Cinnebuns Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 This is a topic I know I've read and heard about but for the life of me I can't think of solutions. I'm trying to prepare incase I get a power outage with a storm coming in on Thursday in Minnesota and I'm sure in other states too. Tbh, I'm not overly concerned about heat. I can just heat my apt warmer than I prefer it for the time being for the better of my fish and my cats may appreciate it too. My biggest concern is with filtration and surface agitation. Any ideas that won't cost me any, or much, money? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 (edited) Stay safe! Make sure the lids and stuff are set, do a water change now, before anything hits. I would just make sure any power banks are charged, nano pumps are ready. Battery powered pumps available. When we lose power I immediately go to the tanks and plug in the airstones, then I go ahead and take any ceramic media and put that in the bottom of the tank. I then have time to go ahead and clean any hang on back filters and do anything like that while the power is out. Keeping the tank covered (remove hang on back, cover hole with towel) would keep in the heat a lot better as well. Big box stores have the "store brand" of the 2xD-Cell battery pumps if you need something and don't have anything on hand. If you're expecting to have power issues for a few days or a week, I'd order some pumps from ACO if you don't have any other options. If you need to I would try to find 20,000+ mAH battery pumps from the local store and have those on hand. In my testing they lasted about 4 days with the nano pumps. I would imagine with the new ACO air pump on stamina mode you can get some pretty similar results. Edited December 21, 2022 by nabokovfan87 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The endler guy Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 My heart goes out to you! Hope everything goes well, we used to get lots of power outages where I live (lucky no fish back then) but we now luckily have a generator, I am not looking forward to not having one when I move out Dropping the water temp before the storm is probably a good idea as cooler water is better at retaining dissolved oxygen, the fish are also more active in warm water so if it is cooler they are not using as much oxygen. Carful the temperature doesn’t drop to fast for obvious reasons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 On 12/21/2022 at 4:18 AM, Pepere said: Fasting Totally slipped my mind. Very good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 @Cinnebuns, how heavily planted are your tanks? I’ve experimented with my two most heavily planted tanks and measured zero Ammonia or Nitrites after 24 hours of no filtration. I do have a few battery backups just in case, but the plants really seem to increase the time it takes for the toxins to build up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted December 21, 2022 Author Share Posted December 21, 2022 On 12/21/2022 at 2:56 PM, Patrick_G said: @Cinnebuns, how heavily planted are your tanks? I’ve experimented with my two most heavily planted tanks and measured zero Ammonia or Nitrites after 24 hours of no filtration. I do have a few battery backups just in case, but the plants really seem to increase the time it takes for the toxins to build up. One is very heavily planted but the rest are either minimal or no plants. Been working on adding more plants but it's a process 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 Yes it's suppost to hit here in ohio to but not until closer to Friday. I don't think it's going to get to bad here. I have a co op pump on 3 out of 5 tanks. If we lose power it's typically not for a huge amount of time but you never know with storms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettaballistic Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 It depends on the situation how practical this is but worst case scenario you can just blow in there with a straw or air tubing every now and then. I've been there before 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 On 12/21/2022 at 1:31 AM, Cinnebuns said: Thursday in Minnesota Are you in MN too?! I'm watching pines leaning on powerlines already. Fingers crossed, eh?! In terms of tanks, none of mine are super heavily stocked, and I got all my fish through the mail, so I figure if they survived in bags for a day or two, they'll be fine in a larger quantity of water with access to the open atmosphere for a while. Heat... Well, that might be a thing. Our previous HAP chair was without power at his house for a week last winter - he had to move into a hotel. He lost everything! I think he had over 30 tanks. It's been a serious set back for him. Here is hoping none of us lose power. Good luck to you as well @lefty o! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 On 12/21/2022 at 4:20 AM, nabokovfan87 said: If you need to I would try to find 20,000+ mAH battery pumps from the local store and have those on hand. In my testing they lasted about 4 days with the nano pumps. I got 52 hours off nano pump w/ 20000 mAh power bank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 (edited) On 12/21/2022 at 6:12 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said: Are you in MN too?! I'm watching pines leaning on powerlines already. Fingers crossed, eh?! Oh geeeeez. Please stay safe you all! Edited December 22, 2022 by nabokovfan87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 My lithium battery backed air pumps have an intermittent setting on them. You have to be there to set it if the power goes out otherwise it's just continuous air- but they are great pumps for emergencies and all my tanks have them. They can be recharged if you have the ability to. Not going to help you now but something to think about in the future. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted December 22, 2022 Author Share Posted December 22, 2022 On 12/21/2022 at 8:12 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said: Are you in MN too?! Yep. Southern MN right now. Small town things suck for this hobby because I miss out on all the good trades in the cities. Not many people in the hobby around me that I've found. So I thought about it. In terms of o2 I'm really mostly concerned about 1 tank. I have a 29 gallon heavily planted where the plants will help. A 20 gallon severely under stocked. A 10 gallon severely under stocked. Then, of concern, is a 10 gallon that has hillsteam loaches, otos, and panda cory juveniles. If the power goes out I might move at least the loaches into the 29 since they have higher o2 needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefhugger Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 I live in Central Florida so was concerned about hurricane damage. Last time we had a direct hit the power was out for a week. At the time I didn't have fishes to worry about, but now I do. I stocked up on some inexpensive nano pumps and battery packs for usb devices, which are good for two smaller tanks but also put out plenty of air to run large sponge filters. I actually use those nano pumps plugged in anyway because they are so quiet. I got a power converter that uses a car type battery for the big tanks to run hobs and heaters if needed. We were so lucky this year and didn't need to use them. But I'm glad to have some of that anxiety relived. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The endler guy Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 On 12/21/2022 at 8:20 PM, bettaballistic said: It depends on the situation how practical this is but worst case scenario you can just blow in there with a straw or air tubing every now and then. I've been there before 😂 In reality the surface agitation would help but the co2 from your escalation wouldn’t help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 On 12/22/2022 at 1:47 AM, Cinnebuns said: Yep. Southern MN right now. Small town things suck for this hobby because I miss out on all the good trades in the cities. Not many people in the hobby around me that I've found. I'll spare everyone the details of a conversation they don't have an interest in, and send you a DM. Maybe we can figure out ways for you to get better connected around here. 😃 On 12/22/2022 at 1:47 AM, Cinnebuns said: So I thought about it. Sounds like you got a pretty good plan than will get you through! I'm off to clean up from last night's snow, and the now packed down ice from those 🤬 snowmobilers driving down the sidewalk (I hope they... Well, I hope all the bad endings for them!). Hope we both keep power. See you on the other side (I think we are supposed to be getting the winds here tonight/tomorrow). Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettaballistic Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 On 12/22/2022 at 4:32 AM, Aiden Carter said: In reality the surface agitation would help but the co2 from your escalation wouldn’t help Our exhale is still 16% oxygen and only 4% co2 it's enough to resuscitate someone. Not ideal but it still works 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KittenFishMom Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 (edited) Cory had a nice video on putting together a power kit that included heat packs to tape to your tank and a blanket to put over the tank and a batter power air pump. I can't find it, but will keep looking. This looks like a good video. Fishing departments have battery powered and solar powered air pumps. I got 2 nice ones from the ACO online web site. From the ACO youtube page: Edited December 22, 2022 by KittenFishMom 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickS77 Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 Finally made the investment yesterday. Currently under a blizzard warning, single digit temperatures, wind gusts up to 70 mph, and up to 15in. of snow through the weekend. Should I lose power this will keep my 110g African Cichlid tank warm and happy. I would have liked the next biggest model of generator but they were sold out at the stores around me. I'm hoping I don't need to use it so I can return it and get the bigger one. My plan is to wait until I'm without power for 6-8 hours. I'll be able to keep air and heat in most tanks. I'll have to let some livebearers go without heat if I do lose power. If it gets too cold I can rotate heaters between tanks 🤞 Always run generators outdoors away from doors and windows, ethanol free gas if you possible, 5w-30 weight oil in below freezing temps 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 On 12/21/2022 at 8:12 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said: Are you in MN too?! I'm watching pines leaning on powerlines already. Fingers crossed, eh?! In terms of tanks, none of mine are super heavily stocked, and I got all my fish through the mail, so I figure if they survived in bags for a day or two, they'll be fine in a larger quantity of water with access to the open atmosphere for a while. Heat... Well, that might be a thing. Our previous HAP chair was without power at his house for a week last winter - he had to move into a hotel. He lost everything! I think he had over 30 tanks. It's been a serious set back for him. Here is hoping none of us lose power. Good luck to you as well @lefty o! yupper, its a bit nipply out there. cant wait for all this snow to drift in the wind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted December 24, 2022 Share Posted December 24, 2022 How did everyone do? It ended up not being so bad near me in the Cities. It never seemed like the wind got as bad as predicted, which I am fine with. And Xcel was pretty brutal with their tree trimming a couple summers ago, so maybe that helped? 🤷♂️ We had family in VT that lost power, but only for a few hours. Are you doing okay over there in VT @Streetwise? I hope everyone and their tanks are doing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The endler guy Posted December 24, 2022 Share Posted December 24, 2022 On 12/24/2022 at 8:27 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said: How did everyone do? It ended up not being so bad near me in the Cities. It never seemed like the wind got as bad as predicted, which I am fine with. And Xcel was pretty brutal with their tree trimming a couple summers ago, so maybe that helped? 🤷♂️ We had family in VT that lost power, but only for a few hours. Are you doing okay over there in VT @Streetwise? I hope everyone and their tanks are doing well. here in md I had a sleep over at my friends power went out but luckily my house has a generator 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted December 24, 2022 Share Posted December 24, 2022 I could not be too much happier in the SW corner of Ohio. Last year on this date it was almost 70 degrees. A truly white Christmas has gotten to be pretty rare here. A low of -10, an average of -6 with 5" of snow and the 35+mph wind gusts froze my pond over in a matter of a few hours. It was comical watching the crows trying to fly in a straight line at sunup. The sun was finally visible about 4:30 yesterday afternoon so I put on my winter gear and tried to find my driveway. The unexpected arrival of much stronger winds created a total whiteout. I've never seen that in a residential area. Once it eased up enough for me to get the door open I went back inside and fiddled with the aquariums while listening to the mind numbing drone of tv weather people repeatedly telling us how horrible it was. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted December 24, 2022 Share Posted December 24, 2022 On 12/24/2022 at 7:27 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said: How did everyone do? It ended up not being so bad near me in the Cities. It never seemed like the wind got as bad as predicted, which I am fine with. And Xcel was pretty brutal with their tree trimming a couple summers ago, so maybe that helped? 🤷♂️ We had family in VT that lost power, but only for a few hours. Are you doing okay over there in VT @Streetwise? I hope everyone and their tanks are doing well. like you, not bad. wind is letting up so i figured id start in on the drifts. they dont look that bad from inside LOL wrong!! ive had bigger ones, but what there is , is wind packed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted December 24, 2022 Share Posted December 24, 2022 @OnlyGenusCaps, tons of folks lost power, and I didn’t try to go to work yesterday. It was a slushy, icy mess! I just found out that one of my friends is using his truck to power his folks’ pellet stove! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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