Powers out what to do?

[Ross]

A small hail /rain storm just rolled through Airdrie and killed the power.

At what point do I have my wife start manually stirring water?
Her sugestion was to use a drink frother to aggitate the surface.

Any tips aside from the should have had a UPS or Generator on hand?

Thankfully my ATO is manual and not going to act up on me.

[badAZZlars]

Depending on stocking level you should be ok for a few hours.

[burgerchow]

A small hail /rain storm just rolled through Airdrie and killed the power.

At what point do I have my wife start manually stirring water?
Her sugestion was to use a drink frother to aggitate the surface.

Any tips aside from the should have had a UPS or Generator on hand?

Thankfully my ATO is manual and not going to act up on me.

drink frother sounds like a good idea. Heck everybody probably has bought one in the past at some trade show or fair and sitting in a drawer somewhere.

Just hang it in the tank by a string enough to break the water.

[spit.fire]

My tank survived 28hrs of no power with only 1 mp40 running off an inverter hooked to my van, I set it closer to the surface so it would pull air

[HaZRaTTy]

Take the time to explain to your wife the panic set in by the recent power outage.

Then try and convince her if you had just gone with the 10'x4'x4' Tank you could have gone for a swim to circulate the water and that the power outages would not have been a problem

[Ross]

Take the time to explain to your wife the panic set in by the recent power outage.

Then try and convince her if you had just gone with the 10'x4'x4' Tank you could have gone for a swim to circulate the water and that the power outages would not have been a problem

If I had the money to maintain that size tank, I'd probably just move somewhere with an actual reef.

[reefwars]

Every road in airdrie is flooded out, crappy day to work outside lol fml

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

There are battery operated air pumps that you should get as an emergency backup to keep the water aerated.

If you're careful, you can also use a power drill with some sort of attachment to agitate the water. Something like an egg beater. Just watch out that the fish don't come too close. I read online how a major aquarium experienced a blackout and kept their tanks alive in this way. Never had to resort to it myself though since I have battery backups (knock on wood).

[HaZRaTTy]

All seriousness though, I have a battery operated powerbar the battery charges while it is plugged into the wall and has 3 seperate plugs that run off the battery. I haven't had to test how long it will run my powerheads and return pump thankfully but its made for computers and it also has surge protection on it. I can't remember the company that makes it but if you PM me and are interested I will check when I get home you will just have to remind me.

[Reef_Geek]

hopefully your power is back by now. If not, call Bass Pro Shop at Cross Iron Mills, see if they have a battery operated air pump for live bait buckets.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

When the power goes out, if you get a battery backup, then just plug in one powerhead, like a Hydor Koralia, which is very low wattage.

[Ross]

The power was out for close to 2hrs.

I have a pair of computer UPS power supplies, but they havent been plugged in lately as I have my koralias plugged into the apex on an alternating cycle.

If there was a way to selectivly kill the lights, heaters, return and skimmer with a power loss on my apex lite, then i might look into that a bit further.

A battery operated air pump should be next on the Big List O Stuff I Want I guess.

Thanks for the tips.

[Snaz]

The battery operated air pumps are noisy as heck but do a great job keeping an aquarium aerated during a power outage. Everyone should have one.

[DanG]

I've got an APC 1300VA hooked up to my MP40, it's good for about 4 hours as long as I turn the speed down, I've also got an APC 550VA that's running a koralia 900gph pump.

Costco has super cheap prices on these UPS's, and for what I've got invested in my tank, it's cheap insurance.