Power Trouble

[tttnjfttt]

Ok, After loosing power for the second time in three days, my power just came back on afeter being off for over an hour (it was out for 5 hours new years eve). They are now saying parts of our town will be without power for up to five days. I have no idea how long power will be on for this time, or if our town will be having rolling blackouts, or if i don't even need to worry about it

Assuming worst case scenario and power is out for an extended period of time, is there anything else i need to do besides keeping the filter media wet (i usually just put the filter into the tank), stiring up the tank to increase oxygen, and putting hot water bottles in the tank? Also, i know to watch for an ammonia spike

I should say that when power goes out, heat also goes out so it will likely be getting cold inside as well, so cranking up the heater isn't an option

Also, going to the LPS to get anything is totally out of the question for today. My dad went somewhere and it took him 45 minutes for a drive that normally takes 5 minutes. Tomorrow, if there is less trafic, i am thinking of buying some amquel to keep on hand.

 

[Durbkat]

If you don't already have one you should go to the lps and get a battery operated air pump and I think they make battery operated heaters to oh and don't forget batterys also.

 

[tttnjfttt]

thanks, i'll look for those. I also thought of getting a few breeder traps for the bettas, this way i'm working on one tank instead of 4, and the larger volume should make it easier to contorol the temp.

 

[Tolak]

Feed little, if at all. Less in means less out.

 

[jacblades]

the battery operated air pumps are crap for anything over a 10 gallon. go to a sports supply store (that carries fishing supplies) and buy a battery operated aerator used for fishing. they are about $30 and much more powerful than the dinky ones you will find in the lfs.
if you have an academy sports store near by, i know they carry them.

i know it's too late now but for the future...
it's always a good idea to have an extra sponge filter in each tank for instances when the power goes out. that way you can use a battery operated aerator and still have filtration on your tank.

 

[fishing4exotics]

If you are in an area that is prone to blackouts you might want an Uninterruptible Power Supply ( UPS ). UPS are mainly used for computers but they work well for aquarium equipment. The other solution would be to get a generator.

 

[tttnjfttt]

We're normally not prone to them, just this past storm has sent them scrambling, which is rare, just trying to be prepared. Power keeps flickering as I type

I think its just this storm had a ton of rain, and now its VERY wet and heavy snow. To put in perspective how rarely we loose power, we had two seperate storms that dumped 6 feet of snow each last winter, and maybe lost power for an hour. This is just really rare, and their predictions are not keeping me very happy.

 

[fishing4exotics]

Sorry to hear about your troubles tttnjfttt I hope your fish fair well.

 

[Durbkat]

We're normally not prone to them, just this past storm has sent them scrambling, which is rare, just trying to be prepared. Power keeps flickering as I type

I think its just this storm had a ton of rain, and now its VERY wet and heavy snow. To put in perspective how rarely we loose power, we had two seperate storms that dumped 6 feet of snow each last winter, and maybe lost power for an hour. This is just really rare, and their predictions are not keeping me very happy.

You must be experiencing the storm we had a few hours ago. Is there any tornado watches or warnings because this storm had tornados in it and on the news they said there were funnel clouds only 1 mile away from were I was and as I was heading for the basement I heard the train noise tornados make when there close.

 

[Durbkat]

How did it go, are your fish ok?