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Fish room fire

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by xroads, Jun 11, 2009.

  1. Jun 11, 2009 #1
    xroads La Porte City, IA

    xroads Veteran Reefkeeper Vendor

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    Wife was cleaning the kitchen this morning & kept on smelling something funny.  She just thought it was the cleaners she was using.
    About 10 minutes later the smoke alarm went off in the fish room.  She ran downstairs to find a coralife pc light on fire.  She said it was shooting out flames about 2 ft.  Luckily I keep a fire extinguisher inside the door so she was able to put it out quickly before it spread. 
    Of course I race home to find fire extinguisher powder in all the tanks & covering everything.  I panicked for awhile wondering how I was going to save all the fish & coral.  Then I noticed that the powder was floating so we skimmed it off the tanks for a couple of hours.  Now I just need to make up about 250 gallons of new water & start running carbon & hope for the best.
    Lesson here is keep smoke alarms up dated & fire extinguishers handy cause it can happen to anyone at anytime, and not just from fish related appliances either.
     
  2. Jun 11, 2009 #2
    REEFer Madness

    REEFer Madness Inactive User

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    Wow....Last year water, this year fire. You're at all ends of the spectrum.

    I hope for the best and happy to see it wasn't any more than that. Good luck man.
     
  3. Jun 11, 2009 #3
    AJ

    AJ Inactive User

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    Wow. Glad things didn't get out of hand. We have a few extinguishers in the house, but I think we only have them mounted in the garage and the utility room in the basement. The rest have a tendency to get pushed to the back of the cabinets. This is a good reminder to check the dates and get them mounted.

    Hope your fish and corals make it thru OK.

    Thanks!

    --AJ
     
  4. Jun 11, 2009 #4
    bobsfish

    bobsfish Experienced Reefkeeper

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    wow...fish keeper's nightmare ...homeowner's nightmare ....anyone's nightmare. It's a good thing she was home...could have been much worse!! Hope it works out for you.
     
  5. Jun 11, 2009 #5
    slovan

    slovan Experienced Reefkeeper

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    Dang Craig...between you and Jeremy, I don't know who had it worst. Sorry to hear about what happened. At the same time it is a relief to hear it wasn't worse than what it was. Keep us posted on the outcome.
     
  6. Jun 11, 2009 #6
    xroads La Porte City, IA

    xroads Veteran Reefkeeper Vendor

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    Yes it can always be worse.

    I just want everyone to take 5 minutes & make sure they are safe. I see this about once a week on RC & that is what made me take the precautions I did.
     
  7. Jun 11, 2009 #7
    phishcrazee Riverside

    phishcrazee Experienced Reefkeeper

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    Thank goodness someone was home! I think we could all write a book about hobby-related disasters!
     
  8. Jun 11, 2009 #8
    JB Marion

    JB Veteran Reefkeeper

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    Wow Craig... That really sucks. Do you know what happened with the fixture? Was it the ballast?

    -JB
     
  9. Jun 11, 2009 #9
    Waverz

    Waverz Expert Reefkeeper

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    For the record, I have never had a flood that was 8' deep nor have I ever needed to use an extinguisher for any of my fires....
     
  10. Jun 11, 2009 #10
    Guest

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    Wow, thank goodness for your preperation in your fishroom and your wifes quick actions! I am happy to hear all things considered you, your family, your tank(crossing fingers) and your home is ok!
     
  11. Jun 11, 2009 #11
    CyberJester

    CyberJester Inactive User

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    Guess we all need sprinkler systems for our fish rooms now, great another 3 grand!
     
  12. Jun 11, 2009 #12
    Lee

    Lee Experienced Reefkeeper

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    Hope everything is alright for you Craig.  Perhaps the powder is just baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
    A little research:
     
    Depending on what type/ rating the fire extinguisher was, the middle of this article talks about the contents. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_extinguisher
     
  13. Jun 11, 2009 #13
    wolfman1973

    wolfman1973 Inactive User

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    sorry to here about that craig,hope everything turns out for the best!!!
     
  14. Jun 11, 2009 #14
    CyberJester

    CyberJester Inactive User

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    Craig, I did want to throw out, if you need someplace to house things until you can get everything stablized, I am willing to house some of your corals temporary if you need it.  I am sure others in the area would be willing to assist as well.
     
  15. Jun 12, 2009 #15
    xroads La Porte City, IA

    xroads Veteran Reefkeeper Vendor

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    I had Jeremy do a search for me while I was in panic mode & he told me it is mostly phosphates & silicates. Hopefully the worst I will have is a big algae outbreak.

    This morning things still looked ok as far as I could see in the dark. The RO has been running non stop trying to get the water replenished.

    Luckily the stuff floated & were able to get it all skimmed out & save alot of the water. I will probably do a continuos water change for a couple weeks to play it safe.

    I think I am going to buy another RO unit for times like this. When you need 250 gallons, the 100 gallon per day (it really only puts out 75) takes a long time.

    Thanks again
    Craig
     
  16. Jun 12, 2009 #16
    xroads La Porte City, IA

    xroads Veteran Reefkeeper Vendor

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    And if you think it wont happen to you, do a search on RC & see how many tank related fires were talked about just in the last year. I lost count at 20 in the first couple of pages.
     
  17. Jun 12, 2009 #17
    FishBrain New London

    FishBrain Expert Reefkeeper GIRS Member

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    Wow that sucks! Good thing your wife was on the ball. I hope your tank pulls through.
     

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