Power out! What to do, any help appreciated
 

Just went out 10 mins ago. I have a 65 gallon tank and no generator, although I did ask for one for Christmas, any suggestions?!

do you have a power inverter and a car battery? hook them up and run a small powerhead to keep the oxygen up at least.

Don't think so. My dad might have one out in the garage somewhere but he's such a pack rat I dnt think I'd ever find it

If you have no way of supplying power all you can really do is hope the power comes on in a timely manner at this point. There really is no other magic answer. Cross your fingers that Santa has a generator for you ;)

Keep the water moving. In a pinch I've used a plastic container as a scoop. Scoop water out and dump it back in. Turn the container sideways and dip it in and out so it sucks water in and shhoots it back out. Hopefully that all makes sense. I've found I can go a couple hours with no water movement and be fine. Your situation might be different. I would swish atleast every 15 minutes.

stir the tank to keep the water oxygenated and blow bubbles into it.

i have some battery powered air pumps handy

Blowing bubbles is probably bad. Adding alot of CO2 to the water and dropping the pH at a time when its possible for ammonia to start to build in pockets and around corals.

If you have hot water (gas heat) you can float bags of hot water in the tank to keep the temp from falling.

If its just a few hours, you'll be ok. If it gets to be a day, then water changes would help.

It's dropped a degree since it went out. Down to 77. I have a 10g qt, do u think they might have a better survival rate in there? I have 2 clowns, a mandarin, clown goby and pink and blue spotted shrimp goby

I'd leave them in the display. There's more water volume and temp O2 changes will occur at a slower rate. If you think its going to be out for awhile wrap a blanket or 2 around the tank to help it keep its heat.

I asked the neighbor if they had power and they do but they heard a loud pop. I think I may be the only one without power :( it's about 30 degrees outside. Just called the power co. There's 16 homes without it. Est. time is 11. Hope everything survives and It comes back sooner

Thats not too long, make sure the water gets circulated a bit, do what you hve to to preserve the water temp and you'll be fine.

It's on! My clowns look weak and a little pail so I hope they make it

An hour with no power is not going to do anything.

Thanks for all the quick responses on here. I appreciate the advice

Go to a sporting goods store and pick up a $5 battery powered bubbler that they sell for bait buckets. They'll run (typically) about 10 hours with fresh batteries and will get you through for a few hours.

I wouldn't worry too much about temps until they drop below 70, but as said above if you know you are going to be out awhile (like a snowstorm) you can wrap blankets around the tank.

Oh...and buy some batteries too. :)

Do you have an update? One of the things that I thought about is a long extension cord from your neighbor's house. Maybe they will be willing to help since animals are at stake. A few bucks for the electricity would help too.

The tank should be fine for a while. You have to worry when you have a major storm and power is going to be gone all day and its freezing cold outside. If you don't get a generator the power inverter is a good idea as well. Basically you can hook it into your car cigarette lighter and then hook an extension cord into it and wa la you've got power...until you car battery dies, don't forget to start it up every once in a while ;)

Thanks for the tip on the power inverter. I am going to put it on my wish list of things to buy once I start my tank.

The tank's been doing great! I do think I'm getting a generator for christmas so I hope there is nothing major that happens from here till fri. The power went out due to an animal on the line, but came up pretty quick. I appreciate all the help and advice on here. Where perhaps can I pick up a power inverter from? Are those the things that have the wall plug in that you plug into your cigarette lighter? If so I can pick one up at work.

Yeah you're correct, you plug it into your lighter outlet and it has 1 or 2 120v AC outlets on it. They come in different wattage's (300,400,etc) so if you might want to be able to run a heater off it be sure to pick out a high enough wattage. The one I have also has connectors to hook directly to a car battery as well as through the cigarette outlet, which can come in handy if you have a car battery and not a long extension cord to your car. :)

Btw, glad to hear your tank is ok!

Thanks!

Glad to hear it's ok. That pop was probably one of those garbage-can looking things on a telephone pole blowing up. That's good for 1-6 hours downage.

If you are REALLY in a bind, you can do some good simply by standing on a ladder with a convenient (clean) pitcher, dipping and pouring water: the aeration helps. I kept 48 fairsized fish going all day in the car in small containers by squeezing a squeeze-bulb and forcing air through an aerator. I assure you I was not driving. :fish1:(I got to plug a pump in at night in the hotel.) It was a 3-day drive and move, and my hand was not worth much after, but think creatively: you want air bubbles in contact with water, and you want the water to move about and discharge its nitrogen burden, and you want it warm. If you have a fireplace, you can warm a hot water bottle on the hearth and pack it next to your sump, etc.

Walmart?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5301540