaker and there would've only been a nano second worth of shock. You may want to think about adding one. Sorry to hear about your situation. I don't know what electrocution does to corals, but I do know it's one of the few things that gets me cussing worse than a sailor

Would I be able to find one of these locally? Would a regular hardware store or radioshack have it?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Would I be able to find one of these locally? Would a regular hardware store or radioshack have it?

Every store that sells hardware will carry them. Just a fancy outlet (plug-in) with a built in special circuit breaker. You probably have them in your kitchen and bathrooms to see what they look like. Will need somebody trained in electrical to install it for you.

Here is the difference between regular and GFCI

 

[estanoche]

Would I be able to find one of these locally? Would a regular hardware store or radioshack have it?

They are about $15 at lowe's, home depot, etc. The only issue is you have to be sure your wiring to your house is grounded (if you have old knob and tube wiring, they wont work) -

Or, they have GFCI surge bars, I saw some at walmart a little while back, for like $20 - so the wall outlet is cheaper, but since you are renting, the surge bar option may be better......

 

[Freya]

Or, they have GFCI surge bars, I saw some at walmart a little while back, for like $20 - so the wall outlet is cheaper, but since you are renting, the surge bar option may be better......

I'm going to have to find one of these, sounds very handy.