Power outage here in CA. Police ask me to turn off my generator!

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I use inverter connect to car, quieter. Buy one for tank use only, in after hours for generator. 8pm on?

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

My honda EU2200 is dead quiet! I believe it is one of the quietest generators on the market. It kept my 300 going for 3 days a year or two ago.

 

[EmdeReef]

Very sorry for your troubles. Obviously, you should carefully assess your situation/risk and possibly if it’s worthwhile eating a noise citation while running a generator on and off. A reasonable judge may dismiss it given the exigency. As stated above, I would definitely also call the precinct and talk to someone. Emphasize that these are your pets.

You can dose hydrogen peroxide to help oxygenate the water, unfortunately without a meter it’s a bit of a guessing game. However, it’s safe to dose, I’d start with about 5ml of 3% per 10g and gradually increase. Even at 1+ ml per gallon it’s safe every ~4-5hrs.

It won’t replace water movement which is still needed especially for sps. If there’s an lfs that may still be open try to get a hydor koralia and a battery, those pumps use 3-5w and will move a good amount of water. Best of luck!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Unfortunately, most Californians like their privacy. I was stationed in Ventura for 5 years and if I was in the front yard when my neighbor was out as well, they would make a bee line towards the house when it appeared I was coming over to make conversation. For 5 years I didn't know my neighbors. That's not a way to live...

I think the right approach would be claiming the generator is for life support and try to figure out a way to quiet it down. Whether you shut it off during "hours of quiet" and run on battery back up, or leaving it running over night, understand that there might be consequences.

Unfortunately, now is not the time to be looking for a quieter running generator. But going forward come up with better ways to keep everything alive without disruption your neighbors quality of life.

It's almost daily that I read that PG&E is shutting power off in an effort to prevent more wild fires. I keep thinking, now is the time to be in the business of whole home battery storage for you guys in those areas.

 

[Leicobra]

Morning all, I started the generator this morning around 9am. The tank parameters looks okay. Temperature did drop to 72F however. I am slowly bringing it back up again.
I know is not looking good, but it's better then 0F.

 

[Silent]

I would ask your neighbors to come over and see why you need the generator or offer an extension cord for a while so they can benefit from the noise (to watch tv or charge phones). Regardless I'd be running it.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

You should move to Florida.

We, here in Florida, pity the fools that don't have functioning generators

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Morning all, I started the generator this morning around 9am. The tank parameters looks okay. Temperature did drop to 72F however. I am slowly bringing it back up again.
I know is not looking good, but it's better then 0F.

In all seriousness, if you can spare the bucks, run down to Walmart and get the largest deep cycle battery you can afford and an AC/DC inverter. You could run a pump and skimmer with this system over night during the quiet hours and recharge the battery when the generator is running. Also, a makeshift cover over the tops of the tank and sump would help slow evaporation and slow temperature loss.

Just a couple of ideas.

 

[Potatohead]

Frustrating and stressful situation for sure. I think a lot of us have the same problem, battery backup helps at night but lack of heating is the major problem. I hope the power comes back soon.

 

[Fishurama]

I just wanted to share what just happen to me now. Due to the CA wild fire PG&E turned off our power as 3:30pm today. My back up generator is on rightaway until I got a police visit at around 8pm. Asked me to turn my power generator off. Reason was it's too loud which I understood. However, when he laughed at me when he found out that I was using it to keep a fish tank running. I was upset. With not choice, I now will have to watch my tank slowly crush...…....

Hate cops who don't know the law/think they are above it. Should have told him to "kick rocks", legally, in 99.9 percent of counties(excluding HOAs) you can make as much noise as you want until 10pm. Then for morning it's generally 7-9am(this varies a bit more usually, 9am being places like Malibu in my state) You could also just take the ticket, leave it on, fight it in court with your counties noise ordinance laws.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

So, here's another idea. How big is the tank? If you can get a small 50W heater running, it would slow the temperature decline without depleting your battery so quickly. The name of the game here is to outlast the power outage, so anything you can do to add or preserve heat would help.

 

[siggy]

life support and try to figure out a way to quiet it down.

bummer about the fire and outage, Call the municipality in your area and find out about the noise ordinance. In my area
its 7 am till 10 pm and 9am on sunday. Building a styrofoam box (purple foam insulation) with no lid may help to extend those hours.
Its also common to install a car muffler to the generator. I have seen several gens installed in a garage and exhausted outside using a automotive exhaust system

 

[Crabs McJones]

A 12 V power inverter connected to ur car battery will give u enough power to run ur pacemakers and maybe skimmer on and return pump on and off. Just turn on the car fir few minutes every couple hours to recharge car battery.

Came here to say this! Will be much more quiet. Power inverter and extension cord.

 

[TheHarold]

Morning all, I started the generator this morning around 9am. The tank parameters looks okay. Temperature did drop to 72F however. I am slowly bringing it back up again.
I know is not looking good, but it's better then 0F.

In my opinion, you should avoid repeatedly bouncing temperature from 72 to 79. Maintain somewhere in the middle if possible. (Ex set heater to 76 instead).

 

[Adamantium]

Animal cruelty is a crime and was just passed at the federal level in addition to state levels already. Condemning fish to die so your neighbors can sleep is truly sick.

Unfortunately, fish are excluded from most US laws that protect animals.

 

[TheOne]

I would call city hall and ask to be put on the agenda to discuss the situation. You aren't going to get anywhere by causing problems with your local police. Good luck and unfollowing this thread.

 

[CMO]

Unfortunately, fish are excluded from most US laws that protect animals.

I know farmed fish are but pet fish as well? Given the awful fish supply chain that supports animal cruelty you're probably right. Very sad.

Step one in changing this is for people to treat fish as they would other animals like dogs and cats. But sadly, even many of the members here have posted comments that clearly show a sentiment of treating fish as disposable - i.e. supporting neighbors beauty sleep over fish lives by powering life support in an emergency...

It is truly unbelievable to me that the commentary here is mostly about trying to be quite during an emergency situation like this.

 

[Breadman03]

I just did a little searching and the charges were dropped in the case I mentioned before because the regulations there don't cover fish.

 

[ChadmRoman]

I think you're missing the point. I highly doubt police would just show up to your door and ask you to shut off a generator. Do you have any annoying neighbors or fall under a HOA with a sound ordnance? Maybe talked with the pres of HOA or that annoying neighbor?

 

[Thales]

I just wanted to share what just happen to me now. Due to the CA wild fire PG&E turned off our power as 3:30pm today. My back up generator is on rightaway until I got a police visit at around 8pm. Asked me to turn my power generator off. Reason was it's too loud which I understood. However, when he laughed at me when he found out that I was using it to keep a fish tank running. I was upset. With not choice, I now will have to watch my tank slowly crush...…....

Where do you live? Are you in an evacuation zone? How close is the fire to you? Sorry this is happening and hope it is over soon. If your area is being impacted by wild fires, it is likely that an aquarium is high on most peoples list of important things - people and property trump fish; 200,000+ people have been evacuated from their homes so far. That doesn't make what you are going trough any easier.

I would set the heater to 74, bump it up to 76 or 77 before you have to cut power, and then wrap the tank itself with something that will insulate, blankets or styro, to help keep the temp up over night. You seem to have overnight circulation worked out, so heat seems to be your only real issue. If you still have gas, you could heat water on the stove a few times at night and add it slowly to the tank in a high flow area to help keep the temp up.