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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Shawnie needs some help! Updated with Phone call 2/27
Shawnie has been without power since 9 pm on Thursday...she's wondering if anyone has any suggestions to help out her many fish & fry.
She has heat in the tanks, but no filtration. She has bike pumps running on them to provide some O2, but she said her fish are still gasping.
Anyone else have any ideas?
She said her bettas are the only fish that are doing okay.
Last edited by aquarist48; February 27th, 2010 at 08:11 AM.
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Helper
| Does she have a generator? Now is probably a bad time to buy them since everyone probably wants one but that would get power to the fish to run their systems. | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Azoo sells battery operated pumps if available in her area.. | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Moderator
|  Oh No!! Amanda. I've got a couple of good links, can she get on the internet or are you talking to her by phone?
One talks about making a sponge filter from battery powered air pumps. | 
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| There's this: Quote:
Work On Aeration And Filtration. The Simplest Way To Aerate Is To Remove Buckets (or Cups, If It's A Small Tank) Of Tank Water And Pouring Them Back Into The Tank From A Height Of 6 Inches. Do This At Least Once An Hour, More If The Animals Seem To Need It. Another Simple Method Involves Hooking An Airstone To A Bicycle Pump And Pumping Air Into The Tank As Above.
The Addition Of 1 Cc Of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide Per 10 Gallons Once An Hour Can Also Be Used, But This Is Good Only For Short Power Outages Since The Addition Of Too Much Peroxide Will Destroy The Biological Filter. This Should Be Used Only As A Last Resort.aquarticles.com |
Last edited by Lucy; February 26th, 2010 at 09:20 PM.
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| I'm texting her, she has no imternet. 
Thanks guys, I just texted her your suggestions. | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| If she's got battery operated air pumps, she can make a quick sponge filter using a plastic tube and a sponge. Quote: |
Placing the top of the plastic tubes no more than an inch or so from the surface of the water will decrease water pressure on the air stone and insure vigorous bubbling and water current through the sponge pre-filter. The colony of beneficial filtration bacteria may be low in numbers initially on these sponges, but will grow out at a fast rate. The sooner they are started, the better they will work and the faster the tank will be replenished with oxygen. cichlid-forum.com | | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Okay - Shawnie just sent me a pic (I have no idea how to get it onto FL) of her platinum male angel. He is showing signs of BLACK gills. Does anyone have any idea what that may be from & if so, how to cure it? | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| I'm guessing that the Angel is normally very light colored, hence the name.
I imagine any discoloration might seem pronounced given the coloring.
A couple thinks come to mind, which, of course, I'm not 100% positive.
Shawnie has probably narrowed it down to these things anyway.
Lack of oxygen, ammonia and or stress. | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Yep...I googled it & I came up with ammonia as well.
She said that her air pumps are too small to make the sponge filters, she tried that this morning. | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Shawnie passes on her MANY thanks Lucy for keeping up with the thread & offering your suggestions! | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Be sure to tell her she's in my thoughts and prayers along with her family, fin babies and the rest of her zoo.
If I could, I'd be heading up that way with a generator. | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Be sure her filter media bacteria is in the tank water, as it can keep taking care of the ammonia. For oxygen, extra pumps (i think they have battery operated ones in the fishing section, not sure on that one) and even the sponge filter suggestion sounds great. Frequent water changes with prime are also important too. I am sure she probably already knows all this stuff, but thought I would also add it!
One suggestion... unplug all the filters (unless they are self priming) until you notice the power is back on. If the filter turns off, the water drains (not sure about other filters but I know my HOB do) and has to be re-filled before the filter will start working again. If they run without water, they can overheat and become a problem. Just my  | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Using a large pitcher(as in tea pitcher), dip water and pour it back in from at least 12 inches above water will add oxygen. That should help re-oxygenate some.
Carol | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Mentor
| OMG! She will be in my thoughts......
Came across this power failure article.....see link below. i hope it helps, I just skimmed through it. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/power_failure.php
Last edited by AlyeskaGirl; February 26th, 2010 at 10:23 PM.
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Using a whisk or hand beater is another great way to get some oxygen into the tank. Water changes would be the best way to deal with the ammonia. If the power is going to be out for a fair while perhaps hiring an emergency generator would be an option? | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Nutter  Using a whisk or hand beater is another great way to get some oxygen into the tank. Water changes would be the best way to deal with the ammonia. If the power is going to be out for a fair while perhaps hiring an emergency generator would be an option? | She's on well water. I don't know, but it's that run on electricity?
I would also guess there probably aren't any generators to be had in the area.
Traveling is probably also a problem. It's not mentioned in this thread, but they're having a terrible snow storm.
Last edited by Lucy; February 26th, 2010 at 10:35 PM.
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Yeah, the roads are all VERY bad - there's trees & wires down everywhere.
she said she's dosing with Prime for the ammonia, but that really can't last forever with all the tanks. | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Addict
| tell her good luck and i hope the fish survive. you know shawnie? | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| She must use oil heat or wood? How are the temps holding up?
Poor Shawnie must be worried sick. | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| How frustrating for Shawnie... I hope she manages to save her fish, that must be some snowstorm. Some great suggestions by you guys, I think I should write them down in case....
Fingers crossed for you, Shawnie! | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by wonton55912 tell her good luck and i hope the fish survive. you know shawnie? | We bonded when she shipped me some of her devil convicts.  Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate McFin She must use oil heat or wood? How are the temps holding up?
Poor Shawnie must be worried sick. | She hasn't texted me in a while, so I hope everything is holding up okay. Quote:
Originally Posted by GoGreen How frustrating for Shawnie... I hope she manages to save her fish, that must be some snowstorm. Some great suggestions by you guys, I think I should write them down in case....
Fingers crossed for you, Shawnie! | I'm sure she's going to be thrilled to see how her FL family is rooting for her! You guys are great | |
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February 26th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| In her tanks with plants, the plants will be depleting o2 levels without light. I just read an article that said remove plants and put in a 5 gallon bucket until the outage is over. It also said rotting plant material can cause ammonia to go up.
I see the points on this but I also wonder if uprooting the plants might cause excess (a.) stress on the fish and (b) stir up detritus from the substrate.
The plants certainly will take up O2 though.... | |
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February 27th, 2010
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| | Fish Mentor
| Dang it...how did I miss such an important thread? Guess I'll never be one of those actually "helpful" members.
Nate: I thought plants took up CO2 and gave out O2?
I agree with one of those earlier posts to stir up the water surface time to time...helps absorb oxygen, kinda like an airstone.
Best of luck to Shawnie! | |
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February 27th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Plants take up Co2 when the lights are on. When the lights are off (during a power outage) they take up o2. This is why alot of people add an airstone at night for planted tanks as fish and plants will both use oxygen. | |
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February 27th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| I believe she has wood heat. The bucket brigade would be a hassle right now but I think a water change would definitely have it merits right now.
Carol | |
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February 27th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Lucy,
If she has well water and no electricity then she doesn't have water either. I have well water and once the power goes out the pump shuts down.
I so hate she's having to go through this I've been there myself many years ago and lost 15 Discus.
I know she has battery powered air supply and more than likely she has a lot of hand warmers. I know her BF keeps the house nice and warm from comments she's made in previous post and it being 92 degrees in the house (wood stove).
Shawnie, many good thoughts coming your way! Hopefully you'll have power back on soon if it's not back on already.
If she keeps the tank warm...uses the ways mentioned above to oxygenate the water and dose with Prime to detox ammonia hopefully she and her fish will be fine.
Ken | |
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February 27th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
|  I don't have any other advice to offer, but wanted to say that I am sorry for the circumstances, and pray everything works out ok! | |
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February 27th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Oh No Shawnie!!
<HUGS>
I think everyone pretty much has you covered in terms of suggestions to help.
I'll be thinking of you and hoping everything turns out ok.
One idea (don't know if it's too late or not) could be to somehow support a bucket above the tank and set up some air-line tubing or drill a hole in it. Then with a bit of suction the water could fall from the bucket into the water via the tubing. Not the best solution since you'd have to manually keep re-filling the bucket but once very half hour or so might help...
<HUGS> | |
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February 27th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| I Called Shawnie
Hello everyone. 
I just got off the phone with Shawnie. Rise and Shine!  She asked me to thank everyone for the kind words, thoughts and suggestions. 
She is in a bind with the fish. Since she has no electricity she has no water being that she has well water. They got 7 more inches of snow last night. She was told there is no clue as to when her power will be turned back on.
She is using an battery air pump and she has the bicycle air pump that she is using too. However, she is out of all chemicals we all use to detox ammonia and her fish are still gasping for air. All of the pet stores in her area are closed. The tank temperatures are fine, her Bettas are fine (since they breathe the same air we do).
I don't think she would mind me telling you that her boy friend was in a bad car accident, I believe she said it was past Thursday that it happened. He is ok! He's very sore of course. She mentioned 3 electrical poles being knocked down
I'll be keeping her and her family and critters/fish in my thoughts today.
Thanks again everyone!
Ken and a BIG THANKS from Shawnie! | |
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