Are you prepare for a hurricane?

[Delock]

????????

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I got 2 cases of "D" Cell batteries for my battery powered aquarium air pumps.

I got about a dozen air pumps.

What about you?

[Spot86t]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I'll be getting my generator out of storage today or tomorrow.  

Wait'll the boyfriend finds out I'll only let him hook a fan to it if there's room after I plug in my fishroom and pond stuff....

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I got a generator handy and a massive inverter which works really well for circulation pumps which I can power off the vehicles or spare car batteries in the other cars at the house.

Other then that I seriously doubt we get much of an outage.....Katrina didn't even knock out our power so I'm not too worried.

[Zulaab]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I need to buy a battery operated airpumps I can install incase the power is knocked out.  Else I am pretty much stuck with being at home because my job considers me "essential" ie I cannot leave town in case of disaster.

[szidlon]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I have six battery powered air pumps that are already connected to running sponge filters.  They stay plugged into the wall but do not come on unless the power goes out.  I keep both my regular and battery operated air lines connected with a t connection so when the battery operated pumps need to take over I don't have to worry about anything except having enough batteries.  I've had these a while, I set them up when I was working out of town for days on end for nearly two years.

I think I read somewhere to keep ice on hand in case of a lengthy power outage to add to the water to keep the water from rising to the outside temp which may be close to a hundred at times.

Anyone else have any other ideas.  It never hurts to be overprepared  

In case you're interested the pumps are Penn Plax B11 and are available from BigAls and other places.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I have seen some rechargable battery powered air pumps available at Drsfostersmith.com which stay plugged in and switch to battery supply when the need arises.

I am in the market for UPS for computers which will keep the power from being interrupted and if powering small pumps it should be good for some length of time...something I need for my Nano-Reef tank.

I have Hawaiian Punch 3L bottles freezing in the freezer for any situation where I need to cool something down. Small box fans work great for lowering the temps and cooling off humans as well.

[Spot86t]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I'll vouch for the Penn Plax B11's!  I've used them when transporting fish, and when drip-acclimating them in buckets over long time-spans (ie adapting my gspuffer from fresh to brackish).  I've had them last for 3-4 days on just 2 "d" cells.  

I also have an air pump that I picked up on ebay - sold as a solar air pump.  It came with a solar panel, but will also work with dc power.  I know it will accept and function with anywhere from 3-12 volts dc (I didn't check for less or more voltage than that), although psi varies at different voltages.  It also works with the included solar panel.  I imagine I can use my other batteries (from cordless impact, drill, etc) with it as they put out dc voltage.  

For those of you still looking for options without the budget for an expensive generator, here are some ideas:

Academy has a fair selection of 12v oxygenators/air pumps in the fishing section.  Walmart carries some also.  Quite handy if you pick up a 12v battery and keep it at full charge.  

Ideas for power sources: mower battery (20$ or so), r/c battery (i see these on the wally clearance aisle occastionally), car/motorcycle/boat battery, cordless tool batteries, small solar panels.
 
Many of the dc pumps will operate on less than 12V also - although power will vary.  I used a 12v dual port air pump (from academy) with a standard 120v house outlet by using a converter cord from some gizmo that died which put out 12vdc (there's a reason to keep some of that 'junk'!).  I used it for about 2 months like this when one of my larger air pumps died.  It was able to power 4 sponge filters from each port (for a total of 8) easily.  Radio shack sells all sorts of ends so you can turn them into 'plug in" devices.

[Philistine]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I've got a 16KW standby generator that runs on natural gas

[Delock]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I've got a 16KW standby generator that runs on natural gas

i'm bringing my fish to your house

[Zulaab]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I noticed today that City Pets have battery operated air pumps for sale there.

[MJY6087]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

wow I should be more prepared, just lost all the power in my house for about30 min, I need a pump

[szidlon]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

Here's a link to some helpful hints for when the power goes out.  As to keeping the water cool I would think using frozen water bottles would be a good way if cooling becomes necessary.

When the Power goes out

[Anonapersona]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

Oxygen is the real thing to worry about, and then filtration.

What I did when Rita came... Did a few 50% water changes as the storm got into the Gulf and seemed a threat. Stopped feeding fish the day before, cleaned all the filters lightly, added air driven sponges with a second airline installed in the chimney powered by a battery run air pump (this one comes on automatically when power goes off -- $12 online others that run on by hand are like $3 I think)

Power went off about 3 AM; in the morning I opened each canister and removed media to a sealed plastic bag -- to maintain moisture and oxygen. Sponge filters were running but may not have been well cycled in all tanks. Added a full dose of Prime to each tank.

We were surprised when neighbor let several nearby homes hook up  refrigerators and freezers for 2 hour cycles in turns to keep all food OK. We blocked off the street and ran long extensions to two houses at a time, sharing the spare gasoline we had to keep it running. Adding fish tanks to that was not an option. The power came on after about 20 hours so nothing even began to defrost in the freezer.

My plan was to skip feeding fish for several days. Test for water quality. I had 50 gallons of stored tap water in a plastic food safe drum. Use removed fish tank water to flush toilets. I would have been ready to do water changes on the 3 or 4th day, depending on how the discus were looking.

Planted tanks that do not have light from a window will start competing with fish for oxygen, consider removing some plants to a plastic bag.
Overstocked tanks are at risk during power outages, understocked tanks will probably do fine. My planted tank is in a dark corner of a dark room, I would have removed the top and netted to allow some light, maybe. Then I'd start pulling plants if the fish looked stressed. For overnight, I might add a touch of H2O2 for oxygen, maybe 10 Ml to 50 gal tank.

If you don't have air running, you ought to remove the lid and put a net of some sort over the tank -- netting by the yard from Walmart or fabric store. If fish are stressed and hanging at the surface, run a dry net through the tank to stir and add air, or pour a large cup of tank water from a height to add air, do as needed.

I would not try to float ice in the tank, as the temp variations inside the tank from ice will be more difficulty than the house temps, IMO.

Remember, the family and home are really your main concern. Stash a ton of plastic water bottles in every gap in the freezer, keeps freezer temp stable and when you need cold water to drink you've got that.

I wished I had rearraanged the refrigerator so that I know where vital items were without standing there with the door open. I wish that the moment the power started to flicker, I had packed stocked an ice chest with stuff that I needed more often, sandwich stuff, drinks, so I didn't have to open the fridge.

If something really bad happens, like a tornado that damages your home, be sure that friends and family know where you'd go. Communication can be difficult once cell towers are down or swamped by emergency calls.

Most important, decide, based on where you live if you really MUST go. Rising water is the real danger, wind is easy to deal with for the most part. If you need to leave, go early, and go in the right direction. Neighbors here left, totally unnecessarily, and went to Jasper -- RIGHT in the path of Rita. Storms typically drift east, not always but usually, heading north and west is usually the better choice.

[Spot86t]

Re: Are you prepare for a hurricane?

I had no power for 11 days after Rita.  The cheezy local water company has no generator backups either, so when the power is out, so is the water.  They're on the neighboring lot, and on the same power circuit the house is on.  
Water was a huge priority because of this - Every sizeable garbage can got 2 drum liners in it and was left outside to catch rain.  Wheelbarrows were turned upright for the same reason.  All my fish buckets were placed away from trees to catch water with as little debris as possible (nearly impossible in an old pecan orchard).  Because we're on a septic system, and the ground was totally saturated, we had one toilet we could flush, and each time you flushed, you held your breath hoping it wouldn't overflow.  
My parents - 9 miles away - got power after 3 days, so dad brought his motorhome over for us to use since it has it's own power plant.  

I didn't have nearly as many fish tanks, so I moved them all outside to shady areas and ran everything off a large solar panel during the day, and at night a spare car battery and dc air pumps took their turn.  Temps got high, but I guess they had enough oxygen since I had no losses.  I did several small water changes each day with the cooler collected rainwater.