Low Budget lighting for power outages

[Guest]

Thanks fishfreek. I think I'll place the candles around the upper perimeter of the tank and then use mirrors to reflecty the light downward onto my plants. glmcell has good point - he noted that the color temp of a wax candle may not be sufficient to induce photosynthesis. I will just have to keep my fingers crossed I guess.

 

[justDIY]

well ... thats not what I meant exactly.

the color temperature of the light given by burning parafin is almost all red and yellow light ... these are low energy level colors, and will not penetrate water as well as green and blue do, it also does not contain any blue, violet and ultra-violet light needed by most plants

but, for freshwater plants, the intensity of the light is more important than the color... 100 even 1000 candles will not be enough to grow plants by ... a plant's chlorophyl isn't going to be stimulated by candle light

sure it would provide enough light so you, a human, can see your plants and your fish, but our eyes work pretty good in the dark, and the intensity of a light as we perceive it is varied by our pupils ... a bunch of candles burning in an otherwise dark room appears very bright ... but a 5 cell mag-lite flashlight configured in latern mode appears like the sun compared to those candles ... that same flashlight compared to a 55 watt halogen bulb would appear very dim, and that halogen bulb next to a 250 watt metal halide would also seem dim ... that 250 watt bulb compared to being outside on a clear day; you probably couldn't even tell it was on unless you were very close

-----

you'd be better off using one of those everready camping laterns that takes rechargeable batteries and has a cool-white flourescent bulb in it ... with enough of these you may be able to stimulate some low-light plants.

 

[Guest]

Going back to what d9 said somewhere earlier, 1-5 days with no light would really not be a problem at all, I promise, your plants will live! Early on in my planted tank rookie days, I did a 5 day total blackout to get rid of green water, and I did not lose a single plant, Scouts Honor.

Insofar as heating goes, I think the best suggestions made in this thread are the propane/kerosene heaters, followed closely by the sheets of insulation. Temp will be much more of an issue for the fish, plants will survive a couple days with water temps even down to around 55 or so.

Some of the other things, the candles or sterno, well they scare me. Maybe I'm extra paranoid about this, but having survived a small house fire (mostly smoke, but still pretty scary), I try my best to avoid open flames in my house. Just keep safety first, whatever you decide to do!

 

[Guest]

Thanks corvuscorax. Maybe I'll forget the candles. I still feel the need (although I'm sure you're right) for auxilliary lighting - I guess I'm a little anal-retentive. Do you think several sets of low voltage Christmas lights hooked up to a car battery might be of help?

 

[Guest]

Okay, the generator isn't going to happen because of cost right now. But I got a new idea for emergency lighting during an outage. Emergency Road Flares. They are way more intense than candles so perhaps they would work. They burn for a while I know.

 

[Abe Vigoda]

I really don't recommend road flares, geforce. Using them indoors is definetly not safe. However, should you wish to pursue this avenue (ahem), may I suggest the use of traffic cones of the bright orange type. You could set them up in such an array that would direct people away from your home before you burn it down. Also, I'm sure you can buy them at the same place you'll find the road flares.

 

[Guest]

My god that's funny.

Seriously, the road flares would put off very noxious fumes as well. They will probably kill you, if not your fish being in an enclosed area such as your house???

 

[Guest]

Yeah, you're right - road flares would give off fumes I bet. Alright, I have what I think to be my final idea. Harness the bio-luminescence of several thousand lightning bugs in an over the aquarium canopy- no seriously - i could raise thousands of them in my screened-in porch since it's not being used for anything. Of course, I have no idea what the PAR or color temp of lightning bugs are...but it surely couldn't hurt. What the heck - lightning bugs are abundant here, I think I'm gonna try this. Thanks again for everyones ideas. You all really got me thinking.

 

[Abe Vigoda]

Geforce, have you considered glow in the dark frisbees? All you would have to do is take a staple gun and staple some twine to the middle of one side and then suspend 10-15 of them from your ceiling. You could leave them out all day in the sunlight, which everyone knows is still free these days. That has to be easier than lightning bugs, which cast light intermittently anyway. Unless of course you think you could synchronize thier lighting pattern. Also, I don't think they have a very long lifespan, to say nothing of the fact that they won't make it through the winter....what with the heating problems you'll be facing.

 

[justDIY]

OMG - is this thread still going?

Abe, I like your sense of humor dude

<another rant>
Geforce, please stop ... either your humor isn't coming off in the posts, or you're starting to sound like a lunatic ... either way, it's just plain scary! :?
</rant>

 

[Guest]

Glow in the dark items are made with a trace of radium I think - that could pose a threat to the fish -plus they would not be intense enough Abe. BTW Abe - that was funny what you said about the orange safety cones around the house if I were to use road flares as temporary lighting. You gave me a good laugh. Thanks for your input.

 

[afFISHionado]

I'm not going to even touch the topic on the usage of road flares, lightning bugs, glow in the dark frisbees or chemical sticks as temporary lighting in the aquaria. They just sound unsafe or just plain ridiculous. You might be able to pull it off with candles - if you can get enough of them. To convert candlepower (foot candles) to lumens per square meter you multiply by 10.764. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Flipper2Me]

Dear Mr. geforcefx3. Have you considered maybe using solar panels. You could install them on your roof to harness all the suns power. Then you could draw all the power into your house, and channel it through a "Flux Capacitor", or something. This should generate more then enough lights for you tank. With the "Flux Capacitor" I've hear that you can generate up to 1,686,000 gigawatts, which would provide enough lights for some awesome plant growth. You'd just have to be careful in a lightning storm though. One miss guided lightning bolt to your roof and your fish could end up back to the future......

 

[Guest]

. With the "Flux Capacitor" I've hear that you can generate up to 1,686,000 gigawatts,

Yeah, but don't you have to be going 80 miles per hour?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[afFISHionado]

corvus - great reponse! I am BOL (buckeled over laughing)

 

[afFISHionado]

...and TWO mis-guided lightning bolts striking the solar panel array could lead to "A Little Shop Of Horrors" with your aquarium plants. There are several documented cases in which two jolts of 1.6 million gigawatts within a 72 hour period have caused genetic mutations in the DNA of aquatic plants know as hyper-mytochondrial augmentation, or HMA. More succinctly, you'd have a forest of venus fly-trap like carnivorous photosynthetic autotrophs. If this happens, you can ward off the offending plant-beasts with habenero-based pepper spray, but be sure to wear protective eyewear when doing so.