Lost one betta in the earthquake today...

[Auratus]

Being the caring fish person I am I dove for my 29 gallon instead of running under a table. My brother was yelling at me to get outside but I said I'm not letting this fish tank fall. It isn't very stable because we live in an old house. It looked like a tital wave in my tank. So that one was okay but I couldn't get to my bettas. My newest betta which was in a one gallon tank on my intertainment center fell off behind the thing. So I looked for him for 5 minutes with no luck. I found him behind the dvd player not moving. I grabbed him and but him in a thing of water with stress coat. His fins were non existent.... he is barely alive and I don't think he is going to make it.

My other fish were without power from 11:15 to 6:30. My 29 got dirty because it was rocking so much that it stirred up crap and then their was no filter for 7 hours so it is pretty nasty looking. Mollie fry are dieing. My other tanks didn't shake as much because they are on counters and more stable things but this 29 was on a stand which wasn't stable at all. If I didn't hold it, it would have fallen and I would have lost all of my fish. It was pretty scary. I couldn't find my cat for about 2 hours because she ran outside.

I guess I'd rather die then let my fish die, lol .

I live in Oceano, CA. Lots of damage and a car fell into a sinkhole! It was scary! I hope all of my fish live!!!!!!

UPDATE: It's been 15 minutes. Just looked in my 29 and my one pearl balloon molly was stuck in the plant upside down. I went to get him out and he shot out of the plant but then flipped upside down and is stuck in the plant again... he is dieing. The water is really cold...All others look okay though. She was one of my favorite because she was the only molly of that color in the tank...

 

[mike777]

Oh man that is not good !! I hope all of your fish come out alive and well though!

 

[missyintx_99]

How scary.
You did the best you could tho. Whatever the losses, you couldn't have done anything more.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Auratus

I had the radio off all day and this is the first I heard of the earthquake.

I'm so sorry about you fish, but most of them will be OK. The important thing, when a disaster happens, is that you and your family are alright.

Sometimes it takes something drastic, like an earthquake to make people realize what is truly important and valuable in this life.

 

[Auratus]

Well, the quake was a 6.5 and lasted about 30 seconds. It started 6 miles from hearst castle and was felt from LA to san fransisco.... Just found that out.

Did you know 7 hours with no power is really boring?!?!?

 

[mike777]

Yes power outages are verry boring! the most Ive been without power is about 15 hours when the blackout of 2003 hit the east coast last summer. Oh boy that was boring!

 

[Laughncat]

Yes power outages are verry boring! the most Ive been without power is about 15 hours when the blackout of 2003 hit the east coast last summer. Oh boy that was boring!

*Snicker*

Sorry, if you want to talk about being bored without power, try doing with out it for THREE days! And I was one of the lucky ones in my area.

I live in Greenville, South Carolina and last year we got hit with a nasty ice storm in december. I lost power on a wednesday and didn't get it back until Friday night. Some of my friends were without power for a WEEK or more.

Talk about dull. But even worse, it was also VERY, VERY COLD! I dang near turned into a human popsicle.

HEh, I'm sure that we have more then a few forum members who have a plethora of much worse horror stories to share about power loss, boredom, etc. though...

 

[snowyangel]

Auratus im so sorry about your fish! What a thing to happend before christmas . I'm pretty sure if that happened to me i'd run to my 25 gallon which is also just sitting on a desk. I hope the rest of your fish recover safely

 

[wuvmybetta]

So sorry Auratus

 

[Eelzor]

Sorry to hear is Auratus, hope it clears up.

 

[Auratus]

I fed my fish earlier and I am missing my neon blue dwarf gourami. Looked under rocks, plants, and even in the filter. He just dissapeared... maybe he jumped out and I cant find him. I really hope he's just hiding where I can't see him. My pearl molly died too...

 

[Jo]

Im' really sorry to hear about your problems, I woke up to hear about the earthquake this morning and hoped that everyone was ok....You were very brave trying to save your fish like that, I think i'd have been too scared to do anything like that, I'd have probably grabbed my cat and got somewhere safe, so well done you....hope that you find your gourami!

 

[De Plano]

A buddy of mine was in an earthquake as a kid. The story goes, a large earthquake hit and his father had a large tank set up on a divider in the room. When it started shaking he went and grabbed the tank with one hand and his kid (my buddy) in the other. His kid was just a toddler if that, and he realised he was not going to be able to hold the tank and the kid at the same time. What to do? He threw his kid in the tank and held on to the tank with both hands. Well, apparently he saved the tank, and the kid.

Next time that happens your hot water heater is going to hold water at a decent tempeture for a while so you can give your fish a temp boost with that (assuming the rest of the family did not use it all). For aeration someone said they stirred their tanks regularly.

<gloats> generators are nice for that situation <gloats>

You did do as much as you could, it was a serious earthquake, and you are lucky you did as well as you did. Do not beat yourself up about it at all. If you realise there was anything you could do, then you will know for next time. Not to sound condescending, but you are young and it will help you know what to do next time. I am sure you will have more fish to deal with at that point, so you'll be helping more fish in the long run

Anyway, take care of yourself as much as you take care of the fishies