Sandy, generator and lessons learned

[niles1967]

I live in nassau County on long Island and lost power Monday and did not get it back until last night. I have a 350g FOWLER with large angels and tangs. I thought I was prepared with a gas generator in the garage and all backup lines in place.

Then the unexpected occurred; no gas.

I had to ration every drop of gas I could get which required turning the generator on for one hour to oxygenate the tank, then off for two hours to conserve. I did this day and night for five days and I am exhausted.

Thankfully the fish are fine as i have had these guys for years.

Lesson learned: buy a natural gas generator. They are much more expensive but are worth every penny. I will be getting one shortly.

I hope everyone else in Sandy's path is as lucky as I was. I came really close to running out completely.

 

[geaux xman]

Glad there wasnt any casualties for you.

I think you could get away with 5 battery operated air pumps. They last about 3 days on a couple of batteries. That and 20g of gas for the generator should keep a fish only tank going for a week.

 

[MikeandNicole]

I was without power for three days down the shore. I made it with a mixture of gas generator, battery operated air pumps, and vortech backup battery. I ran the generator during the day and the air pumps at night. Did not lose anything in the process