power outtage

[ohGODerin]

Here's a story. Yesterday was an incredibly windy and rainy day and thus, my house's power went out at about 1PM. At first I freaked out about my fish, because I know that there would be serious problems if the temperature drops. Also, I read something in an aquarium keeping book about things that can happen to the tank without the water flow from the filter. Anyway, my mom reassured me by saying that she had lived in this city all her life and there had never been a power outtage for more than 2 hours. So we went out to run some errands while I left my dad to keep an eye on the fish. We went to Target and Home Depot to look for those battery-powered emergency radio box thingies with outlets and flashlights on them, but couldn't find any. (Does anyone know what/where those are? I could swear I saw a commercial for them.)

When we got back at 5PM the power was still out. The temperature had dropped from 79 degrees to 74, and the fish were behaving normally, but slower. They still came up to the surface to eat. Once I had dinner, the temp was 72. I was afraid that a water change (adding in warmer water) would be too sudden of a temperature change for them, so after a lot of thinking I ended up filling two water bottles with hot water and letting them sink down in the water. I took them out and put new hot water in them again once they cooled, so I was changing out the water bottles about every 20 minutes all night.

By 11PM I went to bed, and set my cell phone alarm to go off every hour so I could switch out the water bottles. The fish were still acting lethargic, except for the ever energetic danios. FINALLY, at 7AM our power came on, and I plugged in the heater and filter. I didn't do anything to the filter or the media, because I wasn't sure what I should do. So it ran and the heater obviously came on. By this time the temperature had dropped to 70 degrees. Luckily, all the fish were okay. I was most worried about my four angelfish, who barely moved during the night, just hovering near the water bottles. So far everything has been okay, and the temp is back up to 79 degrees.

I guess the whole point of the story was to explain and ask whether there was anything else I could have done, or anything more efficient. I was practically in tears trying to think of something to help them. If the power had still been out in the morning, what should I have done? I was so unprepared for this, like I said, this has never ever happened here before. So.. any advice?

[pyrofish]

I live in an area that tends to get power outages often. Sometimes its a thunder storm, other times an ice storm, and sometimes there just is really no good reason at all.

Anyway, we have a generator! They are great for saving my fish, and more importantly, the steaks in the fridge (just kidding). We have a nice litte box that connects right to the circuit breaker so we can just plug in and start up the generator, and sent power to the outlets that need it (make sure you know which ones your fish tank is connected to).

They also have a nice article on power outages at www.cichlid-forum.com

EDIT: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/power_failure.php

[DUSTIN323]

After huricane Katrina had hit Louisiana I was out of power for about a week. I didn't know what to do for my aquarium except for taking a straw & blowing some air in there everynow & then. Good thinking with the heated water bottles. All of my fish turned out to be fine & still are. It was a 10g with a trio of platies & a betta.

[ohGODerin]

lol I did the straw thing too! and yeah, I think a generator is what I was looking for. Where do you get one?

[kaybee]

A generator is a pretty expensive item. Having lived in Sacramento and Northern California for 30+ years of my life I would suggest that you just do what you did in the event of another long power outage. Your mom is right. Unless your power company starts having chronic problems with outages I wouldn't worry too much about it. On the other hand, if you can convince Dad that he needs a generator for xy&z, that would be cool too. In fact, I'm trying to think of reasons for my hubby to "need" a generator for when I jump into my saltwater endeavor. LOL

Kay

[pyrofish]

Originally Posted by ohGODerin

lol I did the straw thing too! and yeah, I think a generator is what I was looking for. Where do you get one?

Generators are usually available at hardware stores or Sam's/ costco type places. Maybe even walmart. I'm not really sure how much they cost (I'll ask my dad when I get the chance), but I'd guess you would only need a small one if you only wanted to power a fishtank. But if you have sufficient methods of keeping your fish happy without a generator, and don't have the money to spend, I don't see the need.