80 mph winds and 120 ft doug fir is not a good mix.
Particularly when the ground is saturated with water from heavy rains.
large fields with douglas Fir had been cleared to make room for housing. they left a barrier of trees to leave the 'Natural' look.
having a background in Forestry, I knew if we ever had a big storm we were in trouble.
I have lived thru many storms this one is the worst.
the storm hit and trees fell.
we were going to get a generator next week..news of the storm left the shelves barren
toppled trees took out power and services..the worst is when you own 7 tanks and the power goes out.
the first night was so bad..the warm winds from the south kept the tank at or near acceptable level.(74 degrees) all I had to do was keep them aerated.
I used a double pump used to inflate float tubes. attached the air line with stone and pump away. I was hoping power would be restored after hearing of the cold front on the way.
the next night was not so kind. we have a gas fireplace so the tanks in the living room we fine but the tanks in the den were not so close and three tanks were in a far room converted from a garage.
with in a few hours of night fall friday night the tanks began to suffer..I moved two angels that were swimming upside down into a tank in the front room..the angels recovered within an hour.
the other tanks had discus , blackneons and a couple angels..I could not spare room in my other tanks fearing the load would be a problem.
how to heat them became the issue. I fired up a large propane burner and added a large container of water to hold heat..this brought the temp in the rooms to mid 50's this would help slow heat loss.
I covered the tanks with winter sleeping bags further slowing heat loss..I thought I had it beat until 11pm. the burner finally lost fuel and went out..the room began to get colder..the tanks started cooling dropping to 70 degrees..I had to thing of way to stave off the cooling..i
It was my wife that came up with the plan..the fire had died but the water was hot....mix it with cold water and do water changes..brilliant..so every hour I would take the water I used to heat the room to change water in the tanks..then it be gan to cool so I moved the water container to the main room and let the heat of the gas fireplace keep it warm ..at about 80 degrees.it was perfect..so every hour I kept changing water..the tanks would get a warm water change keeping the temp around 70..
I was just trying to buy time ..praying the electricity would return.
I lost countof the hours ..lets see the storm hit thursday night..I was still up and now it is saturday morning..I began feeling the grip of dispair..I was starting to lose the battle..the container I was using to heat the water..was cooling..from the constant water changes..I fired up the propane stove to heat water..
it is now 10 am saturday..the task to keep ahead of the cold was desperate..now the tanks in the den were cooling. I knew now i would be changing the water in 5 tanks..I began the calculations..the time it took to heat water, then change water , reheat ..I knew one or more of the tanks would secumb..
I began to prepare for the umteenth water change..I knew if power was not restored..I would begin to lose my fish.
then..the beeping....was that the fire alarm!!!(it always signaled the return of power)...then the tanks be gan to hum and the filter fired up..the lights on the heaters came on..the stealth heaters began giving off tell-tale waves of heat..
A sigh of relief..and a tear of joy..I would be able to sleep..I calculated..that with the cat naps..I had 4-5 hrs of sleep since thursday 8 pm...
thru it all..my Boys.(Oni and Tatonka) my ragdolls(cats) kept me company following me from room to room.. ther is no doubt in my mind..these two are the best cats..
in the next two weeks we will be getting a generator..
Particularly when the ground is saturated with water from heavy rains.
large fields with douglas Fir had been cleared to make room for housing. they left a barrier of trees to leave the 'Natural' look.
having a background in Forestry, I knew if we ever had a big storm we were in trouble.
I have lived thru many storms this one is the worst.
the storm hit and trees fell.
we were going to get a generator next week..news of the storm left the shelves barren
toppled trees took out power and services..the worst is when you own 7 tanks and the power goes out.
the first night was so bad..the warm winds from the south kept the tank at or near acceptable level.(74 degrees) all I had to do was keep them aerated.
I used a double pump used to inflate float tubes. attached the air line with stone and pump away. I was hoping power would be restored after hearing of the cold front on the way.
the next night was not so kind. we have a gas fireplace so the tanks in the living room we fine but the tanks in the den were not so close and three tanks were in a far room converted from a garage.
with in a few hours of night fall friday night the tanks began to suffer..I moved two angels that were swimming upside down into a tank in the front room..the angels recovered within an hour.
the other tanks had discus , blackneons and a couple angels..I could not spare room in my other tanks fearing the load would be a problem.
how to heat them became the issue. I fired up a large propane burner and added a large container of water to hold heat..this brought the temp in the rooms to mid 50's this would help slow heat loss.
I covered the tanks with winter sleeping bags further slowing heat loss..I thought I had it beat until 11pm. the burner finally lost fuel and went out..the room began to get colder..the tanks started cooling dropping to 70 degrees..I had to thing of way to stave off the cooling..i
It was my wife that came up with the plan..the fire had died but the water was hot....mix it with cold water and do water changes..brilliant..so every hour I would take the water I used to heat the room to change water in the tanks..then it be gan to cool so I moved the water container to the main room and let the heat of the gas fireplace keep it warm ..at about 80 degrees.it was perfect..so every hour I kept changing water..the tanks would get a warm water change keeping the temp around 70..
I was just trying to buy time ..praying the electricity would return.
I lost countof the hours ..lets see the storm hit thursday night..I was still up and now it is saturday morning..I began feeling the grip of dispair..I was starting to lose the battle..the container I was using to heat the water..was cooling..from the constant water changes..I fired up the propane stove to heat water..
it is now 10 am saturday..the task to keep ahead of the cold was desperate..now the tanks in the den were cooling. I knew now i would be changing the water in 5 tanks..I began the calculations..the time it took to heat water, then change water , reheat ..I knew one or more of the tanks would secumb..
I began to prepare for the umteenth water change..I knew if power was not restored..I would begin to lose my fish.
then..the beeping....was that the fire alarm!!!(it always signaled the return of power)...then the tanks be gan to hum and the filter fired up..the lights on the heaters came on..the stealth heaters began giving off tell-tale waves of heat..
A sigh of relief..and a tear of joy..I would be able to sleep..I calculated..that with the cat naps..I had 4-5 hrs of sleep since thursday 8 pm...
thru it all..my Boys.(Oni and Tatonka) my ragdolls(cats) kept me company following me from room to room.. ther is no doubt in my mind..these two are the best cats..
in the next two weeks we will be getting a generator..
