Who else lost any livestock to PGE stupidity?

[MnFish1]

OK - so aquariums are important and seriously when I read this story about the forced turn. off - I couldn't believe it - but - like my wife needs cpap to sleep - I cant imagine what this would do to those people - or those who are on home oxygen that might need electricity - it seems completely horrible for those that NEED electricity (and I include aquarium keepers in this area) - that its just 'shut off' with no notice. Fires are bad - but Californians - Is it (or not) true - that part of the problem is that people couldn't cut trees/brush near the power lines (note this is not a political commentary - its is an honest question - believe me - we hear nothing about this here)

 

[USMA36]

As stated before, generator wasn't on because power wasn't out when I went to sleep. We had no updates on if/when power was going to go out, just a warning that it was possible and that it would have been 12pm, then 8pm, then nothing further. It was 10pm when I went to sleep and still had power. I was hoping they weren't going to turn it off. I don't think leaving a generator on all night, and plugging my tanks into it when I had power was a great idea, and I don't think my neighbors would have been too fond of me if I had a generator on all night while power was still connected. Once I woke up, the generator was continuously operating until the power kicked back on and then for another hour after that just in case they shut if off again.

In retrospect I was ill prepared, however we were only given like 1-2 days notice of possible shut off. I'll be purchasing enough usb battery powered air pumps for all my tanks shortly, and will be looking into UPS to run circulation pumps till I can get a generator up and running. I'm hesitant to blame myself for something that could have been avoided happening in the first place.

I'd really rather keep the politics out of this thread. I had a long post written about my thoughts on it and realized people would just argue over that rather than post about anything fish/loss related. People have their opinions and most won't be swayed.

Use caution with the ups. if you buy one meant for a computer it won’t run your pumps for very long at all. Like minutes. UPS systems designed for computers have very small batteries and are only meant for a computer user to have time to save whatever they’re working on in the event of an outage. I have a ups on my system. I think it buys me 2 hours on just the pumps. However a ups is great for cleaning up the power from a home generator. Most of our equipment does not like the square wave of cheaper generators they are used to pure sine wave something about harmonic distortion I especially notice this if I run my lights off a generator. i can see the lights dim and brighten with the motor of the generator. i have my entire tank run through an apex into the UPS. Once the ups power fails I have 2 maxspect batteries used to power my 2 maxpect gyre. These batteries will give me 14 hours or so at a reduced capacity. The power to the gyres reduces automatically when it senses a power outage but not until the ups is dead. It’s just enough power to keep the water oxygenated. It won’t help my sump or anything alive in it but I figure there isn’t much living in there to consume oxygen anyway. I have a small ups plugged into my cable modem/wifi so the apex can alert me when the power goes out with email and a text message. It’s nice to know I have a small cushion before I need to get home and set up the generator. If you don’t use maxspect I know ecotech makes a battery that does the same thing and if you’re handy you can make your own using an rv glass mat battery a charger and some simple wiring which will give you more power for a lot less money.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

OK - so aquariums are important and seriously when I read this story about the forced turn. off - I couldn't believe it - but - like my wife needs cpap to sleep - I cant imagine what this would do to those people - or those who are on home oxygen that might need electricity - it seems completely horrible for those that NEED electricity (and I include aquarium keepers in this area) - that its just 'shut off' with no notice. Fires are bad - but Californians - Is it (or not) true - that part of the problem is that people couldn't cut trees/brush near the power lines (note this is not a political commentary - its is an honest question - believe me - we hear nothing about this here)

At least one person died for this very reason.

Regarding the growth around power lines, I believe most of it is not individual customers with overgrowth, but public areas that PG&E is responsible for clearing, but not doing it.

 

[TheOne]

The lack of oxygen can kill small fish in a matter of hours, 6-8. I kayak fish and can keep minnows alive for days with a bait bucket and air stone. Without the airstone they would usually all be dead before I'm finished fishing for the day.

I use a small deep cycle battery hooked up to my mp40. As soon as power goes out it automatically comes on. I'm sure it could also run my return pump for 24 hours or more if needed.