Tough fish during arctic power outage!

[CountryEscape]

I have two indoor tanks, a 29 brackish water tank, and a 55 gal tropical tank. On Sunday, Illinois got hit with a snow storm/arctic blast, dropping 12" of snow in my south central home (near Effingham, IL) and then bringing in high winds, and dropping the temp from 33 on Sunday morning, to -15F on Monday morning. Everything was fine on Sunday, except for some power on/off spurts, but then at 7 p.m., it went off and stayed off!!! I was prepared for keeping my house warm with 2 kerosene heaters, but had no way to keep the aquariums warm, even though I placed both heaters in front of the aquariums. But, here's what I learned:

In brackish water tank, the mollies all did fine, never missed a beat. The two green puffers both died. The Mono fish was fine, never seemed more than a little stressed. The Archer fish looked dead, for about 5 hours on Monday, I was sure he was dead. Here's what I sadly watched during the power outage, with no generator or way to keep things going:
Archer fish and one of my large angels in the tropical tank, then pic of the dual kerosene heaters in front of the aquariums.

Actually, my other large black and white angel was "down" longer, and became much harder to bring out of it after the power came back on.
It was very tempting to reach in there and "help" them, but figured as long as I left them alone, they would be stressed less. I was sure the Archer was dead, could not see any movement in his gills, but still held out hope. Also, I had begun heating water on the kerosene heaters and putting it into the tropical tank, trying to warm the water slowly. I had added maybe 3 coffee pots full, which I realize did not make much of a difference in a 55 gal tank, but it was all I could think to do. Then the power came back at 5 p.m., and water started circulating, heaters running. I watched as what I thought were dead fish started trying to move! I first helped the Archer, since he had been "down" the longest. I held him high in the tank, upright, while I slowly added warm water around but not near him. He didn't struggle, but I felt like he was recovering. After about 5 minutes (the water was VERY cold, my house got down to 40 before the heaters were started up, then only up to 50 ...), I released him, and he swam off like nothing had happened. The angel in the pic turned herself around on her own, and was swimming correctly! The black and white large angel was behind the plants, and I had all but forgotten about him. I moved him forward, when I saw he was upside down, but breathing. It took much longer with him, maybe 30 minutes total, to bring him around, but finally after putting him kind of in my net, kind of keeping him stable, but not allowing him to turn upside down, I released him and he swam around. Neither of the angels are too interested in food yet today, nor is the Archer, but otherwise they look fine. The b/w angel has redness at the base of his pectoral fins, but thinking from his stress to right himself.
Other fish in the tropical tank that did not make it were small tetras, I think they are called bloodheart or something like that, red tails with black dots on the tail tips. All other fish were fine: Killifish, long finned tetra, cory cats (they acted quite normal thoughout the whole power outage!!!), plecos (two gold dots), doho loach and horseface loach. In the brackish tank, I only had mollies, who did very well, the Mono (which is pretty large, but who is also not yet eating) and the Archer.
I would have been devastated had I lost all my fish. If I ever choose to have salt water again, I will HAVE to invest in a generator. My problem with that is that I live alone, am 55 years old, and wonder if I would even be able to start the generator! I would definitely have to be able to move it around, and presumably in the snow, if the weather changed quickly. I just know that pull cords with gas engines and me don't mix very well. I'm just not strong enough to pull it hard and fast enough any more. Any suggestions?
On the bright side, I had no pipes freeze, and my son's well housing project he did for me this summer paid off with a pump (sitting on top of the well cover) that did not freeze and break! Woohhoo!!!

 

[Mmathis]

WOW! That's quite an ordeal for you and your fish, and so sorry to hear of your losses! Not that it would make a difference, but do you have a fireplace? Was it the lack of heat or lack of circulation & filtration (or both)?

 

[dieselplower]

Sorry you lost some fish but glad some made it. For the future, you can buy a battery pack or a portable jump starter that is used to start cars etc. They contain a decent battery charge and can power small accessories for quite a while. That would be much easier and lighter compared to a generator. Another thing I suggest is if you dont have a siphon, like you would use to vacuum the bottom of a tank, get one. Even with no power or water, you can use gravity to siphon water from the tank into a bucket, and then pour the water back into the tank. This will create current and help replenish oxygen into the tank. Shoot, you dont even need a siphon... you could just dunk a bucket in the tank and then pour it back in. One other thing I would do is take the media out of the filters and float it in the tank. If it doesnt want to float, figure out a way to make it. This will allow the good bacteria on the filter material to continue to process ammonia and nitrite. Yes it will be at a slower rate, but it will be better than nothing.

 

[adavisus]

If you can cover the aquariums with plastic to conserve warmth, some long lasting candles set within ceramic pots could heat the 'tent' as long as the candle supply lasts

 

[HARO]

Get a generator with an electric starter! Both my shoulders are buggered, so I know the feeling. Push the button, and you're off to the races!!! BTW, our power was off for 30 hours, aquarium water was down to less than 50, and when I checked with the flashlight, all six angels and three keyholes were wedged upside-down in the plants, apparently dead. Ditto for the guppies, in their own tank. The corys, bristle-nosed cats, and White-clouds didn't seem bothered by the cold. After the power came back, all but one angel and one guppy were miraculously re-incarnated! TOUCH FISH!!!
John

 

[haver79]

Wow quite a snow storm CE. We got the cold just not the snow. If you had the same wind we had it must of been bad with 12 inches of snow! And so cold!
Glad most of your fish made it through.

No suggestions on the generator. Ours is a pull start also. I have no idea if I could get it going myself. Hubby starts it.
Several years ago we had a bad ice storm in iowa and hundreds of people lost power for days. We were out for 10 days. Hope I never go through that again.

Our generator kept the necessities running. Furnace, Fridge and TV!

 

[Catfishnut]

CountryEscape,

A couple of ventless Nat gas or LP heaters would be a good investment for backup heat. Since they need no electrical power to operate, you will at least have heating as long as you are cautious about the CO2 and O2 levels in the home. Most homes have enough leaks around the windows and doors that this should not be a problem.

A small generator, say 5 to 7.5 Kw would also be a good investment. At least you will have power to operate lights, refrigerator, even the stove and range-top or a microwave.
Like other's mentioned, get a generator with an electric starter.

These items will get you by next time if you are willing to invest in them up front.

I have been "snowed in" at my cabin with no power for days, in sub-zero temps and blizzard conditions, and this is how I survived. I was even comfy warm. Only bad part was going to the bathroom. No running water! Had to use the outhouse!

Catfishnut

 

[JohnHuff]

Sorry for your loss. I too have heard that you should cover your tanks with blankets or something to conserve heat as much as possible.

 

[MitchM]

That's too bad, CE.
I feel better with a generator. We have a whole house one because you never know how long the power could be out for.

We got ours from Costco.
http://www.generac.com/Residential/HomeBackupSystems/

 

[Mmathis]

I'm now recalling a power outage we had about 22 yrs. ago -- reminded by some of these posts. Of course, even in the dead of winter, in an ice storm, we didn't get as cold as your temps. And power was only off about 2 days, maybe....

Only had one tank and it was in the bedroom, and not near the fireplace. I did cover it with blankets, and did periodic, partial water changes -- we still had hot water since we had a gas water heater. I know I monitored the temp in the tank, but have no idea now what changes took place. The fish all survived. If I had that to do over, I would at least have a battery operated air pump, as I recall thinking that "if those poor fish survive the cold, they'll die from lack of air!" [from being covered up].

 

[Dave 54]

One thing we came up with to protect tropical fish during power cuts was to either use hot water bottles or those freezer blocks heated up thats if you have a gas supply though.
For our koi we have a generator on standbye so you could even use one of them, they make box generators that costs as little as £69.00 here in the UK so perhaps they sell them as cheaply over your side of the pond .
Being prepared for any eventuallity is something weve got good at these last 27 years our generator supplies more than just the pond and has two outlets and is a Clarks 700 4 stoke box generator
We also have a number of battery operated areators from our show days which work a treat in an emergency

Dave

 

[CountryEscape]

Thanks for all the tips, everyone. Mitch, that is the exact full-time generator both of my neighbors have, they come on automatically. Maybe someday I'll use a tax refund to purchase one!
I think the fish died solely from the temp of the water. Sorry, I don't even know what the tank water temp got down to, but it was very cold when I reached in to help hold the fish upright to get them stabilized again. I was certain they were dead, so it was like a miracle!!! I have 2 battery operated aerators, but thinking that would have just chilled the water more. In the future, I will use them, and periodically change out water with warm water, as the air bubblers would help circulate it. I just didn't think of them until it had been about 20 hours, and by then they were really suffering. Didn't even think of the battery aerators. Darn! Since the air temp in the house got down to 40 (would have started the kerosene heaters sooner, had I been thinking of the aquariums ...), and then only up to 49 with the 2 heaters going just in front of the tanks, I'm pretty sure that would not have heated them sufficiently, but adding warm water might have kept them more stable.
l just thought it was so unbelievable how those certain fish laid upside down, then came back to life! The Cory cats swam around like nothing was going on out of the ordinary. Those are some tough fish, same for the mollies, although the mollies were a little slower than normal.
I've never heard of a small battery operated box generator or anything that would be small. I sure would be interested in that for the aquariums, to keep the heaters going and filters, too. Do any of you have a site to show me, so I would know what you are talking about, or where they sell them? Thanks!
Also, I have gas water heater, but I guess if I went to the drain on it, I could have gotten hot water. Otherwise, the water pump is electric, so eventually I would have had no water, and didn't want air in the water lines, so didn't even try the water. Since I had lots of water in buckets, and in the tub, I was set for the toilet and horses/dogs/cats. :blueflower:

 

[addy1]

The issues with fish tank heaters you need a pretty powerful one to take it xx amount above room temp. I have a one in our tank that keeps the tank 10 degrees above room temp, since we keep our house cool, it keeps the tank more acceptable for the tropical fish.

We put in ventless propane heater in our living room, fall 2012 buried a 500 gallon propane tank, that little heater keeps our house nice and toasty even if the electric goes out. We have not yet turned on the heat pump.

 

[CountryEscape]

Addy and others who have mentioned the ventless fireplaces, I'm seriously considering one of them as well. Not really sure where I would put it, as it probably should be in the living room, but all walls are taken up. Would have to do some furniture moving. I've seen them, too, where the tv can be placed on top of them, or maybe those are just decorative fireplaces, not really ones that would heat well. Anyhow, that wall would be the ideal spot, put the tv above, but then I would need a new tv, as my tv is the old type, not a flat screen. All costs money ... I already have propane heat, though, so would not need to add that at least! I also keep my house cool, turn heat down to 60 during the day in winter, and only up to 65 in the evening and morning when I'm awake. I wish I had found a thermometer to see what temp those fish were surviving, or barely surviving in!

 

[HARO]

CE, I think the "generator" Dave mentioned is an inverter; it converts 12 volt power to 120 volts (in our case). I don't know how well it would work with aquarium heaters. They are sold as back-up power for computers and other low-drain devices. Once the battery goes dead, you can recharge it using your car or truck. They definitely have their uses, but limited power.
John