Impending Power Outage

WaterBaby

WaterBaby

Senior Member with Senior Moments
Sep 23, 2002
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Florence, New Jersey
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Don't know if this is this is the right place to post this.

We all know (especially the east coast) that Isabel is coming. Just exactly where and how furiously on the coast is a mystery. I live on the Delaware river in NJ, and will be preparing for the storm for the next 2 days.

My question is:

How can we keep our fish safe in case there is a major power outage from this storm. I know that some of you just went through it in New England with the blackout. How did you all cope? No electricity means no filtration, no aeration, no heat.

I figured I'd post this today, just in case the lights (and computers) go out if this thing hits. Plus, it's always a good thing to know anyway........
 
Battery-powered air pumps saved me during the last outage. Noisy, but provide a lot of turnover. The tank can do without heat, light, and filtration for a lot longer than it can go without circulation.

Wish I'd had the generator installed, though.
 
Last I heard the storm is losing force. Let's cross our fingers.

At times like this folks wish that they:

1) had anatboids
2) Their tanks were not overstocked.

Good luck! What kind of fish do you have?
 
Well, after that whole blackout last month, that lasted a good 9 hours, I can say with experience that you don't need ANYTHING. Provided your power isn't out for days, that is. But all my fish were absolutely fine, even my fry! I think I was more stressed than they were.
 
i used to live in mt laurel, so i know right where you're at. highly highly doubt there will be any power outages from this storm. in fact, i would be absolutely stunned if there was any extended outages...i doubt you will see anything other than occasional isolated wind gusts and showers, if that.

in any event, a battery air pump is a handy thing to own for any such occasion when the power is out for more than a few hours or for moving fish long distances.
 
The only battery-powered air pump I've seen looked pretty puny. Do you think that would provide enough "emergency air" for a 55g tank or would I be better off with multiple pumps?

The one I've seen automatically turns on when the power dies. I was thinking about using a T-connector to connect it the existing air line (which leads to a single airstone). That way I would be covered during outages even if I wasn't home.
 
If you do 'T' it into the existing airline, don't forget to put backflow stoppers on both lines between the T and the pumps.
 
About 5 years ago the power went out during the winter for 4 days, and I lost nearly every fish I had. The tanks dropped to 45 F. The only survivors were a couple apple snails and some corydoras (I was very surprised about the corydoras).

I didn't know much of anything about what to do if the power went out. I started out by putting blankets over the aquariums. I've since heard of people putting a candle under the tank (far enough away that it is comfortable to put your hand over the flame - though this seems potentially dangerous), putting bags of warm water inside the tank, and other tricks. I now have stand alone space heaters to use near my tanks if this happens again. I'll just try and heat the room to the proper temperature. Of course you won't need this when it's warm out.

I've also heard of people adding balloons of ice water when it was very hot out and the power went out. It seems like this would be unnecessary unless your tank temps went high in the 80s.

When oxygen is low in the tank the lady at my LFS recommends putting a capful of pharmacy hydrogen peroxide (the kind you use on cuts) per 20 gallons of water. It did seem to help my fish recently, but I'd love to hear from someone who knows about chemistry on whether this really works and why it does. I also don't know the duration of this, how long the oxygen lasts.

If your filters stop working and the ammonia starts to rise you might add a water conditioner that neutralizes ammonia (like Amquel).

Then cross your fingers for the power to come back on! :p
 
i have an idea and im wondering if it would work.
If i used a siphon, like my gravel cleaner and put one end in the tank and the other end in my power filter and let the natural siphon suck from the tank and then into my power filter would this work to circulater the water
 
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