# BLACKOUT!!



## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

With the cold and everything, they are expecting some blackouts. I am really worried on my piranhas. What can I do to ensure my p's survival if a blackout what to happen?

What are the most important things?

filteration, heat, or oxygen?


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

get a battery powered air pump they are like $10
and do water changes now while u have the chance
and small ones during the blackout
that will be the only filtrition that u would have
unless u get a cheap filter that hooks to a air pump


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## fishofury (May 10, 2003)

Death in # said:


> get a battery powered air pump they are like $10










I will have to agree with that.


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## vlahos (Sep 7, 2003)

frequent very small water changes may be the best because that way you could add warm water on regular periods


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

wtf thats not good enough, I have a $300 worth of fish that are soo vaulable to me they are priceless.

Heat, how do I provide heat for them. I can't keep pouring water in, where would all the bacteria go?

And is oxygen that important that I have to get a battery operated pump?


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

Also how about putting blankets all around my tank? the thing is my tanks are in basement and thus it gets much colder down there. Damn I'll start shooting with my sniper rifle if we get a blackout.


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## thorsky (Dec 4, 2003)

Bacteria are in your filter and substrate, the suspended bacteria in the water column are unimportant in an established tank. This is a situation that needs to be planned for if you expect to get through it without to much trouble. I would start by checking out Reef Tank sites like reefcentral.com as they spend more on emergency backup than we do on our whole setups. A good size reef tank could have well over $5K worth of livestock in it.


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

well my fish are priceless to me, worth more than 5k especially if my macs breed. Regardless, I wouldn't want to loose anything. How about I check out those power generators canadian tire sell? how long do they last and do they work, also how much would they cost.

I can run heat, air, filter couple of mins every 2-3 hours..just to get them heat up and air going


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## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

get a friggin generator

they are $600 US and you can power all of your aquarium stuff for 8 or 10 hr

if you just get a lot of gas and have a tarp to keep the generator dry to you will be a right for a long time


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

ouch, thats expensive. How else can one heat an aquarium.?


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## jdk79 (Feb 22, 2003)

There really isn't anything you can do to heat the aquarium other than getting a gas generator...They can be had for less than $400 if you watch for sales at those types of stores. Go check them out it would be worth it. Really to keep your water heated if you would lose your power one night just do the small 10 water changes everyother hour. This will keep your water oxgenated and will keep it warm. If you have a tank over say 100 gallons you really wouldn't have to worry about the oxegon it would be the heat of the water.


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## mr fudd (Jan 3, 2004)

Your fish are priceless so go and spent the $ 600.00 bucks


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## Hoser98 (Dec 31, 2003)

Your fish could last a couple of days without the filter running in the tank without dying. And the heat should not really be an issue, unless you live in an igloo. The water temp isn't going to drop that much. How long are you expecting power to be out for? Days? Come on, when power goes out, its for like 5 minutes, 5 or 6 hours tops. You'll be fine.


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## DiXoN (Jan 31, 2003)

i would get the battery air pump plus if you dont want to shell out for a generator then buy a small gas stove with the gas.
this gives you the ability to heat up water if you cant with your regular appliances.
you can then heat water and fill plastic bottles with the hot water add a lid (big coke etc bottles are best) and stick these in your tank this will heat your water and cool down on its own you can take out when the optimum temp is reached and repeat this process when needs be.
this is what i have in case of emergency.
this also gives you the chance to do water changes to aid in filtration as the water you add can also be warm
dixon


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## andymel (Oct 27, 2003)

Get the battery powered air pump with a box filter and for heat you could use a gas burning heater to heat the basement.


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

DiXoN said:


> i would get the battery air pump plus if you dont want to shell out for a generator then buy a small gas stove with the gas.
> this gives you the ability to heat up water if you cant with your regular appliances.
> you can then heat water and fill plastic bottles with the hot water add a lid (big coke etc bottles are best) and stick these in your tank this will heat your water and cool down on its own you can take out when the optimum temp is reached and repeat this process when needs be.
> this is what i have in case of emergency.
> ...


 I love this idea, getting the heat without the water changes..

Thanks, I think I am a little confident now.


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## Scooby (Dec 25, 2003)

yeah that bottle idea is pretty good... definatly gonna try that if power ever fails here


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## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

i like the stove idea but if you really want to be sure then a generator is the way to go


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

Actually I just found out that my heater are on gas and operate seperatly from hydro. Therefore even if hydro went off, I'll always have warm water


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## mechanic (Jan 11, 2003)

kouma said:


> Actually I just found out that my heater are on gas and operate seperatly from hydro. Therefore even if hydro went off, I'll always have warm water


 I have the same setup Kouma.
It's real comforting if the power goes out.
Something to consider instead of a generator would be a power inverter from Canadian tire.If the power goes out for a extended period of time, you can hook up the inverter to a car battery and just plug your filter & heater into the inverter.
It will work till the battery dies.
HTH
Eric


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## andymel (Oct 27, 2003)

mechanic said:


> kouma said:
> 
> 
> > Actually I just found out that my heater are on gas and operate seperatly from hydro. Therefore even if hydro went off, I'll always have warm water
> ...


 The battery will not die but the fuel will run out unless you have a gas container and another! :smile:


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## hays98 (Mar 8, 2003)

Death in # said:


> get a battery powered air pump they are like $10
> and do water changes now while u have the chance
> and small ones during the blackout
> that will be the only filtrition that u would have
> unless u get a cheap filter that hooks to a air pump












or buy a battery back up they cost a bit but should run for a 1/2 hour to a hour
or how much you want to spend you can get a real good one.
but batt air pump is much cheaper.


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## phishin06 (Jun 11, 2003)

I was without power for 6 days and managed to keep 16 P alive during Hurricane Isabel. It was a pretty stressful situation but they all pulled through without fail. I had a bunch of battery operated airpumps running and did not feed them at all. You shouuld be ok...the only problem could be a low fall in temperature.....good luck and may god have mercy on your soul. "I just wanted you to know, we're all counting on you. And dont call me Shirley..."


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## X-D-X (Jul 3, 2003)

Go and rent one from a local rental shop in my area Home Depot has them for rent and just get 15 Gallons of gas and a shelter of some sort for it and all should be ok!! Just turn off your lights when you run it so you don't waste unnessisary power!!


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## X-D-X (Jul 3, 2003)

I mean a gas generator!!


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Get a Kerosene Heater


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## andymel (Oct 27, 2003)

jerry_plakyda said:


> Get a Kerosene Heater

























This and a couple of battery operated air pumps is all you need!


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## camotekid (Sep 21, 2003)

i think we should have a *PINNED TOPIC about Backup Equipments* on the Equipments section.


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