ice storm coming!!

[farmgirl]

I'm preparing for what they are calling a major ice storm here in Mo. The ice/rain line looks to stay about 20 miles north of here. I'm not counting on that. I will have access to one plug, my husband has a converter he put's on the Deere, we can plug one thing into it. I'll be rotating the tank heater and the air stones with the fridge and the freezer. It's better than nothing. Any advice for me and my fishies??? I will have blankets ready to wrap the tank, and hopefully the heater and airstones will supply enough for a time. Today I am going to do a thourough vacuuming and a pwc. I understand that I am not supposed to feed very much since I will not have filtrarion. Any guidance would be appreciated. I hope it stays north.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I'm right along with ya Farmgirl. I'm just right across the river and they are calling for a major ice storm. EMS called my dad this morning and were prepping him for what could happen. Thankfully in the last ice storm we only lost power for about 9 hours. My parents have a generator so they were only out for MAYBE an hour.

If your power goes out, don't worry about the fridge and freezer unless it's out for over 20 hours. Just don't open it at ALL.

Wrap the tank with blankets. We had two power outages. One for 4 hours and one for 9 hours. It was significantly colder on the 9 hour outage (the ice storm). We didn't wrap the tanks during the 4 hours outage and the tank temp dropped down to the mid 60s. We wrapped the tanks during the 9 hour outage and I think the temp may have gone down 5 or 6 degrees. Just make sure the covers are on the back of the tank too.

Skip feeding today and don't feed again until Monday (that's when the ice/rain is supposed to be out of here). The fish will be fine without it. Since you know the storm is coming, do the water change and vac. Do you have battery powered air pumps? They work EXCELLENT for times like these.

Where in MO are you located?

 

[farmgirl]

I'm in SC Mo, nearest to Cabool, I assume that you are in Southern Ill. They posted the winter storm watch last night, hopfully it doesn't become a warning. I will do my weekly maintenance as planned today. I have some big sheet's of 1" styrofoam I think I will tape on under the blankets if necessary. And no, I don't have battery air pumps. Hindsight is 20/20. My husband mentioned getting a generator, we will see if he pulls through. Thanks for the advice, I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep praying that that you don't get hit to hard!! Thanks, Fishyfanatic.

 

[theotheragentm]

Good luck, everyone. I now feel bad for whining about 59 degrees in the house and 44 outside this morning.

So Cal Wussbag...out!

 

[Pleco]

It was in the low 30's this morning, supposed dip in the 20's at night. But hey its California not much can happen weather wise

California: Floods, Fires, & Fun!

 

[theotheragentm]

It was in the low 30's this morning, supposed dip in the 20's at night. But hey its California not much can happen weather wise

California: Floods, Fires, & Fun!

You forgot earthquakes. I'm scared of one of those for my fish tank.

 

[Peyton]

It was in the low 30's this morning, supposed dip in the 20's at night. But hey its California not much can happen weather wise

California: Floods, Fires, & Fun!

You forgot earthquakes. I'm scared of one of those for my fish tank.

I don't mean to hijack the thread here but that brings up a good question. What can you do to earthquake proof a fishtank? Just curious.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You should probably start a new thread Peyton so you get the responses you need.

We are in Southern Illinois. About 30 minutes south south east of STL. My dad had another call from EMS saying that it's been upgraded. The Nov 30th ice storm left us 3/4 of an inch of ice. This weekend is supposed to be 1". I hope this doesn't mean power outages again for half the state of MO.

Be safe! And keep us updated.

 

[Cinder]

Farmgirl - Here in Colorado we've had 80+ inches of snow in the last three weeks!! Very unusual for this area (not in the mountains, we're on the plains). We have often been snowed in for up to five days at a time and have lost power for up to three days. However, we have a generator (we bought it before we moved out here because we knew that it was likely we would loose power out here at times) and my fish have never known the weather outside could affect them! If your hubby can get the generator that would solve all your potential problems so I'll be praying he gets one for you. If he can't get it now I would highly suggest you save up for one and get it sooner than later for future use. I used to live in Wisconsin so I'm very familiar with ice storms also. Good luck through the storm.

 

[tropicalfish]

in that such cold weather, freezer and refrigerators really don't need power when there is no electricity.

 

[DepotFish]

We're currently iced in on campus. Driving is a definate not-gonna-happen. My suggestion for those who have power outages is simple, do you have a battery air pump and an empty plastic container you don't mind wasting? I'd maybe wait until you know the power is going to go out for a while or right after it does. Clean out a plastic gladware-type container. Make a few 1/8th inch thick slits in the sides and bottom. Put enough gravel or rocks in the bottom to hold the container to the tank bottom. Add used filter media to fill the container and stick the airstone somewhere in the middle. You'll need to cut a hole in the lid for the air line to be threaded through and make a few holes in the lid also. This will be a makeshift box filter which should keep your biobugs alive and provide air to the tank while the power is out.

 

[farmgirl]

Thanks for all the replys. I like the idea of the makesift box filter, may go work on that right now. The watch has been upgraded to warning, ice storm is closing in. Strange, it was almost 60 degrees up until about an hour ago!! Even let the dogs in for the night. Good luck to everyone in this part of the country.

 

[farmgirl]

Well made it through the night. How 'bout you, fishyfanatic?? 2nd wave comes through this afternoon. Seems to have just barely missed us so far.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

It was pretty windy down here. We had some freezing rain but not too much. The bulk is supposed to be this afternoon, tonight, and tomorrow. My water changes aren't supposed to be done until tomorrow but I think I'll do them this morning, just in case.

It's funny how someone can have two feet of snow and they never loser power. But then here in the midwest we have 3/4" of ice and some are out for two weeks. We're at an advantage though since we are not on Ameren. Our town has it's own city power plant that only services 5,000 customers. Power outages longer than 12 hours is rare.

Good luck this afternoon and evening. It gets mighty cold around here during these ice storms. Last time it dipped down to 45 in our apt overnight when the power was out.

 

[farmgirl]

I guess when the ice weighs down the powerlines, they just snap!! Last big ice storm a few years back, we lost power for 3 days. We live in such a rural area that it takes a while for the coop to make it out this far. And if the broken power lines are unaccessable, well, then ,we wait....
We'll see what this 2nd and 3rd wave tomorrow do. Still praying down here.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Sorry you guys gotta deal with the ice. That storm is supposed to be all rain by the times it makes it over here...though I wish it would be snow.

 

[lovemybarbs]

We have had an ice storm warning for two days and nothing has happened except for some ice on the trees.

 

[SparKy697]

Glad to hear that it seems to be passing you by. Or at least that it's too warm for ice. My mother lives in Bethalto, Il, and she is supposed to be heading back home today. I'm hoping she wont have to deal with this storm either.

It seems that when ever the media predicts a huge storm, it never comes.

 

[hulkamaniac]

We're going through an ice storm right now, but there's nothing major at all. It's freezing the sensors on a couple of traffic lights and people can't drive, but other than that, nothing major. I wouldn't worry much if I was you. I'd just plug the heater into the adapter and wouldn't worry about the filter unless you're out of juice for more than a day or so. Or get an adapter and plug both the filter and the heater into the generator.

 

[farmgirl]

Today is supposed to be the third and final wave. Our trees and fences are iced over with about a 1/4". So far we have kept power up, I hope this next wave isn't too bad. It's hard enough worrying about the fishies freezing, but we also have cow's starting to spring. I have everything ready to go if we do get hit - the JD is sitting outside the bedroom window, and the blankets are ready!! Hope everyone else is faring safe and well. Thinking about those of y'all in this, too. see-ya