Oh No.

[cowbla1]

Um what should i do if my power goes off for an excess of 2 days. Because last time a a small hurricane made it my way my power was gone for 4 days and my entire tank died b/c of no filter or heater, so what should i do if gustav knocks out my power for that long?

 

[Corleone]

Some people have had success using car batteries. You can buy devices that will convert it to household AC. If you just have one tank, the filter should be able to keep running for a while on one. I've got a battery rig to run my filters, but it's never needed to run for more than 4-5 hours, so I don't know about days.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Take the filter media out and put it in the tank, that way it'll stay wet.

 

[NonstickRon]

I've got a computer battery backup on my tank in case of powerouts. Its obnoxious when the power goes out though, beeps every other second...and I've no idea how long it would run the filter. My work has generator though, and if I lost power I'd probably take the battery backup to work with me during the day to charge and hook it back up at night.

A few years ago when we got triple hit with three in central florida, my wife's uncle lost several tanks worth of saltwater fish for the same reason. I know we were personally out of power for 7 days, then up for awhile in between hits and then down again for 9 days.

Good luck man...

 

[Tolak]

I don't understand why folks in these areas don't have a small generator. I have one who's original purpose was to save freezers full of meat. If it does that once it has paid for itself, keeping tanks running & being able to run my furnace are a couple of other uses.

 

[NonstickRon]

1. Generators are not cheap. Not for me anyway.
2. If I can't afford one that will run my A/C theres not much point.
(thats how it feels when the power is off and its 90 degrees at night, in 90% humidity and I'm rolling round naked on the tile hoping to cool off enough to pass out, hehe)
3. Gas for them is not cheap
4. They're loud
5. They stink
6. I have no idea how to connect it to my house/stuff

Those are my personal reasons.

 

[invader]

There are battery operated pumps that you could use... but a big issue is the bacteria. Just keep them in a seperate container or tank to keep them wet and able to "breathe."

It's tough living in these places!

 

[Tolak]

For a freezer full of steaks, roast, chops, & other unhealthy meat products I'll deal with all of the above. I would never make it as a vegetarian. Nobody in this house would make it trying to eat 25+ pounds of meat each in one day.

If we ever get a nasty ice storm & my pipes freeze replumbing the house is not cheap. I don't think this is something you need to worry about in Florida. You can find small generators for around $200, you will need something pretty big to run your AC, they pull some serious amperage at startup. Heavy duty extensions do fine for an emergency situation, setting up a furnace for auxiliary power is no big trick.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Ugh generators. When I lived in the suburbs we lost power for 4 days once, and while I could forgive the neighbor who had a generator to run necessary medical equipment, I had a lot more difficulty forgiving those who ran them just because. It's like multiple people mowing their lawns in the middle of the night...

Filters don't require nearly as much power as heaters do, so yes the back-up ideas provided by other people would work fine. Depending on the ambient temp of your house (especially at night) you can always try insulating the tank as much as possible to avoid heat loss.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

You can buy battery operated air pumps.

[URL="http/www.eworldtoy.com/soaqfitabaop.html"]http/www.eworldtoy.com/soaqfitabaop.html[/URL]
[URL="http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?...0b-000423bb4e79"]http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?...0b-000423bb4e79[/URL]

The second one is the one I have. Haven't needed to use it yet (thankfully.)



Also, my Dad has this car booster. I don't know exactly what else to call it, because it isn't fully a car booster. You plug it in and charge it like a huge battery, it has a plug-in, flash light, ect. Can boost cars too.

We bought it from Canadian Tire. I know you don't have that in Florida, but Home Depot may have something similar. Was modestly priced too.

 

[cowbla1]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

My suggestion: battery powered air pump with the filter media over the bubble wand. It'll keep most of the bacteria alive, and it's what I did when my filter was broken.