BLIZZARD power outage. What would you do to keep a 40g tank heated & water movement?

Reef man 89

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So far so good in my area. But the wind is picking up big time. Hope the power stays on. But just in case have some blankets and heat packed on stand by. This is what is looks like out my front window.

image.jpeg
 
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40B Knasty

40B Knasty

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Remember that a generator is the only answer in a long term outage.

For a short term problem...

A thick blanket over and around the tank will mostly take care of heat loss. A glass lid on the tank with an airstone running is a nice combo. (Keeps the blanket dry too!)

Keeping livestock levels low is a good idea in general and avoids some of the problems associated with reduced water movement during an outage.
Who wants low livestock? o_O
I have a glass top. Never again will I let a fish jump.
 

wish

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We have a good 12 inch of snow in 4 hrs and strong winds in Waltham MA.
 

Macdaddynick1

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to oxigenate your tank manually and fast . use one of these ( presumably you have one from the test kit or something ,
Glue-Dispensing-plastic-injection-needle.jpg_200x200.jpg
and put it on one of these
Unknown.jpeg
the bigger the better.

suck some water in from your tank and shoot it directly at the surface. It shoots the water into the tank with such force that it pulls in a lot of air with it and creates thousands of micro bubbles.

P.S - make sure to put the plastic needle on the syringe very tightly or if you have a spare one you can even glue it to the syringe. Hope this helps
 
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40B Knasty

40B Knasty

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to oxigenate your tank manually and fast . use one of these ( presumably you have one from the test kit or something ,
Glue-Dispensing-plastic-injection-needle.jpg_200x200.jpg
and put it on one of these
Unknown.jpeg
the bigger the better.

suck some water in from your tank and shoot it directly at the surface. It shoots the water into the tank with such force that it pulls in a lot of air with it and creates thousands of micro bubbles.

P.S - make sure to put the plastic needle on the syringe very tightly or if you have a spare one you can even glue it to the syringe. Hope this helps
I do have one of these, but not the top piece. Where can I get one?but do have tubing for drip acclimating. Maybe poke a bunch holes in it and do the same thing
 

wkscott

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I've heard some people say to do a water change during a power outage... which could provide some air. Not sure if this is true or not...
It would help to oxygenate the water somewhat but how would you heat and aerate the new water before putting it in the tank?
 

tom reilly

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I have looked up a few things in the past. Like hand warmers in a zip lock bag and take a pitcher and keep pulling water out and pour it back in. I always like learning ideas. Throw some at me. The blizzard is starting right now as we speak. All ideas are welcome. No generator ideas. DIY only!
I have battery powered aerators that were for bait bucket. Heat is tough without a generator.
 

Macdaddynick1

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I do have one of these, but not the top piece. Where can I get one?but do have tubing for drip acclimating. Maybe poke a bunch holes in it and do the same thing
The top piece I got from an old Red Sea or salifert test kit. But I think you can actually melt that little tube on the syringe and seal it. Then take a needle , heat it up on the stove and poke a very tiny hole in the same place you sealed . I think it would work the same .
 

Rick.45cal

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80° here in San Jose today. May have to turn on the A/C or reconnect my chiller. :D

It's 73F sunny, little to no humidity. The house is all open so the tank can breathe and I'm doubly glad I am not living up north anymore!
 

Daniel@R2R

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Skydvr

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Those hand warmers need oxygen to work ( I have some friends that learned that lesson the hard way skydiving in the winter. 120+ MPH wind blasting throgh those things will melt skin), so I'm not sure how well Putting them in a plastic bag would work.

Battery powerd air pumps or proxide can help oxygenate the water. Occasionally basting corals to clear mucous is helpful if you have no circulation.

Water changes siunds like a good idea, but if you don't have the ability to heat the tank, you probably don't have the ability to heat or mix water for water changes. If you have a gas stove, camp stove, or propane grill, you could draw off some tank water to heat up and return to the tank. Althouh I'm not sure the constant temperature swings would be less harmful than a steady low temperature, unless it is either that or freezing. Corals frequently get shipped fairly cold and do alright unless overly sensitive or if they freeze.

Hot water in bottles (glass canning jars would be my preferance as many plastics leach a lot of chemicals at temperatures exceeding 80°F) would be a good option to keep temperatures up if you have the ability to keep up with swapping them out. Just be suree to not overheat the tank.

I'd opt for a deep cycle marine battery and an inverter. Just be sure to get one that is fully charged from the store (or hook up jumper cables and run the car for a while).

If you do decide to power off an inverter from your car, run the car for just a few minutes otherwise you are doing more harm than good. Idling for a few minutes probably won't even recover the energy it took to start the engine, especially with low temperatures (harder to start and reduced capacity). It takes around 20 minutes to fully recharge a battery while driving. Alternators don't put out full capacity at idle.

The syringe trick wouldn't be super useful unless you have a pico sized tank or spent 20-30 minutes injecting water back into the tank. Blowing through some airline with an airstone or pouring cups of water from a foot or two above the tank would probably work better (although the splasing would create a bit of a mess to deal with later).

Don't forget about the sump if you have anything other than a bare sump.


What was the calcium chloride trick from that video? I really can't take watching his videos. So much bad/inaccurate/hokey advice and video footage stolen from other people and claimed as his own work.
 

Skydvr

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Leominster is a tough spot, a little too far for Boston Reef Society meetings since they are during the week and too far for CT Area Reef Society. My nephews (and consequently my sister seeing as how they are 6 and 10) live in Leominster.
Not an area that typically loses power frequently, so hopefully you won't need to try out any of those options.
 

JEREMY82

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I would go to harbor freight and buy a generator,walmart also sells little airpumps that run on 9v batteries
 

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