Power Outage Causes Deaths

[slk3599]

My power went out Monday night at 10:45 pm. I didn't want to drag the generator out and wake up the neighbors as the last time I did I had the cops show up at the door because of the noise. Well I got up at 6:00 am Tuesday morning to find my Squarespot Anthias, Yellow Tail Pygmy Angel and Copperbanded Butterfly fish dead. Everything else came through fine. I am so mad at myself for being so stupid. I should have just ran the thing and to hell with the neighbors. That's what I get for being considerate. Rats.....

 

[beth]

Yes, we have power outages all the time, in fact there was one last night, and disturbing the neighbors has been a consideration in terms of using a generator as backup. I live house back to back in my neighborhood...as is the case in most of So Fla, and especially the Keys.
What did the cops say about the noise?
[ June 13, 2001: Message edited by: Beth ]

 

[dugan]

Sorry to hear about that...
Everytime I hear about power outages I think I should buy a few battery-operated powerheads... if they exist. Anyone know?
Katie

 

[pufferlover]

Frankly I being a former law officer would not do much on a complaint like that given the circumstances. In a emergency the use of a generator is not considered a noise issue unless the town has a ordinace regarding that. I doubt if any judge would hear such a case nor find against someone in that issue.
I do not have a generator any more but did at one of homes and I had it installed in my basement and vented the exhaust out the window. The noise was pretty bad and if I did it again I would house it in some sort of container which would dampen the noise but allow outside installation.

 

[b_ball12_99]

I would run it, you have a life also.

 

[pufferlover]

One of the other posts reminded me that I do have battery operated air pumps installed on all my tanks. I have the ones that plug in to wall outlet and sense power going off and then come on for up to 6 hours on 2 D cell batteries. My bigger tanks (135-125) have 2 each the others one and the small 20's share one with multiple air lines to each of 2 tanks. They coat about 10 bucks each but are well worth it as a emergency measure.

 

[slk3599]

The police didn't do anything when they showed up at the door. Like they said they had to act on a complaint but it was unusual circumstances. It just causes strain with the couple next door.
I've learned my lesson though, there won't be a repeat. I will use it and the nieghbors will just have to live with it.
I didn't lose anything in the 75G FOWLR tank, but lost the Anthias and Pygmy Angel in the 72g reef tank and the small Copperband in the 29g quarantine tank. I'm sure it was a lack of oxygen that killed them. The corals all came through fine.
I'm an idiot. Why did I pay 700 for a generator and then not use it...dumb, dumb, dumb.

 

[beth]

I think I'm going to look into the solar power option....lord knows, I got plenty of sunshine to harness!
Also, BTW, Honda now sells "silent" generators.

 

[rlv695]

you thinking out load again sammy....lol

 

[krustytheclownfish]

Susan, you probably get wacked by the same storm that we did. A lot of power out around the Twin Cities area. Luckly my house was not one of them. Sorry to hear about your fish. Send your neighbors the bill.
Puffer-Where were you an officer?

 

[krustytheclownfish]

Oh, also Puffer where did you get those battery operated pumps? Online? If not, anyone know a site that sells them. An ifs around me sells them, but not anywhere near $10. Thanks.

 

[porkypuffer]

ANOTHER OPTION IS A BATTERY OPERATED AIREATOR FOR A LIVE BATE WELL. MOST SPORTING GOODS SELL THEM. THEY'RE DESIGNED TO CONVERT AN ICE CHEST INTO A LIVE BATE WELL. THEY RUN ON 12 VOLTS. IF YOU HAD A CAR BATTERY FULLY CHARGED, IT WOULD LAST FOR HOURS AND I SEEM TO RECALL THEY WEREN'T EXPENSIVE.
OH, AND I'M SORRY TO HEAR OF YOUR LOSS.

 

[fugu]

we have power outages all the time here at least twice a day. i have a large pump that runs off the mains and also has a dc backup for about 12 hrs. when the power goes the tanks still have oxygen, no problems so far.
as far as generators go i agree with pufferlover try and insulate the generator so the noise is decreased. good luck

 

[slk3599]

Che,
It's lack of oxygen in the water that causes the fish to die during a power outage. The temperature of the tanks was around 85 degrees in the morning. But that is totally within an acceptable range.
I'd like to send the neighbors a bill. It's going to cost me around 300 to replace the fish I lost.
Krusty Clown at redfishbluefish03@earthlink.net and I will let you know where to get battery powered air pumps.
So if you got them, use them.

 

[nickbuol]

I've got a $300 UPS hooked up to two powerheads to keep the water flowing. I have never tested how long they would last, but it would be a pretty long time. I know that $300 may be a bit much, but the UPS was about 3 months old, and being thrown away at work, so I snagged it. It worked 100%, and was free!

 

[orby]

Sorry to hear of your loss. I too was without power for 3days, I ran the tank off the power inverter from the van the first day and then bit the bullet and went out and bought a generator the next day. Frankly i said screw the neighbors with the noise of the generator for 2 days straight. I have a posting listed in the reef section about my saga. If I can do anything to help let me know. My fish are my children and I think I proved the lengths I will go for them this week.

 

[slk3599]

Orby,
Thanks for the support. You must have gotten hit with that same storm we had Monday night. Pretty gruesome. I could kick my butt around the block, but it's water under the bridge now. I did water changes on all the tanks and everything is doing just fine. All the corals came through great.
Glad you managed to find a generator. From the new here, there was a run on them and were hard to find.

 

[i3luedragon]

Yeah, you should get one of those computer back up systems that can back up for almost a full 24 hours or more. I am pretty sure computer equipment has more things hooked up to it then a single tank. Get one for each tank. I am sure it will capacitate for the duration to charge the back up system and when the lights go off, it should turn on for a smooth run.

 

[fugu]

i3luedragon, i think you are reffering to a ups. these can run alot of computer equipment as the equip draws verry little current. i tried using my ups computer backup on my tank and it barely would run 3 fluorescent tubes! of course you can go for higher power but they start to get very expensive.

 

[mr . salty]

The best way to insulate the noise from a generaor(at least in my experience) is to dig a hole the the unit sits in.This what we did in the army,and believe me,You would almost trip into the hole before you heard it.The hole aims all the noise straight up.Then you could build a small shed over it,and just keep it outside year round.