NEED HELP! Burnaby power outage

[bsung413]

Anyone experiencing power outage??

Try phoning bchydro but they been busy and website are down. Gods know when it's coming back.

If you have a backup battery and you still have power in your area, please help me out.

Thanks a lot!!

Really need it soon. Call or text 778-997-2533

[WarDog]

Power is out in lots of places, mine went 15 mins ago, right in the middle of a w/c. So if you still have water in your tank consider yourself lucky, lol.

[bsung413]

Damn.... Sorry to hear that

I was just preparing on doing a water change but the power went out first before I started.

How do you keep your tank oxygenated and heated?

[WarDog]

I don't. Power isn't usually out for more than a couple hours, but today, with the storm, I'm guessing it will be out longer. Heating isn't really an issue as its quite warm out still. I just manually stir the tank every 15 mins or so. I've got a battery backup, but stupid me, haven't installed it yet lol. I'm not overly concerned... yet.

[WarDog]

Also, great timing for BCHydro 's Web page to be fubar.

[NU-2reef]

Ya my power is out as well and I'm SOL. No back up power either. How long can a tank go without power???

[WarDog]

A few hours shouldn't be an issue. Just manually stir once and a while. I use my turkey baster while injecting bubbles. If it were the dead of winter I would be more concerned about heat. After several hours then we are talking real problems.

A portable generator would be a solid investment for days like today. $300. The wife and I are considering a 7 kw generator powered by natural gas. $5000... but that's only because we want to watch TV, lol.

[Dearth]

Last report 200,000 lower mainlanders without power BC Hydro estimating up to 7 hours to restore power to most customers in the lower mainland

[Craigdillman]

Go to home hardwear buy an inverted that plugs to your car cig lighter , run your car and extension cord to 1) return pump 2) heater 3) one power head the inverter for 400w are like 75$ I think solid choice in between buying a generator and having nothing.

[Craigdillman]

Also at the very least you can get a battery air stone that takes like 2-4 AA batteries Should help with oxygen exchange which is your #1 problem as lomg as the heat stays ok

[Ram3500]

I bought a power inverter last fall when I heard we had a big storm coming but never had to use it . I just hooked it up to a deep cycle battery that I keep charged for a event like this . I have one pump circulating and the lights on as well . I also ran a line to our modem ahh wifi life is good :biggrin:

[bsung413]

Thanks to all the reply and help.

I was able to get a hand on battery air pump from a friend.

At least tank is oxygenated, just have to keep eye on tempt that it doesn't drop below 70

Thanks again, maybe it's time to invest in a backup battery

[jhj0112]

Now I'm worried. 7hrs without power.. all the stores around me are closed..

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[Dearth]

to keep the heat in the tank cover or wrap tank in blankets will help slow the heat loss

[Slyguy00]

I just hooked up a generator. Good to go. Tv, internet and fish tanks. Im set

[Coasting]

Mmmm our battery backup is down to 30% might not last the night just running 1 little 3w powerhead..... its depleating the power much faster then we thought.
And im stuck on the island....
And the battery airpump wont do a whole lot for a 65gallon....
I feel terrible telling my family to give the airpump to the salt tank overnight potentially condeming my goldfish to death :( should have bought another pump when i wanted too in july.... #/@^$& uggh.

[NU-2reef]

This is getting ridiculous. People across the street from me have power and I'm sitting here blowing bubbles in my tank with a turkey baster! I'm starting to worry :/

[Korralen]

We use this as a backup. Originally got it for camping but it's perfect to plug in the aquarium when the power goes out.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/content/canadian-tire/en/pdp/automotive/batteries-accessories/power-packs/power-packs/motomaster-eliminator-800a-powerbox-0112014p.html#.VeKFxXg-D9A

[bsung413]

This is getting ridiculous. People across the street from me have power and I'm sitting here blowing bubbles in my tank with a turkey baster! I'm starting to worry :/

I know exactly how you feel...

appearnally, my friend has no power since yesterday noon, I should of go buy a backup battery this morning, doesn't expect the power to go out all night.

[Myka]

Yikes, I hope the power comes on soon for you guys!

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Apparently 200,000 people in Metro Vancouver were without power at its worst today.

[jhj0112]

Ahhhh!! NOT until 12PM tomorrow (that's at the best according to BC hydro)!!!

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[NU-2reef]

After calling bc hydro they gave me an estimated time of 12:30 am. Fingers crossed!

That's for east burnaby area anyway. They said most of burnaby should be up with power around that time. I so hope so cuz I'm heading to tofino early tomorrow and can't stay up all night pumping air by hand.

[bsung413]

After calling bc hydro they gave me an estimated time of 12:30 am. Fingers crossed!

Did your power came back??

According to bchydro our area suppose to come back at 1230am but now still dark as.....!

[NU-2reef]

Nope still running on candlelight here. Those liars!!!!!! Lol

Well off to stir the tank......

[duncangweller]

Not a good thing to happen when I'm thousands of miles away in England. Fingers crossed!

[NU-2reef]

Called hydro again and they said any minute now!!!

Oh they're killing me

[bsung413]

Called hydro again and they said any minute now!!!

Oh they're killing me

You sure they said minutes not hours??

Because I am still blowing air into my tank at almost 2:30am

[NU-2reef]

Still no power. No point calling hydro cuz they just lie and tell you what you want to hear. No power in my tank and I'm heading out for a 4 day fishing trip right now. Just have to trust my kid sister to take care of things. Such an uneasy feeling. Hoping for the best

[Myka]

Not a good thing to happen when I'm thousands of miles away in England. Fingers crossed!

Still no power. No point calling hydro cuz they just lie and tell you what you want to hear. No power in my tank and I'm heading out for a 4 day fishing trip right now. Just have to trust my kid sister to take care of things. Such an uneasy feeling. Hoping for the best

Yikes, that's scary for you guys!

Is everyone still out of power??? :eek:

[Dearth]

Estimated that the lower mainland at its peak 540,000 were without power

I know how it is to lose power try going a week without it really really sucks but ever since I started running UPS and now have a generator I have not lost my power in years the irony of it all

[NU-2reef]

Yikes, that's scary for you guys!

Is everyone still out of power??? :eek:

Yup still no power and est. time is for 8:00pm for power back on. Unfortunately I'm on a ferry heading to the island so I won't see the aftermath till I get home in four days. All I can do is pray

[patpare]

Wow
This is a horrible situation that you guys are in!
I would be freaking out! SERIOUSLY FREACKING OUT
I think I will seriously plan for an event like this as 90% of the time I work out of town.
Best of luck to all of you reefers on the west coast.

[WarDog]

Yup, now this is getting stupid. Figured I'd wake up to the power being on... But no. hydro estimates 12:30 am Monday morning. Never in 40 years of living in the lower mainland has power ever been off for 36 hours. Mind blowing. Starting to think there's going to be some serious casualties here.

[Animal-Chin]

My tanks at 72 degrees! How long will my coral be ok like this? Damn!


I do have a battery powered air pump supplying oxegen though so im less concerned about that. Reefers, go to a fishing tackle shop and buy a battery bubbler for a fish holding tank (live well).2 D batteries and mines been bubbling for 24 hours now...

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

If you have a propane or butane burner, take some water (either fw or sw from your tank), heat it up in a ceramic corning ware container or some other inert material pot and add it slowly to your sump to warm up the tank slowly.

However, 72 F is not too bad yet.

[kengeroo]

I have a battery pack with a built in inverter... Plugged a regular powered into it and I could see the gauge running dry.. Plugged my gyre 150 on low.. It almost lasted a full day... Power came back on for this morning at 0930... Temp at 72 PH at 7.6 eeeeks... No morts

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[Coasting]

Same situation as WarDog at my place except i cant be there.... no power till sometime monday. They havent even moved the tree off the lines yet.
Temps dropping
Battery backup dying.
1 battery air pump....
3 fish tanks.
$**&@^&
Anyone have a spare battery airpump in the area?

[WarDog]

Getting texts from members reporting losses in their tanks. This is going to end badly. Power has been out for 27 hours now in poco.

[Ryanerickson]

People need back up plans power outages are gonna happen eventually,I own a small generator for this exact reason still never used it but sure feel more comfortable when we are having crazy weather like yesterday. Hope everybody gets power back soon.

[Coasting]

Our area in poco was usually untouched when others had issues.
But i have never seen bchydro take this long to get power back.
The backups i had in place are failing because its been too long. They werent designed to last days....
They havent even bothered to remove the tree from the lines in the area....
If the worlds ending thats 1 thing but this is ridiculous...
I just watched 6 hydro trucks all pull in behind the building next to where i work here so they can go for coffee and the public wont notice.... their hiding!
I work on the island while my parents manage my tanks for me.... so im kind of screwed sitting here hoping the fish survive and i cant even be there to stay up all night stiring the tanks.
Stores were sold out of battery airpumps so fast this morning.
Im pretty sure the gas stations are still toast in the area. We dont own a gas generator and familys we can borrow wont run much with stuff in the fridge and freezer warming up....
Foods going bad. Fish are gonna die. Yippee!

[Myka]

Oi, I feel so bad for you guys! Thankfully it's not the dead of winter, but still!

[WarDog]

Oi, I feel so bad for you guys! Thankfully it's not the dead of winter, but still!

My tank seems to have leveled out at 74. Got a gas fireplace if it drops further.

[WarDog]

Power just came back on in south poco. Hope everyone else's is on soon!!!

[Dearth]

This morning half the Hydro crews that are based here in Prince George were dispatched to the lower mainland to help with repair efforts.

The one of the toughest parts for a lot of people in this hobby is power outages and are generally unprepared for it especially in larger centres where power outages are rare and generally localized and rarely last longer than a few hours even here in PG outages are localized and power is rarely out more than a few hours now.

basically we are supposed to be prepared yet most of us are not because service interruptions are not common now and we've gotten used to it and being prepared for service interruptions are low on our lists of readiness for tank issues now because we don't expect it to happen anymore

[Coasting]

Hurroh power back in Poco.
Temps in the low 70s or something "The green area" yeah that tells me lots....
Only 1 fish missing so far, but the melanus wrasse likes to hide anyway so I'm sure he's fine. Think the goldfish and tropical made it all right.
Corals seems to do okay as well. Was worried they would all expand with a lack of flow and slime up and sting each other and what not... appearently all was fine.

I've got some battery powered airpumps on order from Aliexpress. Still cheaper them petsmart and if I have a few extras it cant hurt....
Cheapest ones were just under $5, will test that out to see how it works in comparison, the Top Fin petsmart lookalike is $7 or so, I imagine it probably is the topfin one with out the logo...
I'm still searching for a good computer battery backup to run the powerhead incase the power goes out while my familys at work or asleep.
And I think this has been a kick in the ass for my dad as my moms been telling him for years to get a real generator for the fridge and what not.

[WarDog]

This morning half the Hydro crews that are based here in Prince George were dispatched to the lower mainland to help with repair efforts.

The one of the toughest parts for a lot of people in this hobby is power outages and are generally unprepared for it especially in larger centres where power outages are rare and generally localized and rarely last longer than a few hours even here in PG outages are localized and power is rarely out more than a few hours now.

basically we are supposed to be prepared yet most of us are not because service interruptions are not common now and we've gotten used to it and being prepared for service interruptions are low on our lists of readiness for tank issues now because we don't expect it to happen anymore

+1. You're damn sure I'll be picking up a 1000-2000 W Gen set soon. What with the changes in our weather over the last few years, this is just a taste of things to come. Also just shows you how ill prepared our infastructure is during an event of this nature. I know the peeps at BCHydro are working hard... but damn!

[Reef Pilot]

Just got back online a couple hours ago,... power was back early this morning. Lost 4 fish due O2 deprivation.

Normally don't get theses types of storms until late fall and winter. So still had the battery power packs at our cabin where they are also used with our solar system there. Hence, was totally unprepared this time.

And to complicate matters, just had shoulder surgery (rotator cuff) a week and a half ago. Was no joy manually stirring the water with just my left arm and a ladle. Late last night I could see I was losing the battle when some fish were hanging out near the surface breathing rapidly. And sure enough this morning some of them didn't make it. Once the power came back on, rest of the fish recovered quickly and corals all seem OK, too.

Tough lesson to learn...

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Ended up loaning my 880 Watt portable generator to my bro who's power still hasn't come back on and he's in South Van (41st & Knight area).

Picked up another 860W APC UPS today as a backup but its now on loan to the OP of this thread. Gotta get my wife to find my other UPS before the next emergency. I also gave an 880W gen to my father-in-law so if necessary, I have 2 gens and 2 UPS if my power ever goes out.

Anthony

[jhj0112]

I think I lost flame angel. I can't see him... it had to be my favorite fish that is the only victim.. ordering battery powered air pumps.. good news is there is no death on all other fishes in 4 other tanks..

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[Animal-Chin]

Im still in the dark! 32 hours in.

[Frank Infanti]

This is a lesson learned. Thank God I picked up a generator a few months back which has been running non stop since the outage.

[Bblinks]

Power still out in coquitlam area, it's been 30 plus hours, I sure hope it comes back on soon.....

[bsung413]

Super disappointed at BCHYDRO.... Keep giving us hope on when will power be restore but at the end the power never came back and now it's pass 8pm which was their last update on when power will restore for Burnaby but it's still not here.

Thanks Anthony for your power bank, unfortunately it didn't last long. Will have it charge at a friends place for use tomorrow

Thank you

[Dearth]

My guess is with all the damage down there getting power on is more of a chore and like snow removal Hydro has its own priority list for getting power back on often at the cost of residential being last on the list.

Not sure how many power outages any of you have been through before but I've been through my fair share and whenever hydro gives us a time frame we generally add depending how big the outage was 4-9 hrs on but obviously because this was a major outage it's very dependant on how many wires were downed, how many line transformers were damaged and whether any substations took damage it all adds time onto it

[NU-2reef]

Just got my power back. I'm not home to see if any casualties. Gotta hope for the best. Hope the rest of you get yours soon.

[Galizio]

Guilford area in surrey has power since yesterday, I live less than a km away and still no power since 12:30 yesterday, hydro keep bumping the time , last update was midnight , but is not promising ATM ....


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[bsung413]

OMG... Power came back for 20 seconds then went out again! WTH?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

OMG... Power came back for 20 seconds then went out again! WTH?

This probably means your power will be on soon for good (hopefully).

[Aquattro]

Well, you guys have convinced me that this is the year to pick up a generator. My fish wouldn't last 4 hours without power, so this week they're on sale, going to grab a 3000w machine.

[Animal-Chin]

My god I still don't have power, what are the chances of survival now? I'm at 45 hours now!!!

[clermont]

That was a rough go at 32 hours without power. Was able to save some of my fish and corals look ok. Lost 5 Anthias and a Flame Angel and came up with an idea to get an auxiliary type plug to hook up to my cigarette lighter in my car and run an extension cord to the tank to run a power head.
If anyone else is without power still this may save some fish if possible to set up. Canadian tire has the adaptor for around $35.

[gobytron]

I use a 1200 watt generator that I paid 100 bucks for at princess auto.

Can run a heater and a couple of pumps, no problem.

[GoFish]

Well, you guys have convinced me that this is the year to pick up a generator. My fish wouldn't last 4 hours without power, so this week they're on sale, going to grab a 3000w machine.

If I was gonna buy a generator for back up power once a year or less I'd go with propane. With the unleaded/ethanol gas we use nowadays odds of having moisture or gum in the carb a year later when you really need it is highly likely. Not sure of the price difference but just something to look into

I feel really sorry to those without power for so long and casualties. I hope all works out for you guys and gals :(

[Aquattro]

I've never seen a propane gen. But a fuel conditioner (same as weed wacker) would take care of carb plugging.

[Animal-Chin]

Power back on! Fingers crossed, my daughters says the fish are swimming around and she doesn't see any dead, hope they stay that way...

[gobytron]

If I was gonna buy a generator for back up power once a year or less I'd go with propane. With the unleaded/ethanol gas we use nowadays odds of having moisture or gum in the carb a year later when you really need it is highly likely. Not sure of the price difference but just something to look into

I feel really sorry to those without power for so long and casualties. I hope all works out for you guys and gals :(

I have imported and sold propane generators....they are quite common.

We use one for back up at our office/warehouse.

They are the best if you don't want to prep your generator before putting it away.

I need to empty and clean my 1200 watt 2 stroke gen every time I put it away.

[GoFish]

I did a quick search, there's one on homedepot.com, 7000w for 799us and another on Costco.ca 6000w for 1099.99. Doesn't look like they're nearly as cheap as you can pick up a gas one for but depends on the budget I guess.
Sta-bil lasts for up to 15 months as a fuel conditioner
Every year I start up the weed wacker and outboard engines they run like garbage, always need the carbs cleaned. Have never used a fuel stabilizer though so might be worth a shot if you go gas

[The Guy]

I think I lost flame angel. I can't see him... it had to be my favorite fish that is the only victim.. ordering battery powered air pumps.. good news is there is no death on all other fishes in 4 other tanks..

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I have a couple of battery powered air pumps that worked very well for tank aeration thru the night, I have a 3500 watt generator that I use thru the day time.
Too noisy to run all night, although some people in the area did.

[WarDog]

If I was gonna buy a generator for back up power once a year or less I'd go with propane. With the unleaded/ethanol gas we use nowadays odds of having moisture or gum in the carb a year later when you really need it is highly likely. Not sure of the price difference but just something to look into

I feel really sorry to those without power for so long and casualties. I hope all works out for you guys and gals :(

My small engine mechanic suggested I use Shell Premium gas in the lawnmower/weedwacker as I could never get the damn things to start at the beginning of the season. No problems starting this year. The Shell V-Power gas has zero Ethenol.

[GoFish]

The Shell V-Power gas has zero Ethenol.
Good to know, thanks :thumb:

[The Guy]

My small engine mechanic suggested I use Shell Premium gas in the lawnmower/weedwacker as I could never get the damn things to start at the beginning of the season. No problems starting this year. The Shell V-Power gas has zero Ethenol.
I had to get gas to fill up the generator and could only get premium Shell at the station I go to, so maybe it's going to save me putting stabilizer in the tank. I suppose using stabilizer can't hurt though. Thoughts anyone?

[Gp Scott]

I run prem in all my toys gen,dirt bikes ,rhino, lawn mower it's better fuel I get longer run times and better power

[rsisvixen]

Finally power! 59 hours with nothing. If one windstorm had hydro so lost and unprepared I fear our chances of ever getting power back after a natural disaster is 0. Back to caveman times we shall go. I love their news reel of how prepared for this storm they were. If this was prepared then I don't know.

Other than losing everything in my fridge, my tank made it through, mostly thanks to super light bioload, had to move some fish out of QT a week early though as the smaller tank would'nt have been able to keep them going. And I had an old battery air pump, hubby rigged it to accept AA as we didn't have the big batteries lying around.

[Bblinks]

Glad every ones tank made it through okay except for Joe's tank, I think everything is done. Joe if you need anything just let me know. I can help you restock, no charge.

[rishu_pepper]

Glad every ones tank made it through okay except for Joe's tank, I think everything is done. Joe if you need anything just let me know. I can help you restock, no charge.

Can I get in on that action? :lol:

J/K, what a generous offer, good guy Rich.

[Animal-Chin]

I'm shocked that my fish and coral are all fine. I'm sure it was the battery powered air pump that kept them happy. Everyone, get one of these asap! Also if it was November and the temp in the house dropped I would have been in trouble but being august my place stayed pretty warm.

Could reef tanks be more of a pain in the ass? lol Vacations, pain.....power outage....pain, pocket book.......nuff said...lol

We love them though don't we...


Side note, I had 4 acro tips that were above the water line when my tank drained into the sump. They were exposed for 48 hours and look fine!

[Bblinks]

Can I get in on that action? :lol:

J/K, what a generous offer, good guy Rich.

Don't you have enough already? :lol:

[Wretch]

Glad every ones tank made it through okay except for Joe's tank, I think everything is done. Joe if you need anything just let me know. I can help you restock, no charge.

Thanks for the offer Rich. Power was off for 58 hours at my place. Lost all my fish and looks like most of my sps has turned a nice white colour. Cant find any shrimp so they are most likely all gone as well. The only thing that looks like it might come back are the zoas.

Not sure what I am going to do with the tank at the moment I have to get it cleaned up and go from there.

Glad to see everyone else faired better then me.

[rsisvixen]

That is rough :(

[Reef Pilot]

Thanks for the offer Rich. Power was off for 58 hours at my place. Lost all my fish and looks like most of my sps has turned a nice white colour. Cant find any shrimp so they are most likely all gone as well. The only thing that looks like it might come back are the zoas.

Not sure what I am going to do with the tank at the moment I have to get it cleaned up and go from there.

Glad to see everyone else faired better then me.
Wow, that is really bad. Very sorry to hear that. I lost 4 fish and still feeling bad about that. But can hardly imagine what you are going through.

[rishu_pepper]

Don't you have enough already? :lol:

My tank is medium-bioload for fish, at most. :wink: Corals especially have been doing kinda fail lately, pretty sad about that actually :redface:

Thanks for the offer Rich. Power was off for 58 hours at my place. Lost all my fish and looks like most of my sps has turned a nice white colour. Cant find any shrimp so they are most likely all gone as well. The only thing that looks like it might come back are the zoas.

Not sure what I am going to do with the tank at the moment I have to get it cleaned up and go from there.

Glad to see everyone else faired better then me.

Geez Joe, that's super lame. I've lost my fair share of fish/mantis shrimp :sad: and definitely feel for you. I'd be happy to donate some live rocks if you need to get your tank back on track. Just let me know.

[Animal-Chin]

Wretch, if you decide to keep reefing and get your tank back up and running shoot me a PM, I can donate a few frags to get you going. I don't have anything exotic but I can give you some sps or something to ease the burdon of starting over...

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Wretch/Joe,

Really, really sorry to hear about your tank and losses.

When you decide what you want to do, let us know. If you decide to restock and start over, we can organize a "restock Joe's tank" get-together and we can all bring frags, etc to the party. Let us know how we can help.

Peace.

Anthony

[rishu_pepper]

Wretch/Joe,

When you decide what you want to do, let us know. If you decide to restock and start over, we can organize a "restock Joe's tank" get-together and bring frags, etc to the party. Let us know how we can help.

Peace.

Anthony

That's a great idea. It'll be like a Can Reef community tank :biggrin:

Someone bring the pizza and beer. :lol:

[Wretch]

My tank is medium-bioload for fish, at most. :wink: Corals especially have been doing kinda fail lately, pretty sad about that actually :redface:



Geez Joe, that's super lame. I've lost my fair share of fish/mantis shrimp :sad: and definitely feel for you. I'd be happy to donate some live rocks if you need to get your tank back on track. Just let me know.

Wretch, if you decide to keep reefing and get your tank back up and running shoot me a PM, I can donate a few frags to get you going. I don't have anything exotic but I can give you some sps or something to ease the burdon of starting over...

Wretch/Joe,

Really, really sorry to hear about your tank and losses.

When you decide what you want to do, let us know. If you decide to restock and start over, we can organize a "restock Joe's tank" get-together and we can all bring frags, etc to the party. Let us know how we can help.

Peace.

Anthony

Thanks for the support everyone.

All my rock work is epoxied together so I will have to wait for a day off to get it pulled out and all the unfound dead things pulled out. After that I will do a big water change and see how things go from there.

Need to do some equipment changes as well so thats also in consideration of what I am doing going forward.

Thanks again all.

[pinhead]

I went through 5 days without power in the 2006 storm and lost most of my fish an corals.

This time it was 38 hours and I survived with only a few lost Monitporas. What saved me this time was the battery powered air pump that kept the water moving.

There were only 2 blocks out in our neighbourhood and it was annoying seeing houses around us with power. However, my losses were not too great. I heard that there were over 2000 line repairs and I knew we would be near the end of the list here in Deep Cove.

[Animal-Chin]

looks like I didn't come out as unscathed as I thought. Last night I noticed 3 Acro's looking a little sick. Turning a weird blotchy brown color, I'm thinking they just took a few days to show how unhappy living in cold water made them...:neutral:

Ah well, all in all not a devastating loss or anything, still lame though...

[Bblinks]

I lost a few frags here and there and the Achilles is pack full of ick.... hopefully it will make it through. Ding it.

[Doug]

Man that sucks guys. Hope all gets better

[seabreeze]

Sorry to hear about everyone's losses :cry:

During the 2006 outage we went the route of inverter for about 24hrs then got, I think, the last generator in town (seriously).

Since then I will not be without a generator... too much of an investment to risk not having one! Me.. the tank, hubby.. the TV

We do get a few outages every winter, but nothing like this last one.

Anyway, also had to learn the hard way how to properly look after the generator so it starts again the next time! I make sure now to run the fuel line empty before turning off the generator switch.. and testing it monthy or every other month.

I will also start to use the Shell premium.. thanks for the helpful info!

Again, sorry for those that had losses and may still have some to face :cry:

Besides the drop in temp and oxygen, the pH would have got ugly too. Lots of factors in the mix.

[rsisvixen]

Hmmm, anemones are not looking happy at all and zoas still don't want to all open so they are pretty displeased with the whole power out too.
Guess I'll monitor them over the next week and see how they go.

[spit.fire]

People need back up plans power outages are gonna happen eventually,I own a small generator for this exact reason still never used it but sure feel more comfortable when we are having crazy weather like yesterday. Hope everybody gets power back soon.

a "small generator" is enough for your system?:razz:

[Tom R]

Our power was only off for 15 hours, however that is longer than I'd really want to go without power. Fortunately my Toyota Tacoma came with a built in 400W inverter and I have a heavy duty 100 foot extension cord. So I hooked up my truck to the main circulation pump on my system. I ran it at 3 hours intervals for 15 to 20 minutes each interval and everything worked out fine.

This is a wake up call for all of us. All Reef Keepers should have a survival plan and test it at least every twice a year.

Years ago I bought a 800W generator at Princess Auto for $150.00 which is cheap insurance for a tank worth anywhere from $1000.00 plus. I used the generator to run our freezer and refrigerator.

Tom R

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

This is a wake up call for all of us. All Reef Keepers should have a survival plan and test it at least every twice a year.

Years ago I bought a 800W generator at Princess Auto for $150.00 which is cheap insurance for a tank worth anywhere from $1000.00 plus. I used the generator to run our freezer and refrigerator.

Tom R

Glad to hear you came through okay my friend.

I have the same generator I think (880w Powerfist from Princess Auto). Ended up loaning it to my brother cause we luckily didn't experience any power outage.

I'm in the process of looking to upgrade to a 2000w Honda generator (so I can run my fridge, freezer & tanks) if we are hit next time.

Anthony

[GrantB]

Sorry to hear about everyone's losses. I picked up a generator first before realizing that they are useless if your out of town (happened twice). I would recommend a proper auto transfer switch with sine wave inverter, deep cycle battery and a good charger to anyone who can afford it. I spent a lot on my setup but it will kick on automatically and run the tank for 12-24 hours (heat included) depending on how I have the Apex setup. If things are really bad I can then use the generator to run the tank and recharge the AGM battery and run for days as long as I have gas. If anyone needs help setting one up let me know.

[mike31154]

I was in North Van last week, headed home to Vernon around 13:00 Saturday in the midst of the carnage. Talk about a mess, don't recall how many U-turns I had to make to try & get out of the megalopolis! Spent a good hour in a traffic jam on Hwy 1 in Burnaby due to downed trees. On my motorbike, running low on fuel I couldn't find a gas station with power until I reached Abbottsford. The COOP on Mt. Lehman road had their Diesel & Premium pumps working, no regular. In retrospect, perhaps I should have headed north to Squamish & rode to Vernon via the northern route, Lillooet/Cache Creek/Kamloops, same as my trip to the city a week before.

Sucks to lose tank critters, but it's a good wake up call for all of us. There's more at stake than pets when nature gets nasty. A little girl in Washington became the victim of a falling tree branch. We can consider ourselves fortunate if all we lose are replaceable material objects. Governments & corporations that provide "essentials" such as electricity really need to get a bit more proactive in running lines underground where they'll be less prone to damage from wind storms. Our hydro infrastructure is highly centralized, which means the right kind of "perfect storm" can put a large chunk of the population in the dark as shown by the events last week. It's not like this is a lesson that hasn't been learned before, again & again, but we get complacent.

Never a bad idea to prepare oneself for disaster. Relying on the gov't/corporation is not good insurance when things go south. I'm delinquent myself in that regard, since power outages here in Vernon are very short & rare. I've been meaning to get some solar panels up & a bank of deep discharge batteries, but keep putting it off, mainly due to finances. Purchased a small wind generator years ago, but it's still sitting in the basement.

[Tom R]

Glad to hear you came through okay my friend.

I have the same generator I think (880w Powerfist from Princess Auto). Ended up loaning it to my brother cause we luckily didn't experience any power outage.

I'm in the process of looking to upgrade to a 2000w Honda generator (so I can run my fridge, freezer & tanks) if we are hit next time.

Anthony

With you being almost the only people in the GVRD lucky enough to have power I hope you ran out and bought a couple of 6/49 tickets.

Yes I believe your generator is the same as mine and I used it for my freezer & refrigerator. As I hand not used mine in quite awhile I had trouble starting it with old gas. My neighbour gave me a couple of litres of new gas that I added to the old and away she went.
I guess you should start it up every once in a while to test it out.

Tom R

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

With you being almost the only people in the GVRD lucky enough to have power I hope you ran out and bought a couple of 6/49 tickets.

Yes I believe your generator is the same as mine and I used it for my freezer & refrigerator. As I hand not used mine in quite awhile I had trouble starting it with old gas. My neighbour gave me a couple of litres of new gas that I added to the old and away she went.
I guess you should start it up every once in a while to test it out.

Tom R

Yeah, my whole family was lucky other than my bro, but then he had access to mine and my father-in-law's (I gave to him as a present in 2007) generators so none of us were too affected. Whew. I heard now the tally was over 530,000 people without power at its worst.

[Reef Pilot]

We had another power outage last night, (if you can believe it!!) from midnight to 2 AM. Not sure why, no wind storm. No effect on the tanks this time, but sure screwed up a good night's sleep.

[hillegom]

With you being almost the only people in the GVRD lucky enough to have power I hope you ran out and bought a couple of 6/49 tickets.

Yes I believe your generator is the same as mine and I used it for my freezer & refrigerator. As I hand not used mine in quite awhile I had trouble starting it with old gas. My neighbour gave me a couple of litres of new gas that I added to the old and away she went.
I guess you should start it up every once in a while to test it out.

Tom R

If you use only premium gas without alcohol, it will not deteriorate as quickly. As well if you add fuel stabilizer the gas will last at least a year. Can tire has stabilizer or buy elsewhere.
That is good insurance not only for your generator, but your lawnmower and weedwhacker, as well. They will start easier in the spring.
Another trick is to shut off the fuel and run the carb dry before storing engines.

[Tom R]

If you use only premium gas without alcohol, it will not deteriorate as quickly. As well if you add fuel stabilizer the gas will last at least a year. Can tire has stabilizer or buy elsewhere.
That is good insurance not only for your generator, but your lawnmower and weedwhacker, as well. They will start easier in the spring.
Another trick is to shut off the fuel and run the carb dry before storing engines.

Good to know

[mike31154]

Careful with 2 stroke engines that use gas/oil mix though, running them dry can cause premature engine wear or even have them seize up!