I always hate to hear of losses like this. I know the feeling of mass losses. Mine was a decease outbreak which cost me all but 2 fish. And it was my negligence of not using QT that caused it. It seems to hurt more when it's your fault in my opinion.
Anyway, I've gone through a few power outages now without losses caused by it. I thought I'd post my extremely budget power outage kit for those also on a budget. This does however require your babysitting the tank for the period without power. I'm fortunate that I work from home and can be in attendance the whole time.
What I do, is once power is out, wrap the tank in blankets. I then set up the propane camp stove in a vented area and when tank temp goes down, start to heat up about 1 gallon at a time. (but not too hot). As I heat water I also break out the extremely high tech plastic soup ladle and start stirring the tank. For aeration, I pour the heated water from a few feet off the surface and don't worry about spills and splashes. I do this every 15 min to 1/2 hour when I'm awake. If sleeping, I set an alarm to wake me up every 2 hours to go stir and heat water.
If it is a long period without power, I set up a mirror to reflect light from the window into the tank, as it's usually winter and I'm warming the tank, any extra heat is a bonus.
Hope this might give some budget reefers an idea or 2. Best of luck to all during these dang nab winter storms.
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