Disaster strikes! You might as well learn the easy way.

[dela]

Kansas City was just hit by an ice storm that left me with out power from Wednesday to Sunday. Total of about 4 entire days. During that time the temperature in my house dropped to and hovered around 40 degrees. :sad1:

I have a small 30G "barebones" reeftank. Pretty much everything about the way I have run things up till this point has been predicated on not spending exorbitant amounts of money on the tank, (yet providing an environment where select corals will thrive). Therefore it is no surprise that when the storm hit I was unable to rely on my nifty generator to power everything electric in my house. (Including the electric fan on the gas powered furnace!)

For all you "barebone" reefers, here is what I learned... (generator would have been best of course!)

UPS's (computer battery backups) work fantastic on 1-2 power outages but are 100% useless for anything long term. If you do have one.. great! But don't rely on it, and don't run your heater with it!!!!!. A small pump may last for a few hours, but a 100 watt heater will deplete the battery in a very short time. Then it takes 10 times longer to re-charge than what it took to wear out the battery! Plus you are stuck making trips to somewhere you can plug your battery into.

Circulation should be your first priority, as it does not matter what the temperature is, if the entire DSB dies due to oxygen deprivation! You will start a domino effect with out circulation. Circulation can be added using battery powered air pumps. I used a couple of battery powered air pumps which lasted 48 hours using 2-D batteries. Not only are these things cheap, but they do a fantastic job! Plus they are useful in other situations and getting ‘D’ batteries is no big deal.

Heat should be provided manually! Use what resources you have available. If your hot water still works, then fill up zip lock bags and float them. Again, don't use your UPS on heat the way I tried to do!

Blanket! I think I'm going to sow the corners of a blanket such that it fits my tank perfectly. That way if this ever happens, I already have something I can use to help conserve heat (w/o getting in trouble with the wife! Who did not like me using her towels!)

Also, use fellow reefers! I moved 90% of my corals and clean-up crew to someone else’s tank for safekeeping. The fact is that once you have to leave your tank for extended periods of time (like to sleep in a warm hotel), the temperature swings will be tremendous.

And last but not least...

Know what is most likely to go first and don’t be afraid to sacrifice an individual for the good of the tank! I had a rather large 4 month old Xenia culture going that crashed way before anything else was even close to death. This in turn made my house & tank STINK as well as really foul up the water, putting all the creatures in great peril. (Once I realized the Xenia was a lost cause I pulled it out before it did any more damage). My bubble coral was another coral that died quickly. It literally turned to white mush which would go into the water column when touched. Therefore by removing any "lost causes" I was able to save the rest of the inhabitants.

Right now the tank is cycling. I will not put anything back in till it's stabilized again.

I’m looking into the possibility of an inverter/car battery combination for next time, however that may be too rich for my blood! Not to mention “not good enough� for an extended power loss.

I'd be curious to hear about any other things to consider in this type of situation.

[Ironreef]

you can get... forget what its called but the inverter plug to your car lighter = you can run your car and plug your tank to it. it maynot be good for long term but running power 10-15 min every hour to your tank is better than none. The battery packs are @$40 but they loos power fast when using big pumps. Only good for smalll tanks for powerheads. But your car can run the heater and give good aeriation for your tank every hour. But if power goes out every year i would get a small generator at least a small one

[Fishguru]

anotehr idea is those car jumpers, some of them have inverters on it. can re-charge it with the car, and runa heater with it, or a pump-Guru

[MATTT]

How come you guy don't use the heat pack that we use to ship it with the live stuff in a package ? Float one of those heat pack in a ziplock bag should keep your tank a few degree warmer. Float a few more bag at a time with bigger tank.


Mattt.

[tyoberg]

I wonder if at some point, you shouldn't just let the xenia "take one for the team" before it slips over the edge...

How long after power off did the xenia go? Bubble coral? I think this would be good info to have in the back of ones mind in case the lights are off for longer than expected.

Also, any information about tank temperatures would be good. These things don't happen often and more data (even of marginal quality) is better!

all in all, a fantastic post worth printing and saving somewhere.

Ty

[original-reefland]

I would suggest you use some of the large styrofoam insulation sheets used on houses. Cut to fit each pane of glass before you need them. One for the bottom to. Top is opional, I'd take the blanket route for the top, easier access.

I have two 3000va UPS units which will run a few maxijet powerheads for about 6 to 7 hours each. I also have a 400/800w DC/AC power inverter for running my heaters (connects to car). And finally I have two battery powered (dual D cell) air pumps - don't use stones. Very large air bubbles make very good current.

I've survived 12 to 14 hour outages without any issue. If your talking multiple days in the middle of winter even all this won't help as its almost impossible to keep tank water more than 20 degess of room temperature. You'll need some oil powered heating source that can keep the room temperature up.

[SciGuy2]

During our last power outage. I managed to keep everything in pretty good shape...except...all of my macroalgea went sexual.

What a mess. I've had the stuff for over a year with no problems. I guess the slight temp decrease and no light for 30+ hours caused it to think about reproducing in the old fashion way...

[dela]

What a mess! I had a little 10 gallon “stuff� tank which was chalked full of bristle worms and pods. I pretty much ignored it until today. The smell practically knocked me off my feet when I got home! Not only did it look and smell like worms soup, but there was a massive amount of “snot� building up within the tank. I don’t know where all that came from, and I don’t want to know!!! The entire contents are safely within two trash bags out on the curb.

I’d hate to be the trash guy that accidentally rips apart that bag!

I’ve heard of those inverter plugs for your car. Seems like that might be a very good solution. Gas is cheap compared to reeftanks! I know someone in KC who used this and will get to see one in the next few days. I will have to ask about how much it cost.

Mylar emergency blanket.. great idea! I have some of those in our new “emergency boxes� (thanks to 9-11). Not sure how well the would work if they are in direct contact with the glass (heat conduction problem..), but you can’t find anything that would take up less space, that’s for sure. And they are only like 2 bucks per blanket. If nothing else, they could be used to line 3 sides of the glass in addition to a regular blanket. (the 4th side would be open so one could monitor the tank)

Solar heat. Other than placing your tank next to a south facing window (if you are in the Northern Hemisphere) I don’t see this as very practical. I know while my power was out, I was only covering 3 sides of my tank to allow direct sunlight to hit the tank (I use a south facing window for supplemental lighting). This provided both light and heat. Unfortunately it was only sunny one day. Therefore it is unreliable at best. Not to mention the fact that if you are loosing heat at a faster rate than the sun can heat the tank by leaving that side uncovered, then you are not actually heating the tank. And any commercially available solar thermal systems would cost as much as about 2 generators. Photovoltaics might work OK, but again, they are cost prohibitive.

HEAT PACKS!!! I ran out! And Walmart was closed since they lost power! And Target was out. But I was thinking they would have been the perfect way to add heat to my tank! Great Idea! The problem with the water bags is that they transfer their heat too quickly. And if you can only attend to your tank every 8-12 hours, you have major temp swings. Heat packs on the other hand would work for hours! And you could adjust the tank temp by adding/removing the number of packs. IMO this might be the one of the most practical and best bang for the buck ways to keep temps up for a few days. I buy packs of 3-18hr packs for about $1.50. I can’t imagine needing more than one pack / 10 gallons. I mean it certainly wouldn’t hurt right!? Unless you didn’t close your bag all the way.. then you may have BIG problems!

I pulled the Xenia about 36-48 hours after the power went off. Had I known, I would have taken it out after 24. Once it’s dead, you can start to smell it. At that point is just starts oozing nasty X-juice into the tank and starts making your house stink like dead Xenia. Basically if you shake it and it oozes, then it’s over for the Xenia.

The bubble was never actually pulled out. I have what I believe to be a dead skeleton sitting in the tank. I’m pretty sure it went right after the Xenia. Rather than removing the bubble I removed everything else. I knew the bubble was ready to come out when I accidentally bumped it and it started emitting a white cloud which slowly rose from the coral. Basically the "meaty" part had died off.

I’m not sure about tank temperatures, but I think that after 24 hours the tank was 65 degrees, after 48 hours it was 55 degrees and from then on fluctuated between 50-60 degrees depending on how long it had been since I put hot water in the tank.

Original Reefland, where did you get your DC/AC inverter and how much do they cost?

Macro stayed surprisingly stable throughout the entire ordeal.

Sorry this is so long! :bounce1:

[original-reefland]

The 400/800 dc/ac converter I got was about $40 new in original package on e-bay. Lots of inverters on ebay.

[Mike W]

A small 2500W generator is only about $400 at Home Depot. Even cheaper used in the want ads....

[healinbear]

I tried the warming water over a gas camping stove and pouring it back in routine, and the blankets over the top. Moved the corals to my parents home who then also lost power in the middle of the night. I can't tell you what a dozen very large lps look like in a twenty gallon tank w/o heat or filtration after 6-8 hours. It's not pretty.

The DSB I think has crashed the ammonia is around 2-3 parts per thousand. I acutally have to use a protein skimmer. Never used one before. Water changes seem to do little to effect changes in the ammonia level even larger ones. I've reduced the photo period and bumped the temp up a few degrees in hopes of getting the bacteria cultures to start growing again, but with ammonia levels so high I'm not sure if they are able. Hermits which I never moved are doing well, snails had 25% loss. Bristle worms had maybe 20% loss, though I don't know how many of them perished in the sand. "Mama Mia" worms... the black ones fine, the white ones gone. All amphipods gone. Microstars gone. Conch fine.

Aptasia? You guessed it, growing like crazy. Too bad those things aren't wanted, I'd be rich! Speaking of which any luck with peppermints or copper bandeds trying to get rid of these?

I drained 20 gallons out of the main tank. A day and a half later that water was replaced by the action of the return pump which then brought most of the calerpa in the sump up into the O2. This may explain why nearly none of it has died. This really suprised me.

[eukaryote]

My power was out for three days last week too. Luckily we have a commercial gas stove in the kitchen, and was able to keep the apartment in the upper 50's. I stayed home from work and carried mildly hot tank water (about 130 degrees) heated on the stove in two gallon increments about every thirty minutes. This kept the tank temp at about 73 degrees, except when I slept for four hours straight one night, at which point the tank water got down to 68 degrees. I can definately say that oxygen is a much bigger concern than keeping the water warm enough though, especially with a dsb. At first I had to stand over the tank and squirt a turkey baster into the water to break the surface and keep some circulation going. That worked fairly well judging by the response from the animals. As soon as I would stop for more a couple of hours however I would notice worms and echinoderms clustering on the top of the sand, and many going all the way to the top of the tank. After an hour of the turkey baster though, they would start to act normal again. Finally my friend got me a battery powered air pump, and had to barter for D batteries as eight different stores were sold out. The air pump made a huge difference and is a very good and inexpesive investment if you don't have a generator, but I would recommend several for even a 55 gallon tank. As I write this, the only things I have lost as far as I can tell are some sand bed worms. I have about a dozen corals, two small fish, and a handful of inverts, and none seem worse for the wear today. I really thought I was going to lose everything, as this was the worst ice storm in our history and some people I know have been without power for six days.:(

[Butt.Doc]

A small DC bildge pump from a boat will run for hours on a deep-cycle battery, longer if used intermittently. A second battery can be recharged in the car if hooked up in series with the car's battery.

[Circa]

This is a great thread, it warns you that everything you have worked for and put effort into can be gone in just a small amount of time. Plan ahead!

[dela]

Butt Doc! Ha ha.. Occasionally people's screen names crack me up. Yours cracks me up! No disrespect intended.

Seriously though, I’m interested in how this would work. Can you just throw on some extra batteries to your car for re-charging? If you add them in series, then you are adding the current while the voltage stays the same... is that dangerous to a car's electrical system?

And…

DC/AC adapter system includes: adapter + two extra car batteries + access to a running car in order to re-charge the battery not in use. Total system cost... $150? Total power output = 400 to 800 watts? Batteries must be swapped every 3-6 hours?

Is this right?

I imagine depending on the scenario, this may be more/less appropriate than a generator. Especially since smaller systems will use less power.

Grant, sorry about your tank. Your green stars were some of the best looking stars I've ever seen. I can give you a frag back if you are interested in re-growing the colony.

[acropora]

Dela,I'm sorry for your troubles.I have also lost some livestock a few years back.It's tough,I had to learn the hard way. I now have a 5000watt generator which I have attached to a manual transfer switch.Both items were bought at home depot.The transfer switch makes it possible to run items like your furnace which will keep the enire house going as well as your tank.When you spend some considerable money on your reef tank,it only makes sense to have a gas generator standing by. They sell smaller ones and ones with wheels attached ,to make them easy to roll out. Anthony