Curious About Your Winter Outage Strategies

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Hello All,

How do you keep your tank up to temperature when ice and winter storms knock out your power?

I live in a warm climate where winter often doesn't go below 50ish. I use a heater for a few months right around now, then go back to not needing one for most of the year.

We had a 20 minute power outage recently on a day when temps were in the low 70s. I was just starting to think about scooping out tank water and heating it a bit with a thermometer on the gas stove, then mixing it with more scooped-out water before slowly pouring it back in. If it happened today, when we're having extremely unusual cold weather, keeping their water warm would've been my priority of the day. And I have only a small tank.

What do you do? Especially with a larger aquarium? What if it goes out for days?
I purchased a EU3000i Honda generator, not for ice storms, but for the fires that run rampant every year in California. I had a smart box installed which keeps my circuits for my fridge and tanks running. There are backup batteries though designed specifically for tanks(fresh and salt) which I would recommend.
 
@ADsnail,
I live in Southern New Zealand, so very cold , the lowest temperature the tropicals got to was 11C , , they had stopped moving , and were not happy, i dont think they would have lasted another few hours . On that specific horrific occasion 20 hs , I had covered their tanks with blankets after I got home from work , I didnt check the temperature till the power came back on , so I dont how long it took to get that low , or how long they had been at that temperature ... but the power had gone off just before leaving for work , I got home about 12 hrs later , power still off so I guessed was a big hard to find issue for the power lines guys. Hence covering the tanks with duvets etc, but that was the only time I did cover the tanks , and i put duck tape on them to hold in place lol
 
Question , let's say power is off for possibley days and ur tanks are in a room with no direct sunlight on the tanks , ur tanks are heavily planted , but no power so no light getting to the plants , do the plants still add even a little bit of oxygen to the water dueing the day ?

BTW, Kelly kettles are an efficient way to heat water if no power or gas , but kks usually are only 2 litres , but im sure there will other makes/ brands for heating spa pools etc .u can buy big ones in New Zealand...
They can boil a couple of litres of water , just with sticks leaves etc in about 5 minutes, ( must have good air flow, the windier it is , the better they work )the chimney is in the middle , the water is around the outside of the chimney . View attachment 319824
 
Hello All,



How do you keep your tank up to temperature when ice and winter storms knock out your power?



I live in a warm climate where winter often doesn't go below 50ish. I use a heater for a few months right around now, then go back to not needing one for most of the year.



We had a 20 minute power outage recently on a day when temps were in the low 70s. I was just starting to think about scooping out tank water and heating it a bit with a thermometer on the gas stove, then mixing it with more scooped-out water before slowly pouring it back in. If it happened today, when we're having extremely unusual cold weather, keeping their water warm would've been my priority of the day. And I have only a small tank.



What do you do? Especially with a larger aquarium? What if it goes out for days?
How did you fair? I have no water and power just came on. Tanks got down to 64 and 62 F. I was lucky and only lost 2, one a convict in my 20g hospital tank being treated for fin rot, so he was already weak. And my wife's betta in an 8g, I think it dipped below 60 degrees in his little tank
 
How awful, I'm sorry to hear that. How long was your power out, to get down to 64 and below? Why is your water out? Did your pipes freeze?

We got to 26 degrees in New Orleans last night but did not lose power. I think that's our low point for this winter. Yesterday I filled the tub with water plus filled several gallons, just like for hurricane preparedness, in case the pipes froze.

It happened to me a few years ago and my neighbor, a quick-thinking handyman, rushed out immediately to buy replacement parts and fix the broken pipes under the house. Later I found out why he was in such a hurry: pipes burst all over town and plumbing supplies completely sold out within a couple of hours. Some people were without water for 5 days, waiting for stores to restock.

Since I have only the one 10 gallon, I'm mentally going over an emergency plan for the future that includes the battery air stone, a blanket around the tank if power goes out during winter, and multiple small changes of water heated on the gas stove. Since you have larger tanks, are you considering getting a generator? The ideas this post has produced are really helpful and I look forward to every answer.
 
Yeah, I think I'm gonna break down before hurricane season and get a genny. It dropped to 14 last night and the treatment plant had their main pump freeze up, so they shut down the water to my sub division. I had filled buckets too. Hurricane prep practice paid off, haha! It's the coldest I ever remember it getting down here in my life. We used the battery powered air pumps and had no issues there, but this morning I was sweating the water temps. It was 54 inside the house, haha!
 
So what-all do you have? I'm wondering what types of fish etc survived temps below 60 for 24(?) hours plus no food for a few days. Instead of Aquarium Advice Addict, how about calling yourself Pioneer In Fish Endurance Testing?
 
Haha! I told my wife that! It would be a good experience to share if ppl asked. I have mostly cichlids, south and central American, plus a few tanks with African cichlids. She has a tank of discus plus 4 tanks of assorted smaller tropical fish like rasbora, tetra, corys, pictus and barbs. I didn't feed cuz the filtration was off for alot of that time. Then of course the heat issue. I'm really surprised they all made it. From little 2" fish on up to the big 8-10" monsters that have a tank alone
 
After the power came back on last night we had to unplug a few filters on tanks that have multiple units, cuz with all the heaters running full blast in the aquariums it kept tripping the breaker for the fish room. It's normally kinda warm and muggy in there, so they don't run much and def not all at once, lol
 
So what-all do you have? I'm wondering what types of fish etc survived temps below 60 for 24(?) hours plus no food for a few days. Instead of Aquarium Advice Addict, how about calling yourself Pioneer In Fish Endurance Testing?
Not really a mystery. Just about all tropical fish can survive 65 degrees, as there are no known species that die at the temperature. Also fish can go 2 weeks without feeding so vacations are not an issue either.
 
Oh, one last thing about them, the power went out the first night while sleeping. They also had no aeration for about 5 hours. Maybe fish are often tougher than we give them credit for
 
Not really a mystery. Just about all tropical fish can survive 65 degrees, as there are no known species that die at the temperature. Also fish can go 2 weeks without feeding so vacations are not an issue either.
Yeah, only that betta in the 8g. That tank was just too small to hold much heat for very long. I think it was 58 or 59, and was just too much for him to cope with
 
Not really a mystery. Just about all tropical fish can survive 65 degrees, as there are no known species that die at the temperature. Also fish can go 2 weeks without feeding so vacations are not an issue either.
The first day or so without food the cichlids were jerks and lots of fighting and lip locking. As the temp dropped tho, all those shenanigans stopped, haha!
 
After the power came back on last night we had to unplug a few filters on tanks that have multiple units, cuz with all the heaters running full blast in the aquariums it kept tripping the breaker for the fish room. It's normally kinda warm and muggy in there, so they don't run much and def not all at once, lol
Tells me you need to upgrade your electrical in the room...
 
Haha! I told my wife that! It would be a good experience to share if ppl asked. I have mostly cichlids, south and central American, plus a few tanks with African cichlids. She has a tank of discus plus 4 tanks of assorted smaller tropical fish like rasbora, tetra, corys, pictus and barbs. I didn't feed cuz the filtration was off for alot of that time. Then of course the heat issue. I'm really surprised they all made it. From little 2" fish on up to the big 8-10" monsters that have a tank alone
Glad to hear you guys pulled though. You didn't believe me when I said a healthy tank of discus can survive a 20 degree dip ;)
 
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