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Aquarium Hurricane Preparedness Guide!


Nick's Reef

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Well I just got back from my favorite lfs, Oceans Below inc. in North Palm Beach, Fl. As you all know south florida is in the heart of hurricane country so the owner of the place made this guide, and I thought I'd share it with everyone since there has been alot of disscussion going on lately about hurricanes and reef tanks.

 

Are you prepared?

The time is here again... another named storm has formed and its projected path is heading directly toward you! what do you do now? You know the power will be going out and damage will be done but for how long and how had still remains to be seen. You have invested hundreds if not thousands of dollars into that beautiful aquarium full of all your precious cargo, no doubt you are worried how to protect your investment. Here are a few tips we have put together to try to make sure you and your aquarium can wheather the storm safely.

 

When a storm is named there are a few things you may want to do to prepare yourself in the event of a power outage or damage caused by a storm.

 

 

 

Step 1- Water

Make shure your water parameters are ideal. The proper salinity, pH, alkalinity, calcium, temperature etc. to begin with are a key element to keep your aquarium in good shape. Also keep enough chemicals and buffers on hand to last at least three weeks in the event yout local aquarium store is without power and can not sell items to you. When a storm has passed, often times for weeks after, ocean water can not be collected. be shure to stock at least three weeks worth of ocean water or synthetic salt and distilled water, this way you can make small water changes as needed during and after the storm. Don't forget to stock up on your top off water as well and be shure to include more than what you normally use since it will likely be quite hot the days and weeks following and evaporation can be greatly increased. Be sure not to use ice cubes in your aquarium or filter, doing so will fluctuate the temperature more and could possibly cause an outbreack of cyptocaryon (marine ick).

 

 

 

Step 2- Alternate Power

Obviously keeping things flowing in your aquarium is of vital importance to surviving the storm. when the power goes out you will need to find a reliable source of alternate power.

 

The best source is the generator found at your local home improvement store or other hurricane preparedness center. try to get one large enough to run both your aquarium and your refridgerator so you can save your mental sanity and food as well. If you can not obtain a generator the next best item would be an inverter. these can be found in the same places as generators. however if they are sold out your local automotive stores might still have them in stock. When this is hooked up to any car-sized battery it can last for days. If this still is outside your budget there are some battery operated air pumps that can be found at your local aquarium store or bait shop for a minimal cost. At this timethere are two kinds of battery operated air pumps. the better kind has a plug that goes into any electrical socket and senses when the power goes out, an internal mechanism automatically switches to battery power and flows air through the air stone. this is particularly handy when you are away from your home or office. The other is a standard battery air pump that needs to be mannually turned off and on. Either of these usually run on D-cell batteries and also last eight hours to a few days.

 

 

 

Step 3- Recovery

Once the storm has passed and power has been restored, you may want to do a thorough assesment of the aquarium by checking all pumps and lighting for any damage caused by power surges then retest your water parameters. It would also be a good ide to have on hand products like Poly Filter Pad by Poly Bio Marine Products or AmGuard or Prime by SeaChem or any other ammonia reducing agents to help any mini-cycling issues from affecting your aquarium from reestablishing.

 

 

 

Hooray! You made it!

Now that the storm has passed and your aquarium has had no casualties since you adhered to the advice found in this brochure, please remember who cared enough to prepare you for the hurricane season. Your continued loyal patonage is greatly apperciated by all of us here at Oceans Below, Inc.

 

Sincerely,

Rob & Denise Skinner

 

 

 

Hope this guide will be helpful to everyone here on Nano-Reef.com and good luck this hurricane season! :D

 

-Nick

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Excellent information for anyone in the path of a hurricane.

 

Thanks

You're welcome, when I saw this at the checkout, I knew I had to post it on here.

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we have hannah comming up to nj so thanks a bunch nick!

Yeah, just saw that when was seeing what Ike was doing. Hopefully he stays to the south of Florida.

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rustytrombonist
we have hannah comming up to nj so thanks a bunch nick!

 

i dont think hanah wil be that bad lol, so what do you if you work at your lfs and the power goes out there? :P

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Very cool article. How bad is this hurricane gonna be in Florida?

 

Are you still looking for yashas? they are on sale for 25 bucks at bluezooaquatics.com

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Very cool article. How bad is this hurricane gonna be in Florida?

 

Are you still looking for yashas? they are on sale for 25 bucks at bluezooaquatics.com

It probably won't be bad at all for me, in the keys tho they're gonna get beat up. At the worst it will be like a strong tropical storm for me since Ike will pass to the sout of florida.

 

As for the yashas, i had a pair if you remember and only one died. i still have my female who has no pistol, cause he died too. I'm looking for a pistol tho but my lfs can easily get them I just need to remember to ask them to get one since it's not an item the regularly have, but can get them reguarly.

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All good advice!

 

I'll add, don't underestimate the power of the battery powered air pumps. We have had several tanks (on our local board LARC) survive 3+ days with just these little guys.

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Thanks Nick..

I'm down here in Ft. Laud.. so I'm getting ready too... Another tip is to pick up extra batteries for you airpump, just in case they run out before your power comes back on.

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Project7Studios

Do you use the airpump to circulate the water?

 

Just place it into the tank fed to the bottom of the tank so that water is forced around?

 

Should you use an airstone?

 

Will the aeration from the airpump cause any undue stress on the corals?

 

Im still new to SW :D

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Do you use the airpump to circulate the water?

 

Just place it into the tank fed to the bottom of the tank so that water is forced around? Yes, but you also want to create surface agitation.

 

Should you use an airstone? Yes

 

Will the aeration from the airpump cause any undue stress on the corals? Well some SPS do not like the bubbles. Gorgonians too.

Im still new to SW :D

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I just want to comment on the Power Inverter...

 

They will only last as long as your car battery will hold out. You'll find yourself starting the car more often just to keep the battery alive and as we seen once before, gas can become quite a hot comodity during a hurricane. I myself ended up with a dead battery because of my inverter.

 

They are great for smaller things like making a quick pot of coffee, but not sustaining your tank through hurricane power outages. It is a great idea, but IME it doesn't work well at all. The best bet is to save $400+ and buy a small generator just for the tank alone. Mine cost a mere $600 and ran 2 appartments along with my tank using 2-3 gallons of gas a day.

 

Thanks Nick..

I'm down here in Ft. Laud.. so I'm getting ready too... Another tip is to pick up extra batteries for you airpump, just in case they run out before your power comes back on.

 

Here's a tip... Hit all the dollar stores for batteries and candles. They are cheaper and work just as good.

4 pack of rayovac = $1 where in any other store you're paying $5+ a pack

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Future, you can take the batterey out of the car and hook the clips up to it. Atleast that's what i do with the batterey to my boat when I use my inverter.

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  • 10 months later...

Just wanted to give this thread bump now that there's been some activity in the tropics and it's getting to be that time of year that we start seeing storms come our way. I'm also hoping that none come my way so I don't have to deal with trying to save my tank.

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