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Cultivated Reef

Kat's Ol' Max


metrokat

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Filtration won't be a concern on her time scale.

 

Really, only heat and oxygen are the only things to worry about on her time scale.

 

I agree with mike as 72 seems to be a critical temp.

 

Do you know what sized heater she has? If it's properly sized, then the temp change back up should be fairly slow as they're only designed to keep tanks warm, not warm them. If it's over sized, she may have to cycle it manually or so.

 

Do remember, we bring fish home in bags and ship them in bags over night without much ill effects. Those fish aren't kept in perfect 78 degree water in that box no matter how hard we try.

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Another thought, does she have any candles in the house? She could remove water into a stainless teel pot, heat water the water over a candle(s) and pour it back into the tank.

 

If you have vodka or other spirits you could also burn those in a pot to heat water in a smaller pot put inside.

 

Just trying to find some outside the box ideas for you to try when your tank starts dipping below about 74. :(

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jedimasterben
UPS I had from something $0 battery back up was $140 from local reefer selling off tank before x-wife could get it...

Oh, I thought you meant a DIY one for the MP10. :lol:

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Hoping for the best Kat, as said before ammonia or other wastes shouldn't be a worry as long as you have been doing your regular water changes. As for O2 depletion your fish get closer to the surface where there is better gas exchange, but as long as you got an air-stone running I highly doubt you'll have any issues with a nano. Just keep the water warm and the air-stone running and you should be in the clear.

 

As for some ideas to heat water; Gas lines might still be running if you have any stoves or anything that would use gas. Also a camping stove will work great too. Just be sure to clean out the pot really well after you warm the saltwater or your cookware will start to oxidize really fast.

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hi. not sure what happened to my last post. im typing on the kindle which is very ardous but im doing it to preserve battery on my phone.

 

almost 24 hours without power. conservative estimates are suggesting 3 days before we may get power. the building has emergency power on which means hallways stairs one elevator and fire system.

 

tank is doing alright on MANUAL oxygenation. i used up all the batteries i had for the airstone. the entire state is sold out of D batteries so im out of luck on the airstone.

 

i am manually shaking up water in a gallon jug and pouring oxygenated water back into the tank. thanks to Piggy for the suggestion. muah.

 

for heat i am heating tank water on the stove and pouring that in. thank goodness fo gas and water. i believe the boilers are on so we might get hot water soon.

 

the fish have not come to the surface gasping so i take it to mean the water still is holding oxygen.

 

someone mentioned using hot water bottles to keep temperature warm. can you elaborate? i have glass snapple bottles. did u mean glass bottle or rubber heating pad bottle?

 

i also bought walmarts available hand warmers. not sure if they will do much but perhaps keep the temp at night from falling below 75. yes the tank has a blanket on it.

 

questions

its a 30 gallon. how often to oxygenate. realistically.

 

i have RO and pre salted water handy. when to do a WC.

 

power will be out for 3 days.

 

any day by day advice?

 

thank you for thinking of me.

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Kat I used a ice mountain drinking water bottle with hot water in it. I filled it with hot water and put it in the tank and watched the temp with a glass thermo. You could use glass bottles as well just clean off the sticker. I used a rubber band around the cap to keep it secure to the side of the tank so it would not float around.

 

I would oxig ate by hand in the day every few hours and save my batteries for night so you can sleep.

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At this point, I don't see any reason to do a WC while the power is out. Save that for after you have power.

 

I'll try to rack my brain for a few hours as to how you can oxygenate the tank with what you'd have on hand. Unfortunately, off the top of my head, I'm not seeing an easy solution. I'll keep racking my brain though.

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This may sound silly but you said the hallways have emergency power from a backup generator right?

Is it possible that the power outlets in the hallways have power going to them since the hallways themselves are on emergency power??

it they do is there any way that you can run an extension cord to one of the outlets in the hallway and just power your tank that way??

It's just a thought and I realize the outlets in the hallway may not have power going to them but if they do then that would solve all of your problems

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I read this elsewhere but cannot take credit.

 

For aeration take a bucket our large container if you have one on hand and fill it with tank water. Rig a way of placing it on top of the tank and siphon start a tube that's just above the water. The falling water will break the surface of the tank and oxygenate it. If you shake the water it the container around before starting that should add even more oxygen. Depending on the size of container and tubing this method may be able to run for a longer period of time un-watched.

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I read this elsewhere but cannot take credit.

 

For aeration take a bucket our large container if you have one on hand and fill it with tank water. Rig a way of placing it on top of the tank and siphon start a tube that's just above the water. The falling water will break the surface of the tank and oxygenate it. If you shake the water it the container around before starting that should add even more oxygen. Depending on the size of container and tubing this method may be able to run for a longer period of time un-watched.

 

This is brilliant. Just use water from your tank and a small tube and keep the head small and it should work great.

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to all the big brains that follow this thread:

 

Kats power will be out 3 days so she is considering picking up a pressurised oxygen tank so she can release a small bubble stream without electiricty. Im not sure what to think about this. I guess it should work. ANy input??

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to all the big brains that follow this thread:

 

Kats power will be out 3 days so she is considering picking up a pressurised oxygen tank so she can release a small bubble stream without electiricty. Im not sure what to think about this. I guess it should work. ANy input??

I'm not sure I would trust her with a small bomb...u can let her know I say that :)

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This may sound silly but you said the hallways have emergency power from a backup generator right?

Is it possible that the power outlets in the hallways have power going to them since the hallways themselves are on emergency power??

it they do is there any way that you can run an extension cord to one of the outlets in the hallway and just power your tank that way??

It's just a thought and I realize the outlets in the hallway may not have power going to them but if they do then that would solve all of your problems

I thought of this evening and told her to try. She says the outlets don't have power.

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Car battery...wires...pump...tada!

 

I do not want to be held responsible for fiyas tho.....

... battery to inverter should work Edited by Xanthi
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Doubt you can get one of these into NY at this point, but:

 

51s-n4ARtoL.jpg

 

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-125-2-Pole-2...t+power+adapter

 

maybe for next time? I had no idea these even existed. If the hallway emergency lights are incandescent and use Edison sockets, you're set.

 

Meantime, it sounds like you've got it under control. I hope all goes well.

Edited by uglybuckling
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That socket converter is so weird, no idea they made those. I bet the hall lights are fluorescent bulbs though :/

 

Be careful with the pure oxygen! Like martin said its highly flammable, you have to use oxygen safe tubing otherwise you run the risk of igniting a fire and exploding the tank especially when pressurized. I learned about the dangers of it during Scuba Certification learning about mix gases and Nitrox.

 

I have no idea where you'd go to buy O2 without a medical need, I presume any air tank would work for normal pressurized air to add oxygen and break the surface. Again I don't know where in NYC sells tanks especially at this time. Do you guys have dive shops?

Edited by dormreefer
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It is a miracle indeed. At 4:30 am the power was turned back on. I've just gotten back into bed, still reading through responses, thank you all.

 

Confirmed casualties include Mooch the cleaner shrimp and Bubby the sexy shrimp.

 

The Apex came online and recorded the tank temperature at 73 so both the glass thermometer and digital POS were wrong. Or maybe the Apex is wrong, who knows. The cold seems to have caused dementia in the Midas, Bangai, and Mandarin. I will have to see their status In the morning.

 

The Mandarin is breaking my heart, he came to the surface AFTER power was back on gasping and staying at the top. I made him a little perch with the magnet cleaner. But i was able to hold him in my hand, he was that out of it. Maybe the light suddenly coming in shocked him, i don't know. He stayed hyperventilating for a very long time before slowly sinking to the substrate. Then I watched his color begin to fade. He was still alive when I turned off the actinics, I'm not going to watch him die. He is my favorite fish.

 

The clown fish, have been troopers the whole time, cuddling together in the zoanthids, never stressing. Have not seen the neon gobies, chromis or shrimp gobies so far.

 

Tank looked very cloudy when the lights came on. I thought it best not to do a water change till daylght to give the tank a chance to gradually get the temperature up and filtration to work on the buildup of organics. I might feed the tank before the WC, not sure yet as I want to see the fish before I do anything.

 

It is a miracle. I can finally relax, I've been sleeping with one eye open, kid you not. The air stone was plugged into the UPS for the night, but who knew the temperature was 73.

 

My whole body hurts all of a sudden. Tylenol and sleep, yeah. Sounds good.

Will respond to individual messages soon. Thanks again for all your help and well wishes.

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