[smidoid]

I remember reading something, by Dr. Shimek I think, that said that fish are able to survive the odd storm (they happen in nature) kicking the sand around.

Wet/dry filters are falling out of favour IIRC. Do you mean that when you have an outage the w/d spits a load of detritus back into the display?

As for anecdotal evidence from the LFS, I'd take it with a pich of "Instant Ocean". Hopefully, someone else will have a better explanation.

[Steven Pro]

The white streak is a normal stress/fright response. You will also likely see it on the fish every morning if you get up early and take a look before the lights come on.

If your LFS guy lost fish because of a 3 hour power loss, he is doing something horribly wrong.

[Steven Pro]

Originally Posted by smidoid

Do you mean that when you have an outage the w/d spits a load of detritus back into the display?

This is a pretty common occurance. The stuff that gets spit out is actually bacterial mulm, a coating of bacteria on the inside of pipes. They are able to hold on when the water is flowing. But, when the pressure is shut off and then comes back on abruptly, some get dislodged. There is not much you cna do about this.

[smidoid]

Originally Posted by Steven Pro

If your LFS guy lost fish because of a 3 hour power loss, he is doing something horribly wrong.

Professional Fishkeeper 1: LFS Guy 0

I was thinking the same thing but my experience is primarily with freshwater in this context so I thought for once, best keep my big gob buttoned. Nice to have it confirmed!

[smidoid]

Originally Posted by Steven Pro

This is a pretty common occurance. The stuff that gets spit out is actually bacterial mulm, a coating of bacteria on the inside of pipes.

Speaking of mulm, Steven, do you have any resources on Old Tank Syndrome - causes and prevention perchance?

[Steven Pro]

I don't believe in Old Tank Syndrome. At least, I don't agree with the term. There is certainly Neglected Tank Syndrome, ones that suffer over time due to lack of water changes, little use of activated carbon, protein skimming, vegetable filtration, etc.

[smidoid]

Funny that. I kept a freshwater tank for, oh, 8 maybe 10 years and it never crashed. I lost the odd fish, sure, mainly thanks to poor choice of livestock - I lost a butterfly because I couldn't get enough live flies/spiders, for instance.

Not that I can claim to be perfect, far from it, but I guess I must have done something right, with hindsight, I exported a LOT of excess nutrient via the plants and I had what amounted a wet/dry filter which must have taken a fair share of problems from the water.