Finally got some pics of the devastation

[Jon in SW Ohio]

Well last Saturday I left my home in Ohio to come help out down here in Houston, Texas and the day after we left the 80 mph winds from Ike made it up to Ohio and knocked out power for about a week. I showed my mom the basic things she needed to do to maintain the tank before I left but was in no way prepared for a week long power outage. She finally sent me some pics today of the tank since I'm gonna be down here for another couple weeks.

Before:

From Today:

 

[Candace]

That's just horrible. Poor things :< I hope you can get it back up and full of life again soon.

 

[Shadow]

So sad ...... I know nothing about maintaining such things but hope they will survive

 

[practicallyostensible]

I am so sorry Jon, that's just awful.

 

[swamprad]

Very, very sorry, Jon...

 

[Heather]

Oh Jon, I'm so sorry. I know you can rebuild but I know it is also a huge loss for you.

Thinking of you!

 

[Hera]

What a difference. It was going so well for you. Please try again, you did so well and this was a freak of nature.

 

[smartie2000]

I am so sorry. They all expelled their zooxanthellate. I sure hope they can recover! With some help of feeding I think some will make it.

 

[NYEric]

I agree, w/ care some of the ones on the bottom could survive.

 

[biothanasis]

I am so sorry, too! I hope many of the ones you have will survive and multiply!!!

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Well, that is a shame...sorry for the loss.

 

[SlipperFan]

Is this about what you expected? Or hopefully, not as bad as feared?

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I am so sorry....but I was surprised that several of your corals looked better than I would have expected....at least you'll be able to salvage some things. The blackout of '03 lasted about 24 hours....I lost all but one fish, but all corals and inverts survived without a hitch...but a week is a lot longer! Take care, Eric

 

[goldenrose]

I am so sorry....but I was surprised that several of your corals looked better than I would have expected....at least you'll be able to salvage some things.....

I thought so too! Nature may surprise you!

 

[likespaphs]

bummer, bub...

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

Well here she is after removing all the dead corals, siphoning out the slime/hair algae that was completely filling the tank, and doing 20% water changes daily. I also reorganized everything to keep the tank from looking so empty. Luckily reefers are just as kind and generous as orchid people so I've got plenty of "help" coming my way to get back some of the rarest ones I lost. The big white one used to be grey with red, but got bleached out through all this. He should be back to his old self in a month or two.

 

[Heather]

Jon, I don't know corals at all, but it really doesn't look so bad to me. I think you and your reef will be back on your um...fins(?) in no time. Definitely keep us posted!

 

[biothanasis]

I guess they are doing pretty well!!! Well done!!! In a couple of monthss it will look like natural!!!

 

[SlipperFan]

I'm glad you decided to not give up on this.

 

[Kevin]

Sorry to hear about the damage. So, most survived?? Bleaching didn't seem to kill your coral. I thought it did. The bleaching in nature I thought was caused by high temperatures. So stress from any cause can cause bleaching?