myriam
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I'm finally back home and was so happy to see all my little guys and gals are looking totally fine and happy.
The Seattle suburbs had a massive windstorm yesterday, and we lost power at 4am Friday. I bundled up the wee ones and went to my parents' house, where they had power. By the time we left the house at 9am my tank temp was down to 74 (usually it's 80). I was getting nervous for them but hoping it was only a matter of a few more hours before power came back.
By later that evening the news said it could be up to 2 days more of no power for our neighborhood. AHHH! So my husband and I drove back home, and along with getting clothes/toiletries for staying over at my parents', we attempted to save the fish. At 9:30pm last night I shined my flashlight into the tank and they were all alive, but just sitting there like zombies. The thermometer didn't even register the tank temp, which meant it had gone below 66. We determined that there was still hot water left in the water heater, so we did a 25% water change and I very carefully and slowly refilled the tank with very warm water.
By the time the tank was full the temp was at 74 again. I added the Bio-Safe and swished the water around with my Python to mix the water temp and the dechlor in better (since no filter or air pump was running). I gave them some food and shined the flashlight on top of the water to help them see it--that seemed to energize them a bit. I was really worried about the two cories, because they just sat at the bottom without moving, and they are usually completely spastic. We left the fishes with fingers crossed hoping they'd make it through the night.
Apparently power came back around 10am at my house, and I was back by 1pm. The temp is at 78 now and the fishes are all seeming to be pretty happy and healthy. I gave them some bloodworms and algae flakes and everyone was accounted for and swimming like normal.
So there is my harrowing tale, haha
! We haven't had a power outage this long since I've had my tank, and I just had no idea how long fish could go in significantly cooler temps.
Has anybody here experienced this, too? What did YOU do? (And Sati, if you are reading this, I'm assuming you had no power for awhile, too. You can now disregard my panicked email!)
The Seattle suburbs had a massive windstorm yesterday, and we lost power at 4am Friday. I bundled up the wee ones and went to my parents' house, where they had power. By the time we left the house at 9am my tank temp was down to 74 (usually it's 80). I was getting nervous for them but hoping it was only a matter of a few more hours before power came back.
By later that evening the news said it could be up to 2 days more of no power for our neighborhood. AHHH! So my husband and I drove back home, and along with getting clothes/toiletries for staying over at my parents', we attempted to save the fish. At 9:30pm last night I shined my flashlight into the tank and they were all alive, but just sitting there like zombies. The thermometer didn't even register the tank temp, which meant it had gone below 66. We determined that there was still hot water left in the water heater, so we did a 25% water change and I very carefully and slowly refilled the tank with very warm water.
By the time the tank was full the temp was at 74 again. I added the Bio-Safe and swished the water around with my Python to mix the water temp and the dechlor in better (since no filter or air pump was running). I gave them some food and shined the flashlight on top of the water to help them see it--that seemed to energize them a bit. I was really worried about the two cories, because they just sat at the bottom without moving, and they are usually completely spastic. We left the fishes with fingers crossed hoping they'd make it through the night.
Apparently power came back around 10am at my house, and I was back by 1pm. The temp is at 78 now and the fishes are all seeming to be pretty happy and healthy. I gave them some bloodworms and algae flakes and everyone was accounted for and swimming like normal.
So there is my harrowing tale, haha
! We haven't had a power outage this long since I've had my tank, and I just had no idea how long fish could go in significantly cooler temps. Has anybody here experienced this, too? What did YOU do? (And Sati, if you are reading this, I'm assuming you had no power for awhile, too. You can now disregard my panicked email!)
