# Power Outage.



## ry05coupe (Dec 30, 2008)

Hey everyone.
My part of the country has been hit by an ice storm, and last night we lost out power, until about 1pm this afternoon. now, a state of emergency has been declared, so they think it may be worse tonight.
i wrapped my tank in a blanket to insulate it a bit better, but i really didnt know what else i could do.
I also "primed" my filters once every few hours, just to circulate the water and get some fresh oxygen to all the good bacteria chillin in there.
my question is, is there anything else i can do to keep the heat in?
I wanted to do a partial water change before work this morning, but ofc, people needed showers :roll:

any suggestions?


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## ccrider (Sep 5, 2008)

water changes will help, you can even drain some aquarium water in a bucket and pour it back in, this will help get some oxygen in the water .


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

I was without power for 24 hours in -17 celsius (that's really [email protected]&king cold in fahrenheit) two weeks ago. I was fortunate enough to have a gas stove, so I kept doing water changes with warm water every hour or so (I skipped work) to keep the temperature up. By "up," I mean between 62 and 70 degrees. Did I mention it was cold? I don't know if warmth is an issue for you. Or if you have an electric stove, how you can heat water. Over a fireplace? If you're just worried about the bacteria in your filter(s), I had no ill effects from mine not running for a full 24 hours.

Good luck!

kevin


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## ry05coupe (Dec 30, 2008)

I wasnt as worried about the bacteria as the temperature.
im not sure how cold it was, but a few weeks ago we had - 12c for sure. 
and i know tonight itll be 20 f, which wont be as bad.
but everything in my house is electric, and for some reason there was water dripping down the fire placce, even though we have a chimney cover :s so i couldnt even get a fire going.
the tank only got down to 72 though, i dont know how it manages that.
but the next day my fish were like "WHAT THE **** WAS GOING ON LAST NIGHT, WE WERE FREEEEEEEEEZING". :fish: :x

hopefully the power wont go out again, but not i have some ideas, thanks :thumb:


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

Never having been to Kentucky, I foolishly assumed it didn't get that cold!


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

There is always voltage inverters and deep cycle car batteries. Although they may not be able to power everything you may be able to keep a small pump and heater running. I have a set of 2 deep cycle batteries and a 500 watt inverter handy just for that very reason. The batteries are also for the in car entertainment at shows so I can add them into the car easy for recharging as I drive.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Jaloos -- can you offer more specifics about your battery-back-up set up? What brand? How are they kept charged? How long do they last? Any other preferences? This is something I constantly worry about, but after doing some research on it about a year ago I gave up as very confused . . .


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## ry05coupe (Dec 30, 2008)

i was at work today, and read about something you can use, called a U.P.S.
I cant remember what that stands for, haha, but they use them on hard drives just incase there is a power outage, you wont loose all of your data. Aparently they only work for a couple of hours though : /


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

hollyfish2000 said:


> Jaloos -- can you offer more specifics about your battery-back-up set up? What brand? How are they kept charged? How long do they last? Any other preferences? This is something I constantly worry about, but after doing some research on it about a year ago I gave up as very confused . . .


Any marine deep cycle battery will work they are usually made to run to almost dead then recharged. As far as the voltage inverter goes you can get up to thousands of watts worth. Of course the higher you go in watts the less time you are going to get off a battery. So you can check wallmart ect for the inverters. As far as how long you can go depends on what you deem to be essential when the power goes out. I have 3 250 watt heaters on my 150 gallon but when the power dies I run one and the pump for my sump another 150 watts. There is 450 watts plenty for my 500 watt inverter. I plan on wiring up a circuit that will auto switch in the event of a power failure but have not gotten around to it yet. I charge mine with a plain old battery charger and top them up once a month. Keep 2 batteries going and charged and you should be good for a while. I havn't had to go more than 4 hours so I cant say how long it will run. But hey gives ya time to get something else going.

If I was in an area of long term outages I would use this setup for a short time and then fall back on a generator that will run more longer. They are getting fairly cheap these days as well.

A ups will run for a very limited time for sure and would be alright while you set up a generator or other means.

:thumb:


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

> water dripping down the fire placce


The warm air in your home caused condensation in your chimney. Used to live in Oregon..been there..I feel your pain.
Ditto on the power inverters/battery..
Moved from freezing cold to hurricane country..sheesh :roll:


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Jaloos -- Ah, already confused already. What is an inverter? How does one charge the marine battery? (does it come with a charger and you charge from an outlet?)

The UPS option doesn't run long enough and the generator is out of the question . . .


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

hollyfish2000 said:


> Jaloos -- Ah, already confused already. What is an inverter? How does one charge the marine battery? (does it come with a charger and you charge from an outlet?)
> 
> The UPS option doesn't run long enough and the generator is out of the question . . .


A marine battery is just a deep cycle 12 volt battery like a car. You would buy a car battery charger to charge it. The power inverter converts dc current to ac current. So it takes 12 volts dc from the battery and converts it more or less to 120 volts ac.










This is the brand walmart sells up in Canada. There are several other makes as well.










Just an example of a wide variety of deep cycle batteries.










Just an example of a charger.

Hope this helps.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

yes, this is helpful.

So I'd take the black and decker thingee and plug it into my cigarette lighter (does car have to be running?) to charge it. How long does that take? How l ong does the charge last without it being used i.e. stored in a closet until needed?

Then I buy an inverter which somehow plugs into the black and decker thingee and into which I plug tank machinery i.e. filter/heater, etc.?

Did I get it?

I guess I'm going to have to wander into a WalMart this weekend . . .


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

hollyfish2000 said:


> yes, this is helpful.
> 
> So I'd take the black and decker thingee and plug it into my cigarette lighter (does car have to be running?) to charge it. How long does that take? How l ong does the charge last without it being used i.e. stored in a closet until needed?
> 
> ...


NOOOOO the CHARGER charges the BATTERY and the INVERTER (black and decker thingy) Hooks to the BATTERY after charged and runs the fish tank equipment. Has nothing to do with the car.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Oh, lordy!!

So I buy a battery charger to charge the battery and an inverter to convert the battery to electricity?

So the black and decker thingee is the inverter? One end of that is attached to the battery and out the other end comes electricity? So I'd plug say the heater directly into the black and decker thingee?

So one charges the marine battery with a battery charger? How does the battery charger get its power to charge up the battery . . . Ahhhh, I'm doomed . ..


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

hollyfish2000 said:


> Oh, lordy!!
> 
> So I buy a battery charger to charge the battery and an inverter to convert the battery to electricity?
> 
> ...


The battery charger charges the battery from house electrical when the power is working.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Thank you, Jaloos. You're being very patient!!


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

:thumb:


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## pbyrley (Jan 23, 2008)

The same battery charger will also charge you car battery if needed.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

> doing water changes with warm water


When our hurricanes come thru we heat our water on
1.Gas BBQ
2.Coleman stove
3.Sterno cans
Will probably be hard to find this stuff as it goes pretty fast when the power goes out. If you are in a rural setting a simple camp fire would help you.
While we were cooking meals we always had some water being heated with it.
We were new to big storms, but did lose power back in Oregon often. Our biggest problem was water source, everybody was on a well.
Once through your currant outage, I would hope you take some of the ideas and plan ahead.
Funny how we take our lives for granted..most of the rest of the world are used to not having power.


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