Hurricane Milton evacuation - What to do ?!

[alex37310]

Take it with you along with a heavy duty tote, you can use a tote as a tank, a larger or taller tote and you can fill it halfway to prevent jumpers and just because the tote will bow a bit so not filling to the top is safer.

i would probably take some of the rock, whatever has your fav or $$ corals.

Then just add flow and a makeshift tank whenever you stay. They don't have to have light for awhile.

Love the idea but since I have a 7g nano wouldn’t that be enough?

 

[backbayreef]

Good luck with the evacuation and stay safe!

Very doable given your tank size but just me thinking out loud - we've never been ordered to evacuate our home, ever. However, if there's a mandatory evacuation, it's going to hurt since my battery operated wavemaker can only last ~40 hours. There is no heater/chiller but then again, the weather is not that bad where I'm at. I need to get an automated generator backup solution in the future -- been putting it off.

 

[alex37310]

I’m also thinking the smaller, the easiest to aerate right? So if I need to move surface if I loose power and can’t use the gen then it would be easier on a 7g than a tote correct?

 

[backbayreef]

This one is cool - I use it in a hospital tank or transferring fish around town. With usb power source, it's very extensible...

https://a.co/d/hLvgJtO

 

[Tamberav]

Love the idea but since I have a 7g nano wouldn’t that be enough?

I missed the 7g nano part, you could do that but keep in mind the oxygen will delete quickly in a small volume of water without flow so you need manually do it at that part which means you will be sleeping like you have an infant (not much).

 

[BasementBox]

I pray we don’t get too much damage and that they all survive.. if I can run the battery for a while and then go on generator I should be able to get heater and flow on sooner enough.. my nano is 7g so I was thinking of using that. Maybe putting them in tupperwares for transportation

I hope you're out of there man.... cat 5 and they're saying it got only stronger....

 

[IceNein]

Is there anyway to daisy chain battery powered air bubbler so that once the batteries die in the first one it triggers the second one to turn on?

If you're handy, placing cells in parallel increases the capacity of your battery. Placing them in series increases the voltage, which you do not want. So basically you need to rig up another battery in the same configuration and then put it in parallel with the output, and you will have doubled the battery life.

If none of that makes sense to you, you could look up or watch youtube videos on battery configurations. Short term you could probably rig something up with lose wire and electrical tape. No need for soldering or anything.

 

[mariano]

Maybe not the best advice but i would run to a store that sells air stones (the ones that are battery operated, dont worry about light or temperature). Temperature doesn't change much during hurricane due to the rain and clouds. And all fish, even corals should be okay for 3 days with no lights.

Stay safe and report back to us how everything went if possible.

Im on the east coast of florida (fort lauderdale) and we are wetting strong wind and rain, but not near as bad as Tampa/Orlando

 

[vetteguy53081]

Here are nice tips from CoralVue

Here are several tips to help you with your aquarium during a storm or power outage.

1. Battery-powered Air Pump Have a battery-operated air pump ready to maintain oxygen levels in the water.

2. Insulation Wrap the tank with blankets or foam insulation to help maintain temperature.

3. Water Change If time allows, do a partial water change before the storm to improve water quality.

4. Reduce Feeding Feed fish less to minimize waste production during the outage.

5. Manually Add Oxygen Keep the water oxygenated by periodically scooping approximately three cups of water out of your tank with a pitcher and pouring it back into the tank from about 6-8 inches above the water surface.

6. Back-up Battery or Generator Consider a small generator to power essential equipment if outages are prolonged.

7. Water Storage Keep clean, dechlorinated water on hand for emergency water changes.

8. Secure Items Remove or secure any equipment or decorations that could fall into the tank.

Do you have a backup battery? Keep this in mind.​

To optimize the power longevity of devices like the IceCap Battery Backup or the HYDROS Kraken with a lead acid battery, it's beneficial to allocate the power specifically to the flow pumps. By ensuring a continuous circulation and oxygen supply to the aquarium, you can actively protect your tank from potential devastation.

 

[alex37310]

Thank you all so much for your feedbacks. It’s too late now for me to order anything else but I’ll take all recommendations in account to prepare better in the future!

I have just moved my 7g nano tank to the house I’m staying at in Orlando, I set up everything including my popbloom rl90 light for as long as power will be on.

I’ve got generator and about 9 gallon of gas for fridge and fish tank + phone chargers.

I have 8 D batteries to use for the air pump until it’s safe enough to use the generator.

Seems to be moving a bit more south so I’m hoping for a higher chance of power being restored or even hopefully staying on. This is the location we always take shelter to and always have power through the past few hurricanes…

I hope you’re all staying safe and yes I am worried for Fort Lauderdale and the whole east coast as they will also experience serious storm surge, especially north of the eye!

Will report asap

PS: one of my clown really tried to mess with my nerves and took me 30min to catch grrrrrr

 

[Steven Garland]

I'm in Deltona and staying put. The eye is shifting and projected to hit further south,a little below Tampa.

I have a 12v Milwaukee light I can power my 12v pump with on and off thru the day and a portable power supply for my fan and 4 packs of AA batts for my 2 air pumps I use on my bait buckets !!

 

[jk1knight]

I just went through a protracted power outage in Houston this year after the hurricane. I have a 265g reef tank. My house had no power for 4 days and it was really hot in Texas. I charged up some extra car batteries I had in the garage and daisy chained them together. You have a smaller tank so one forklift battery or one marine boat (27) battery or large car battery from Costco/Sams should work. If you daisy chain, make sure you get “in series” versus “in parallel” correct. Look it up online. It is really easy. Again, you have a smaller tank so one battery may be all you need for days. I hooked the car batteries to a standard DC to AC inverter. They are not that expensive and readily available. I then plugged all the basics from my tank into the inverter. I blew a fan across the top of the tank for cooling. Use frozen tank water in Ziplock bags or frozen RO bottles for cooling if needed. Everything in my tank made it through. My tank parameters did fluctuate, but it was gradual and manageable for all the livestock. I did 20% water changes a few times after the power was restored to get everything back to normal (gradually). I am not going to lie…it was a stressful few days though…prayers for your house and tank…good luck!

 

[saullman]

Here are nice tips from CoralVue

Here are several tips to help you with your aquarium during a storm or power outage.

​ ​ ​ 1. Battery-powered Air Pump Have a battery-operated air pump ready to maintain oxygen levels in the water.

​ ​ ​ 2. Insulation Wrap the tank with blankets or foam insulation to help maintain temperature.

​ ​ ​ 3. Water Change If time allows, do a partial water change before the storm to improve water quality.

​ ​ ​ 4. Reduce Feeding Feed fish less to minimize waste production during the outage.

​ ​ ​ 5. Manually Add Oxygen Keep the water oxygenated by periodically scooping approximately three cups of water out of your tank with a pitcher and pouring it back into the tank from about 6-8 inches above the water surface.

​ ​ ​ 6. Back-up Battery or Generator Consider a small generator to power essential equipment if outages are prolonged.

​ ​ ​ 7. Water Storage Keep clean, dechlorinated water on hand for emergency water changes.

​ ​ ​ 8. Secure Items Remove or secure any equipment or decorations that could fall into the tank.

​

Do you have a backup battery? Keep this in mind.​

To optimize the power longevity of devices like the IceCap Battery Backup or the HYDROS Kraken with a lead acid battery, it's beneficial to allocate the power specifically to the flow pumps. By ensuring a continuous circulation and oxygen supply to the aquarium, you can actively protect your tank from potential devastation.

Love this. Good info.

 

[Ron Reefman]

So alex37310, how did you do with Milton?

I'm in Cape Coral and we only had 50+ mph wind for a few hours around midnight on Thursday. But we were without power for 36 hours.

I only have a 40g aio and I use 2 battery powered bubblers and I have 2 more as backups and lots of 'D cell' batteries on hand. I had no losses at all.

 

[alex37310]

Happy to report I haven’t suffered any losses!!!
I ended up moving my reef fish,snails and corals in a nano with me while sheltering.
I left my hermits and my other 30g tank full of glow tetras hoping they would make it through.

My shelter location did not loose power despite the eye ending up coming fairly close to orlando..

Winds were not as bad as expected but tornado risks was very worrying..

Coming back home, multiple trees were down including a major one falling on my shed and barely denting the corner of the roofing panels, just a few feet away from my house. That would have been really bad.. but thankfully no major damage and looks like I barely lost power. Only communication lines fell off the poles. All fish and corals and snails have been reacclimated to display tank and looking strong and happy! Hermits looking alive! And glow fish were ready to eat!

I ended up bringing one of my two reef lights with me, put a few rocks from my sump inside the nano as well as cycled sponges and a power head. Everything worked out pretty well thankfully!

Thank you all for your help and advise! I definitely think I’ll work on a battery backup system as mentioned above to be prepared!

Stay safe! An other one may come next week!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Happy to report I haven’t suffered any losses!!!
I ended up moving my reef fish,snails and corals in a nano with me while sheltering.
I left my hermits and my other 30g tank full of glow tetras hoping they would make it through.

My shelter location did not loose power despite the eye ending up coming fairly close to orlando..

Winds were not as bad as expected but tornado risks was very worrying..

Coming back home, multiple trees were down including a major one falling on my shed and barely denting the corner of the roofing panels, just a few feet away from my house. That would have been really bad.. but thankfully no major damage and looks like I barely lost power. Only communication lines fell off the poles. All fish and corals and snails have been reacclimated to display tank and looking strong and happy! Hermits looking alive! And glow fish were ready to eat!

I ended up bringing one of my two reef lights with me, put a few rocks from my sump inside the nano as well as cycled sponges and a power head. Everything worked out pretty well thankfully!

Thank you all for your help and advise! I definitely think I’ll work on a battery backup system as mentioned above to be prepared!

Stay safe! An other one may come next week!

Alex,
Glad to hear that things worked out for you!

We were without power for just 36 hours due to Milton. In the past, Ian and Charlie had us without power for 2 weeks! Even gas was in VERY short supply. So running our generator was and issue we had to deal with by running it part time. Now we buy a lot more gas before a hurricane just in case!

We go snorkeling in the Keys 1 to 3 times every year, and bringing back live collections has become easier and easier as I learned what needed to be done. For the last 5+ years, there have been no loses. I do 50% to 100% water changes twice a day for collections that are staying at our motel while we go back out for more snorkeling. We stay at a motel on the Gulf side of the Keys so I can just walk out into the water and get 'new' water for the water changes in the mornings and the water we bring back from collecting during the day works for the 2nd water change.

A 7g bucket with a bubbler and a small pump to help move water seems to work very well for the critters that stay at the motel. But then most of the collection is snails, hermit crabs, a star or two, a cucumber and some RFAs if we find any. No fish and very rarely any coral as SPS and LPS are illegal and about the only softies we see are green zoas. Occasionally I'll find something more unusual to collect, like a small mantis shrimp, a coral banded shrimp or a flame scallop.

The morning we leave the Keys for the 5 hour drive home I do a fresh water change and set up the batter bubbler with the 7g bucket covered with a lid and inside a huge plastic bag (to keep small spills from getting the carpet wet).