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Hi. I'm a few months back into the tropical freshwater aquarium game, after thirty-plus years. I have a 20gal and a 29gal. Both are moderately stocked with 'easy' fish (black neons, glowlights, scissortail rasboras, corydoras, zebra danios, and ghost shrimp, nerite and mystery snails). Both tanks are also moderately planted, low tech. Each tank has two filters; a Fluval 207 and a Fluval AC HOB.
A little background: I have a standby whole-house generator which is 24 years old. It quit before a forecasted ice and wind/snow event a couple days ago (of course it did). I noticed it did not do it's weekly self-check... My electrician cannot get here till sometime this coming week yet. My main concerns were my sump pump and the fish.
We got through the worst of the weather. Also, I had stocked emergency aquarium supplies when I first set the tanks up this past Fall. So during the storm, I had turned up the boiler and also the tank heaters. I kept the airstones going and kept an eye on the tank parameters. I fed the tanks very sparingly, and no little treats...
The power had been off for two hours when I woke up after midnight. The tanks were good, and the house was warm, so I turned attention to the sump pump in the cellar. I bucketed water up the cellar stairs several times till I got caught up to the backup and could get a gage on how much time I would have till I needed to start filling pails again. I was determined not to have any water rise above the crock... Been there, ain't going back...
A tree had fallen and took down a pole, so I knew I would be in for a long overnight and day... All-in-all I carried about 225gal of water up my cellar stairs to dump outside before I was bright enough to realize that I could start filling bins and a couple trash cans instead (and then empty into the crock when the power was restored). I'm looking closer to 70 years old and I was really having a tough time. After filling 15 big bins and trash containers, I tapped and called the fire dept for help. They're the best, they brought me a generator and left it with me all day. I give them a donation every January and this year might add a little extra.
As far as my fish, I wrapped the tanks in bubble wrap and Reflectix and filled gallon-ziplock baggies with hot water (I have natural gas, so I still had my stove) to keep the temps as stable as I could. I kept two kettles on the stove and rotated baggies in and out as they cooled in the tanks. I placed the HOB media inside each tank. I have one battery-operated air pump and I split it's use between the tanks. I didn't feed the tanks after the power went out. The house did eventually get down to 52°. I was able to keep the tanks from getting below 70°, but it was getting be a real battle and I was changing out baggies about every 25 minutes (two baggies to a tank). I didn't get a single break all that time between the sump pump and the fish...
Once the power was restored, I turned on my canisters, not even thinking that they had been sitting unheated all that time...I thought for sure my fish were all gonna die from the shock of cool water, but they made it. I dosed the tanks w Stress Coat and fed the fish a couple hours later. Also I worried about the bacteria in the filters. I did not yet have internet back. I called two lfs and they both said as long as the media were wet, things should be ok... I'm keeping a real close eye on my fish to see if ich or anything else develops. I also have the tank temps a couple degrees warmer.
Today I did water changes. The ammonia levels were 0 but the nitrites were up a little. I did lose one ghost shrimp fry. I measured out and cut pieces of rigid foam to have on hand to enclose the tanks should something like this ever happen again. I also now have sterno cans to set inside the tank cabinets. I have the new part for my stand-by generator here and hopefully it will be installed within a couple few days. I have also ordered a Honda portable genny to have on hand.
I hope my experience can be of help to someone who may experience a similar situation.
A little background: I have a standby whole-house generator which is 24 years old. It quit before a forecasted ice and wind/snow event a couple days ago (of course it did). I noticed it did not do it's weekly self-check... My electrician cannot get here till sometime this coming week yet. My main concerns were my sump pump and the fish.
We got through the worst of the weather. Also, I had stocked emergency aquarium supplies when I first set the tanks up this past Fall. So during the storm, I had turned up the boiler and also the tank heaters. I kept the airstones going and kept an eye on the tank parameters. I fed the tanks very sparingly, and no little treats...
The power had been off for two hours when I woke up after midnight. The tanks were good, and the house was warm, so I turned attention to the sump pump in the cellar. I bucketed water up the cellar stairs several times till I got caught up to the backup and could get a gage on how much time I would have till I needed to start filling pails again. I was determined not to have any water rise above the crock... Been there, ain't going back...
A tree had fallen and took down a pole, so I knew I would be in for a long overnight and day... All-in-all I carried about 225gal of water up my cellar stairs to dump outside before I was bright enough to realize that I could start filling bins and a couple trash cans instead (and then empty into the crock when the power was restored). I'm looking closer to 70 years old and I was really having a tough time. After filling 15 big bins and trash containers, I tapped and called the fire dept for help. They're the best, they brought me a generator and left it with me all day. I give them a donation every January and this year might add a little extra.
As far as my fish, I wrapped the tanks in bubble wrap and Reflectix and filled gallon-ziplock baggies with hot water (I have natural gas, so I still had my stove) to keep the temps as stable as I could. I kept two kettles on the stove and rotated baggies in and out as they cooled in the tanks. I placed the HOB media inside each tank. I have one battery-operated air pump and I split it's use between the tanks. I didn't feed the tanks after the power went out. The house did eventually get down to 52°. I was able to keep the tanks from getting below 70°, but it was getting be a real battle and I was changing out baggies about every 25 minutes (two baggies to a tank). I didn't get a single break all that time between the sump pump and the fish...
Once the power was restored, I turned on my canisters, not even thinking that they had been sitting unheated all that time...I thought for sure my fish were all gonna die from the shock of cool water, but they made it. I dosed the tanks w Stress Coat and fed the fish a couple hours later. Also I worried about the bacteria in the filters. I did not yet have internet back. I called two lfs and they both said as long as the media were wet, things should be ok... I'm keeping a real close eye on my fish to see if ich or anything else develops. I also have the tank temps a couple degrees warmer.
Today I did water changes. The ammonia levels were 0 but the nitrites were up a little. I did lose one ghost shrimp fry. I measured out and cut pieces of rigid foam to have on hand to enclose the tanks should something like this ever happen again. I also now have sterno cans to set inside the tank cabinets. I have the new part for my stand-by generator here and hopefully it will be installed within a couple few days. I have also ordered a Honda portable genny to have on hand.
I hope my experience can be of help to someone who may experience a similar situation.
