Power OUT! How long till I should start worrying
- Thread starter watson_ab
- Start date
A
agb1
Guest
How long do you expect it to be out?? One time they were building a house next to ours and damaged the power lines. My tank was off all day..I lost several fish. I was so upset. I would do like catawaba says and do whatever you can to get the water moving.
watson_ab
Member
Originally Posted by Catawaba
Now.
Get the water moving with a battery operated pump or a hand mixer/whisk.
Temperature and water movement/oxygen are the most important right now.
Don't have a battery pump...
So i'm just suppose to stand there and whisk the water until the power comes back on?????? Seems silly.
Now.
Get the water moving with a battery operated pump or a hand mixer/whisk.
Temperature and water movement/oxygen are the most important right now.
Don't have a battery pump...
So i'm just suppose to stand there and whisk the water until the power comes back on?????? Seems silly.
watson_ab
Member
Originally Posted by AGB1
How long do you expect it to be out?? One time they were building a house next to ours and damaged the power lines. My tank was off all day..I lost several fish. I was so upset. I would do like catawaba says and do whatever you can to get the water moving.
Not sure we had an ice storm last night..... could be a while but who knows...
How long do you expect it to be out?? One time they were building a house next to ours and damaged the power lines. My tank was off all day..I lost several fish. I was so upset. I would do like catawaba says and do whatever you can to get the water moving.
Not sure we had an ice storm last night..... could be a while but who knows...
G
gsxr1100
Guest
unless it is off severla hours, I would not worry. Every try to cool down water????
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agb1
Guest
Last time we had an ice storm the electric was out for several days. By the way, you must be on a laptop if your electric is out??? I agree with catwaba...I would be in there wisking away, or whatever it took to save my coral...to much money and time invested. Good luck! Keep us posted!
watson_ab
Member
Originally Posted by AGB1
Last time we had an ice storm the electric was out for several days. By the way, you must be on a laptop if your electric is out??? I agree with catwaba...I would be in there wisking away, or whatever it took to save my coral...to much money and time invested. Good luck! Keep us posted!
I am at work right now and they have power. Anyone have experience of how long till livestock starts going without any action????
where do you get a batterpowered pump??? would ***** sell them?
Last time we had an ice storm the electric was out for several days. By the way, you must be on a laptop if your electric is out??? I agree with catwaba...I would be in there wisking away, or whatever it took to save my coral...to much money and time invested. Good luck! Keep us posted!
I am at work right now and they have power. Anyone have experience of how long till livestock starts going without any action????
where do you get a batterpowered pump??? would ***** sell them?
A
agb1
Guest
I would call them or run by there and see. Im willing to bet that they do.
T
tizzo
Guest
I would scoop out a pitcher of tank water then dump it back in a few times every 10 to 20 minutes. This will help with oxygenation. As far as temp, if you have a gas fireplace, turn it on, if not they say to wrap the tank in blankets, but I never had a blanket big enough.
Mylar holds temp too, which you can get from lowes. It's attached to the stuff you put down UNDER a laminate flooring but above concrete.
Battery operated pump... Cheap, very wise investment!! Don't forget the batteries.
Go home, tend the tank. Your pets NEED you!!
Mylar holds temp too, which you can get from lowes. It's attached to the stuff you put down UNDER a laminate flooring but above concrete.
Battery operated pump... Cheap, very wise investment!! Don't forget the batteries.
Go home, tend the tank. Your pets NEED you!!
T
tizzo
Guest
Originally Posted by watson_ab
Anyone have experience of how long till livestock starts going without any action????
where do you get a batterpowered pump??? would ***** sell them?
Depending on temp and prior conditions, a tank can lose air in an hour.
Temp drops immediately.
Anyone have experience of how long till livestock starts going without any action????
where do you get a batterpowered pump??? would ***** sell them?
Depending on temp and prior conditions, a tank can lose air in an hour.
Temp drops immediately.
kjord97
Member
You can get battery operated pumps everywhere now. All you need is water movement. some people take a pitcher and just fill it and dump it to simulate the water movement. The longest I have gone with out doing anything to my tanks is 6 hours. After that I start to take action. This past christmas we lost power for 2 days, i ran out of batterys for the back up pump and then I freaked. Then I remembered that my Brand new Toyota Tacoma has a 400w power inverter built into the bed of the truck. I ran an extension cord to my truck and turned on the heater and powerheads.
kokamo
Member
Watson, I have had this in my plans since day one of building my reef tank. You need to go to a rental store and rent a gas powered generator. Those generators will get you your power to the entire system of your tank including lights and it will also supply almost anything else in the house depending on what size you get. Just run an extention cord from the generator to the tank or wherever you need it. They can run all day long and well into the night with one tank of gas.
I work at a rental store and we have had people come in demanding for a generator because their power went out and they had some huge reef tank or medical equipment they absolutly had to get going.
Good luck, I hope it all works out for you.
Joe
I work at a rental store and we have had people come in demanding for a generator because their power went out and they had some huge reef tank or medical equipment they absolutly had to get going.
Good luck, I hope it all works out for you.
Joe
rbaldino
Active Member
Okay, I've dealt with a couple of prolonged power outages on FOWLR tanks, so I hope my advice will help. Instead of messing around trying to make current, you need to cover the tank up with towels, blankets, whatever to insulate it against the cold. If you have some sort of heat source, like a fireplace or propane space heater, that will help. Don't worry about feeding or keeping them in the dark; fish can handle this for a while. The first time this happened to me, the power went out for four days and all the fish in my 20 gallon survived. The second time this happened, which was last December, the power was also out for four days and I lost all but one of the fish in my 29 gallon, probably because it got much, much colder. So in my opinion, your biggest concern is keeping as much heat in the tank as possible. Now, I've never had to deal with corals when this happens, but if they can survive being stuck in a shipping box for a day or two, I'm sure they can survive a power outage for a while without light, current and filtration.
rbaldino
Active Member
Originally Posted by zman1
If a generator is not an option, then the priority for this time of year (ice Storm) should be trying to keep heat in the tank. rbaldino offered some good ideas, just get a carbon monoxide tester and follow the instructions for any fueled heating devices you use indoors.
If you properly ventilate and don't keep the heater running constantly, you should be okay. But yeah, you need to be careful about CO.
If a generator is not an option, then the priority for this time of year (ice Storm) should be trying to keep heat in the tank. rbaldino offered some good ideas, just get a carbon monoxide tester and follow the instructions for any fueled heating devices you use indoors.
If you properly ventilate and don't keep the heater running constantly, you should be okay. But yeah, you need to be careful about CO.