HELP!!! No power!!!

[all4outdoors]

I've been out of town for about 4 days and apparently the power has been down for 3. There is a wild fire near where I live and it has burned the power lines so they are telling us that they are bringing in generators and will have power restored by Friday. Right now I have a 12 gallon nanocube with some zoos and a couple of snails. There must be a million little nano creatures that look like they are dead all over the tank. Is there anything I can do from now till Friday that will save this or am I too late? I only have 3 gallons of ro water on hand right now from the store. Is it ok to use tap water to change out the water? My tap water is really good water, no chemicals or anything like that. I live in the mountains so going to the lfs is a 110 mile trip each way. I will try to check this again tonight and definitely tomorrow. Our community center has backup generator so i plan on mixing my new salt water in here and treking it back to my place in a 5 gallon bucket. my tank is also getting very cold very fast, its about 60 right now. Thank you for any help!

 

[OAD]

Water changes, run an air stone, run some charcoal. Wait for more to chime in but I would do water changes ASAP. You might also be able to arrange someone to hold the corals and livestock for a little bit. Use the RO for now and pick up some distilled water at a local storeif some are open.

 

[all4outdoors]

i am mixing new salt right now with the 3 gal i have on hand. i will try and buy some water at our local store in the morning when they open.

 

[snorvich]

For the future get a battery power airstone. It will help. For now, water changes are best you can do.

 

[all4outdoors]

if anyone lives near the yosemite national park area, oakhurst, fresno, modesto, etc... and is willing to hold onto some corals for me for a while i would be very thankful.

 

[Macimage]

Hi,

I'm not sure exactly where you are located, but I started a thread in the CA Central Coast RC board to see if anyone can help:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1440471

I didn't know when you would be near a computer.

In the meantime, do what water changes you can, pick up a battery operated air pump for oxygen and wrap the tank in blankets to keep the heat in. Do you have gas so that you could warm up the water on the stove? If so, I'd use a glass pan such as the pyrex glass pot and would not use a metal pot.

You may even want to purchase a small generator. You can also rent them, but they are really handy to own.

Good Luck!
Joyce

 

[MPeer]

Could you rent a generator at your local hardware store? Or maybe a battery-powered airstone perhaps at Walmart if there is one close to you?

You should monitor the temperature too.

 

[Macimage]

The user friendorfoe lives in Manteca and has offered to help.

You can use the RC search function via user name and private message him.

Good Luck!
Joyce

 

[Sk8r]

I believe the fishing supply area in Walmart has some bait-bucket aerators that are battery driven.

You can also drive a filter---heaven help you---with a squeeze bulb and a rubber hose. I did this all the way from Baltimore to Oklahoma City on one 3 day stint, in the backseat of an overcrowded car. You can use your foot, or a rocking chair, to keep the thing going. It wasn't nice, but it kept my fish alive. My hand was a mess by the time we got there. One option might be to take fish and corals in a bucket of clean water with an aeration pump and check into Motel 6 (where there's power) until power is restored.

I have found that in clean water, aeration run for 5 min every hour will suffice.

Clean water is your issue. If you have no chlorine, you should be good to use local: you'll battle phosphate later, probably, but chlorine is the killer,, followed closely by metals, so use only polystyrene plastic or glass. For starters, mix salt water, warm it using small additions of fire-warmed fresh water if that's all you've got for heat. wrap the tank in blanket to insulate: I'm assuming you're high in the hills and it's cold. If you just start a fire in the fireplace and warm the room it will start warming the water.

The survival range for coral: about 62 degrees to about 86.

If you don't go as low as 62 it may actually help their survival to be cooler, because their metabolic processes will slow. If anything's survived bad water it may be because it HAS been cold.

You can also use hunter's handwarmers in ziploc bags to help maintain heat.

If things are bad in the tank, even new salt water might be better for the occupants...use it in a bucket, if you've got a spare and just set corals and fish in there, while trying to clean up the water in your tank.

 

[friendorfoe]

pm sent

 

[friendorfoe]

If you see this I live in Manteca, I can help but youneed to check your pm's, my cell # is there!

 

[friendorfoe]

Well, I have not heard from this person.I really do hope all is well up there ! I know the fire has had some homes evacuated, but none has burned so.....

 

[all4outdoors]

thank you everyone!! I moved my entire tank on tues night to my other place down the hill and its starting to look a lot better. i bought a large brute garbage can so that a can perform aggressive water changes a little easier until my water quality improves. I was not able to log onto rc for a couple of days but the help on here has been phenomenal. I have been in the process of building a new 60g tank over the past month and I will have a generator in the near future as part of the standard equipment.

Oh yeah, things got really bad when i went around a sharp turn and the entire nano cube slide across my the back of my car and punched a hole in the plastic bucket i had my corals in. i had to stop my car and move everthing back into the nanocube along the side of the highway at 2am.

as for the air pumps. i was able to pickup a battery powered air pump at walmart for about $9. I also ordered a battery power air pump online the kicks in automatic even if your not there and runs for 150 hrs.

 

[che25]

Dude sorry man. I've hiked all over the Yosemite back country and have been monitoring the Telegraph fire on the news. Northern California is really getting slammed this year. I hate to see one of my favorite places in the world in trouble.

I don't think Oakhust has a LFS, you might be able to resupply in Manteca (I'm not sure). Most likely in Stockton. All long drives for sure. If you can make the drive to the City, I'd gladly give you all the RO/DI water you need plus storage for your inverts.

PM me for email.

Good Luck.

 

[Macimage]

Glad to hear that you were able to save your critters and get yourself out of danger.

Good Luck!
Joyce

 

[Sk8r]

Glad you're ok! Scary stuff. I've been a homeowner in the path of a range fire, and you really have to scramble. We didn't lose power lines, thank goodness.