Power Loss - Temp Drop

[ohioreef]

Due to an ice storm, I lost power for about 14 hours. My tank dropped to about 70 degrees from a normal 78 degrees.
Should I be concerned? Should I let the heater heat it back up slowly or should I help it along with heated water?
All I have in my tank is a yellow tang, 2 damsels, 2 feather dusters and some snails and hermits.

 

[solonfairy]

let your heater raise the temp... dont try to raise too fast.
a rapid increase could be more damaging than anything.

 

[bang guy]

I agree 100% with Solonfairy.

 

[ohioreef]

Thanks. That's kinda what I was thinking. Just when it seemed that it was coming up, the power went out again!!
We're back on now, but for how long no one knows.

 

[bang guy]

Do you have a battery operated air pump? Critical for reef tanks IMO.

 

[ohioreef]

No, unfortunately I do not. That will be a purchase in the near future.
We don't normally have power issues around here, but the ice storm took out a ton of power poles, power lines and trees. Luckily I live near a major route through the county so we got restored pretty quickly.

 

[bang guy]

Those air pumps can be found in any bait store. I've seen them at Walmart too. They'll keep the water circulating for quite a while on a pair of 'D' batteries.

 

[dicemanj]

I also live in Ohio and had issues with power before Christmas. I bought a converter that you plug into your car outlet and it converts power to 110. For $40 I could run 600 watts of my truck parked in the garage.
This was not ideal, but it kept the circulation and temp up.
I did not run in constantly. half hour on, half hour off.

 

[ohioreef]

diceman,
what all did you run off the inverter? I've thought of getting a deep cycle battery and putting an inverter on it. Not sure how long it would last though.