Winter Emergency!

[RobberyinCSharp]

Hi everyone,

It's me again, back with another weather panic attack. As you know, I live in the Northeast of the US. Well, for some ludacris reason, we're getting SNOW. In OCTOBER.
They're threatening extended periods of power outages. Last time we had severe weather, (the hurricane, as some of you responders may remember), I lost my entire 10 gallon tank I had no power, water or cell service for 9 days. My fish died from toxicity and low water temps as well as low oxygen. I don't know how long this power outage could last but they're threatening 60mph+ gusts of wind which easily takes our home out of power.

I really don't want to lose another tank to New England weather!! PLEASE HELP!

What do I do to prevent losses again!? Mind you, my stove is electric so I can't heat water up for them.

Here are my tanks:
10 gallon:
2 Sparkling Gouramis
1 Balloon Molly
2 Platy

Hagen Fluval Spec:
1 Male Delta Betta Fish

Both have electric-powered heaters and filters. The 10-gallon also has an aerator.

I'm desperate for help guys!!!

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

I would think the only easy answer is to run to Home Depot and buy a small generator. I once saw small gas ones there for like fifty bucks or something like that. Otherwise I don't know what you could do

 

[Noahs ark6]

cover the tanks in bubble wrap. and fill bottles with warm water and keep changing every 2 hours, that will keep it mildly warm. Would you be able to do water changes?

 

[This Old Spouse]

cover the tanks in bubble wrap. and fill bottles with warm water and keep changing every 2 hours, that will keep it mildly warm. Would you be able to do water changes?

How will he keep warm water with no power??

I'd find some kind of battery backup system. They make some where you use a car battery, and you should be able to power your filters and heaters for quite some time.

 

[lucasluke]

Buy an uninterupted power supply and charge it.

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Buy an uninterupted power supply and charge it.

This dude lives in the USA, so I don't think they can do that as in the UK

...........I mean, Dude-ette

 

[RobberyinCSharp]

cover the tanks in bubble wrap. and fill bottles with warm water and keep changing every 2 hours, that will keep it mildly warm. Would you be able to do water changes?

How will he keep warm water with no power??

I'd find some kind of battery backup system. They make some where you use a car battery, and you should be able to power your filters and heaters for quite some time.

I have heard of people doing this, but how does one go about hooking it up properly

Buy an uninterupted power supply and charge it.

This dude lives in the USA, so I don't think they can do that as in the UK

...........I mean, Dude-ette

That's no biggie, since I live in the USA as well. How do I go about charging this from an uninterrupted power supply?

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

cover the tanks in bubble wrap. and fill bottles with warm water and keep changing every 2 hours, that will keep it mildly warm. Would you be able to do water changes?

How will he keep warm water with no power??

I'd find some kind of battery backup system. They make some where you use a car battery, and you should be able to power your filters and heaters for quite some time.

I have heard of people doing this, but how does one go about hooking it up properly

I have no idea how it works in the US. In the UK, if power is out for more than 24 hours you can claim per day to your power supplier(as per the terms of your contract), is normally around 75 bucks per day. Also if you have a home insurance policy there might be a section in the policy where you can claim for issues pertaining to power outages.

Buy an uninterupted power supply and charge it.

This dude lives in the USA, so I don't think they can do that as in the UK

...........I mean, Dude-ette

That's no biggie, since I live in the USA as well. How do I go about charging this from an uninterrupted power supply?

 

[CezzaXV]

Some kind of generator would be the best bet, but if that's not an option, try getting an air pump and putting your filter media in a bag above the air stone so it gets circulation. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

If you can get some kind of gas or oil powered heater, that would help keep your home warm and you may be able to leave saucepans of hot water on top to heat your tank with.

Some kind of generator or battery pack would be the best solution though, if you can get hold of one.

 

[Mikaila31]

you can get uninterrupted power supplies here, they might be called something different though. There are 2 at my parents house that protect the main home entertainment system(52" TV, sat. receiver, ect) and the main computer and router. If the power goes out those devices continue to work. The ones we use are essentially just a battery that is kept constantly charged incase of a outage, then it can power whatever until it is drained. Only real issue I see here is most of these things I see are designed to protect system. When the power goes out the alarm on those things goes off and you can NOT shut them up. Their like smoke detectors that are low on batteries, just screeching every 10 seconds or so.

You can get an DC to AC converter which depending on what you get can be hooked to a car battery or plugged into your cars accessory socket. You would then need to run a line though from the car to the tank and occasionally run the car to charge the battery otherwise your going to ruin it and those are not cheap. Whatever batter powered system you use, that heater is going to be a big drain on it.

I'm surprised no one has asked this yet, but what in your house can you still use during an outage? I know it may sound like a silly question, but depending on location and appliances some things may give you an edge. A lot of gas powered appliances will work during an outage(stove, home water heater). If your on city/town water usually you still have running water since water towers and gravity provide the pressure. On the other-hand if your on a private well(which I'm all to familiar with), you have an electrical water pump. In such a case no power means no water pressure and no running water anywhere in the house . So I would decide how to best maintain the tank taking advantage of any still working systems.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I can't believe your service is so undependable!

 

[RobberyinCSharp]

Some kind of generator would be the best bet, but if that's not an option, try getting an air pump and putting your filter media in a bag above the air stone so it gets circulation. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

If you can get some kind of gas or oil powered heater, that would help keep your home warm and you may be able to leave saucepans of hot water on top to heat your tank with.

Some kind of generator or battery pack would be the best solution though, if you can get hold of one.

I've heard of people using battery backup equipment like APC to run their filters. I can't run an air pump because that requires electricity. do you have any knowledge of these setups??

 

[RobberyinCSharp]

you can get uninterrupted power supplies here, they might be called something different though. There are 2 at my parents house that protect the main home entertainment system(52" TV, sat. receiver, ect) and the main computer and router. If the power goes out those devices continue to work. The ones we use are essentially just a battery that is kept constantly charged incase of a outage, then it can power whatever until it is drained. Only real issue I see here is most of these things I see are designed to protect system. When the power goes out the alarm on those things goes off and you can NOT shut them up. Their like smoke detectors that are low on batteries, just screeching every 10 seconds or so.

You can get an DC to AC converter which depending on what you get can be hooked to a car battery or plugged into your cars accessory socket. You would then need to run a line though from the car to the tank and occasionally run the car to charge the battery otherwise your going to ruin it and those are not cheap. Whatever batter powered system you use, that heater is going to be a big drain on it.

I'm surprised no one has asked this yet, but what in your house can you still use during an outage? I know it may sound like a silly question, but depending on location and appliances some things may give you an edge. A lot of gas powered appliances will work during an outage(stove, home water heater). If your on city/town water usually you still have running water since water towers and gravity provide the pressure. On the other-hand if your on a private well(which I'm all to familiar with), you have an electrical water pump. In such a case no power means no water pressure and no running water anywhere in the house . So I would decide how to best maintain the tank taking advantage of any still working systems.

Because I live with my grandmother and it's her house, I doubt she'd let me get an UPS. I'm sure that would require an electrician to come and set up as well, and electricians cost a fortune.

Unfortunately I have no resources in my house except an iPhone 4 during a power outage. I have well water, so during a power outage, we have no water. I have only the Internet from my phone, as my computer is automatically shut down without power. Our stove is electric we have a propane grill but I'm not so sure how useful it is, since it's out on our deck (covered in snow). I cant do the car charging thing, as we don't have the proper equipment and my car battery will quickly die in these temps. I *do* have oil heating in the house, to keep it acceptably warm, however.

I just lost power. It's 24*F outside. I'm so worried I'm going to lose another tank...

I can't believe your service is so undependable!

Yeah it's disgusting but they're the only providers in our area. During hurricane Irene this summer, we had nothing for 9 days. Some had nothing for a few weeks. It was horrid.

 

[This Old Spouse]

If you can keep your tank in the warmest part of the house that will help. You said you can keep the house heated, so that's a big part of the battle. If you can heat some of the water but keeping it near the furnace then putting it back in the tank, maybe that will keep them going.

What I would do is what I just described to heat up the water a little (not too much as to shock the fish) and then pour it over the filter media to keep it going too. Do this every couple of hours and maybe you can keep everything alive. I wouldn't worry about feeding the fish. They can survive several days without food and by not feeding them you can keep the water quality fairly high.

Good luck. I'm trying to send some Minnesota sun your way.

 

[Mikaila31]

You don't need a UPS wired in or anything, you just plug it in. Its not going to be of much help though if you already lost power.

lol@ old spouse It is really too nice over here huh? I work for a ski lodge in the winter and they just called the other day asking for my class schedule, winter can be that far away. I only have power outages in the summer, in winter they are rare. Even those blizzards where work closes and my road doesn't see a snow plow for 36 hours.