Hurricane Ivan Aftermath Help

[BlueDolphin]

Hello all. I'm in Pensacola in the midst of the hurricane aftermath. Thankfully there was no damage to my home. I merely had a few pieces of fence blown down and several snapped pine trees. I know I was one of the lucky ones. However, I am concerned about my tank. I have battery powered pumps constantly going, and every hour I am also trying to manually create oxygenation. I tested the water today and ammonia was zero, nitrates <10, but the pH was a little low (7.8 or a little less). Should I be concerned with this? I don't have much saltwater made and ready and made all I could before the storm but that's only 10 gallons. I plan on doing a one gallon water change tomorrow (my tank is 60 gallons so I don't know if that would even do any good). I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on what else I could do.

TIA!

 

[i have crabs]

try adding some ph buffer to ur new water before u change it

 

[BlueDolphin]

I don't have pH butter. Any other ideas? Will this low of pH pose any kinds of immediate problems?

 

[quarryshark]

Do you have any baking soda? You can use that to buffer as well. I would try and get that up a little. Its not belly up low, but I would work on it.
I would do some water change too. How long do they think the power will be out??
Glad to hear you are OK!!!

 

[reefrunner69]

7.8 for a dark tank is fine, do not add buffer!! Your very likely to experience a ph spike when the power comes on and the tank is lit. Have some frozen water bottle handy to chill the water a bit and keep up the circulation, not too much else you can do. Temp is going to become an issue fast. I lost a few hundred worth of acros due to power outage when Frances came through, temp was the problem I had, tank got to 95 degrees during the day and didn't drop too much in the evening.

 

[quarryshark]

OK, I stand corrected.
what you can do (if your already not) is point the powerheads toward the surface to get surface agitation. This may help as well.
IMO, still monitor it, to make sure it doesn't continue to drop.

 

[phases99]

Glad to hear you made it through OK. You could try using a turkey baster to create some bursts of current for the corals periodically. We are pulling for you.

 

[Hara]

and just one cautionary word on the use of baking soda in general....a little goes a LONG way.

 

[BlueDolphin]

Thanks so much for all of your replies! I can't get the forum too often as I am trying to conserve the battery power of my laptop. They said the power could be out anywhere from 2 weeks to months!!! I ordered a generator before the storm so I'm hoping that it will be able to be delivered soon. I was going to do a very small water change, but the pH of that water is low also. Everything else seems fine so far. The temp is holding at 77.7 so I am pleased. I did float a bottle of ice in there earlier but my freezer has since become much warmer and I don't have much of anything left. My percula clown is opercular pumpinp more than normal. I have been scooping water and pouring it back in the tank. Do you all think that this (in addition to the two small battery powered air pumps) will be sufficient for oxygenation???

Thanks again!

 

[seaham358]

I agree with reefrunner for a dark tank that is fine and IMO adding anything to the tank will just make matters worse. Good luck with the power issue...
A couple of us in NY were talking about buying a bunch of generators and renting a truck and driving down south and selling them.. I hear that they are getting up to $2000 for a generator. Is that true? Thats crazy.....

 

[reefrunner69]

I hear that they are getting up to $2000 for a generator. Is that true?

It better not be, price gouging is illegal. If you were to do something like that, you need to make sure you are either selling them for your cost out of the goodness of your heart, or you get them wholesale and are selling them at a fair market value, something reasonable and customary for the area. For instance you can get a generator from Home Depot for 400-500, don't go much higher for a comparable model, if you do...it's price gouging an you can be fined 25,000 Benefitting from the misfortune of others pretty much makes you a vulture in my book.

 

[BlueDolphin]

Hello again to all! I am VERY VERY pleased and excited to report that my power came back on around 3:30 central time today!!!!!!!!! I was sitting in my living room and I heard this buzzing noise, so I glanced up at the tank to see if the battery powered pump was acting funny. But, then - I saw my ceiling fan begin to spin! I jumped up yelling "the power, the power!" hahaha. So, my tank is now back up and running and my regal tang and clown couldn't be happier! My power coming on this quickly is remarkable to say the least. The funny thing is... I have a generator on the way!

But, in response to your question, seaham. Yes, I have heard that some people were purchasing generators for very extreme amounts of money. But, some of our home improvement stores are getting in shipments. Home Depot had twenty this morning and some people were waiting in line since midnight.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I will update on the tank's condition soon!!!

 

[phases99]

Thats great! Do keep a close eye on things for a few days as stress problems can show up days later. You will sleep better at night knowing you have a generator.

 

[quarryshark]

Super!!!

 

[reefrunner69]

Benefitting from the misfortune of others pretty much makes you a vulture in my book.

I just realized that would look like I was speaking to the poster I quoted in my previous post. I wasn't, I was referring to price gougers, it's understandable to try and make a fair dollar, it's something the people in the area need and if you provide it at a fair price, your doing a service, but people that charge 5 bucks for an 8lb bag of ice, or a grand for a 500 generator are subhuman, it's adding another injury upon people that have already lost enough.

Blue Dolphin, I'm very glad you got your power back, it hasn't been long since we were without power and it truely sucks!

 

[BlueDolphin]

reefrunner,

I totally agree with you about the price gouging. I heard there were quite a few cases in the past couple days - a lot of those were dealing with the generator prices. Even though my power is on, when my generator arrives I don't think I will sell it. I will feel so much better knowing that I have one just in case something happens again.

Now, I do have one more question. All of my frozen fish food naturally became thawed out when the power when out. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to re-freeze it, would it? Could it make my fish sick??

 

[tjaeger]

BTW I lost power here in West Palm Beach and I set up my battery powered aerator that I got from the local bait shop and had the bubbles flow up a pvc pipe that was diagonally across the tank. The water circulation was surprising and it ran for 48 hrs on 2 D batteries.
No loss after 9 days with no power.
Tom J

 

[flanque]

Thanks so much for all of your replies! I can't get the forum too often as I am trying to conserve the battery power of my laptop. They said the power could be out anywhere from 2 weeks to months!!!

Holey crap that's a long time to be without power...!

I guess you could get an inverter as well if you want and throw some 12v batteries onto it, then use the generator to keep them charged.