Things good to have on hand.

[Sk8r]

1. Prime. Ordinarily we don't use this to condition water for the tank, but what you use in a Quarantine or Rescue or Hospital tank---no consequence to the tank. It's ok to create salt water even if you don't have ro/di on hand. It can also de-chlorinate your hands.
2. Carbon. Can sop up chemical snits among corals, or the fact your nephew put his toy truck in your tank. Cheerios are a separate threat. Net and massive water change.
3. PolyFilter: a resin pad that both identifies a mystery metal contaminant AND binds it to the pad, removing the threat. A mere snip off the expensive pad can be used to ID or confirm a problem before you go whole hog for the entire pad and use it up.
4. Salt. Being caught with no salt on New Years Eve is bad news. Keep enough on hand to replace ALL your water if you have to---but don't let it near moisture: A brick is what will result, with diminished usefulness.

 

[wsboyette]

1. Prime. Ordinarily we don't use this to condition water for the tank, but what you use in a Quarantine or Rescue or Hospital tank---no consequence to the tank. It's ok to create salt water even if you don't have ro/di on hand. It can also de-chlorinate your hands.
2. Carbon. Can sop up chemical snits among corals, or the fact your nephew put his toy truck in your tank. Cheerios are a separate threat. Net and massive water change.
3. PolyFilter: a resin pad that both identifies a mystery metal contaminant AND binds it to the pad, removing the threat. A mere snip off the expensive pad can be used to ID or confirm a problem before you go whole hog for the entire pad and use it up.
4. Salt. Being caught with no salt on New Years Eve is bad news. Keep enough on hand to replace ALL your water if you have to---but don't let it near moisture: A brick is what will result, with diminished usefulness.

Amen, Sk8r ! Especially keep more salt on hand ! Just replaced my entire 60 gallons today; the old water was extremely milky and causing the skimmer to overflow. Now I have to get back up to Raleigh and stock up on salt !

 

[wsboyette]

1. Prime. Ordinarily we don't use this to condition water for the tank, but what you use in a Quarantine or Rescue or Hospital tank---no consequence to the tank. It's ok to create salt water even if you don't have ro/di on hand. It can also de-chlorinate your hands.
2. Carbon. Can sop up chemical snits among corals, or the fact your nephew put his toy truck in your tank. Cheerios are a separate threat. Net and massive water change.
3. PolyFilter: a resin pad that both identifies a mystery metal contaminant AND binds it to the pad, removing the threat. A mere snip off the expensive pad can be used to ID or confirm a problem before you go whole hog for the entire pad and use it up.
4. Salt. Being caught with no salt on New Years Eve is bad news. Keep enough on hand to replace ALL your water if you have to---but don't let it near moisture: A brick is what will result, with diminished usefulness.

Amen, Sk8r ! Especially keep more salt on hand ! Just replaced my entire 60 gallons today; the old water was extremely milky and causing the skimmer to overflow. Now I have to get back up to Raleigh and stock up on salt !

 

[billdogg]

As all experienced reefers know, another great thing to keep handy is a GREAT BIG SACK OF $$$$$$$$$$!

All kidding aside - a spare heater or two, spare pumps, battery operated air pumps and stones/tubing to go with for the inevitable power outage, clean buckets(old salt buckets FTW!), extra nets, etc etc etc. You will eventually collect a couple boxes full of stuff that you won't need (and your SO will question the need) until you need it. Then you really really need it!

 

[Sk8r]

Wisely stated!

 

[jmsilhy]

With the recent weather all over the place, can you list some of the things that you keep on hand for emergencies, such as a battery operated air pump and/or power heads and stuff like that?

 

[Sk8r]

A generator: Honda hand-portable with a stout towing chain and padlock, because when you really need it (8 day blackout) you don't need some lowlife running off with it---and being gas powered, they have to stay outdoors.

Dipping pitcher if your pump fails: stand on a ladder, dip a gallong pitcher and pour in from as much height as convenient. Aerates. .Pour 1 gallon for every gallon in your system, every 4-6 hours---yep, I've done it. .For four days.

Light. Candles or oil lamp. Aladdin makes a good oldfashioned bright one.

With absolute life and death caution: you can get a hunter's stove that takes gas cannisters from a hardware store. You MUST crack a door near this to get the fumes out, because even this little stove is a risk. But it can keep you warm. Do not use it while you sleep and do not use more than one cannister at a sitting.

Hang a sheet over doors to the room the tank is in and live eat and sleep in there, contributing body warmth to the area, and preventing drafts. Insulate your windows with styrofoam if you can. At least draw drapes.

If anything dies, net it out. In general, however, fish can survive 62.8 F, but below that you will lose fish. Fish can survive at 83, but beyond that, your corals begin to be toast. Cold water holds more oxygen than hot. Remember that and take it in account. Most of all have plenty of batteries for those Penn-plax bubblers, with hose and airstone.

Actual house insulation wrapped around your tank exterior BEFORE it loses too much heat to winter is a plus. Styrofoam packaging ditto good. My own emergency happened in a snowstorm and 8 days without power, and I saved most of the fish.

Warm weather power outage is mostly aeration and cooldown, which can be accomplished by bought-ice (if you can find any) floated in a ziploc.

If you have a generator, you can plug it into the circuit that has your pump and such on it. You can switch it around to run your house fridge a few hours a day. Read up on them. They are cheaper than re-furbing your marine tank. And I don't wish anybody having to do the gallon-pour routine for days (and nights) on end.

If you have pipes in the kitchen or bath that face the outside cold with no insulation, you will want to keep those trickling.

 

[jmsilhy]

Wow four days!! You are awesome.

Thanks for the tips, now a newbie question, for milder emergencies such as a day or so long power loss, do you just stick an airstone in the tank with a battery operated pump, I mean is that enough or do you also need to keep flow somehow?

 

[Sk8r]

Yep, that will do it. Just have plenty of batteries. The flow is gonna stop, when your skimmer and main pump can't operate, so just keeping that gas exchange going by aeration of the water is going to be a lifesaver. Float ice bags if you can get ice if you have too much heating. That increases the ability of the water to 'carry' oxygen. Remember chemistry (including life chemistry) runs faster at high temperatures than low, and sometimes slow is desirable. Feed little, but not below 78 degrees: stop feeding, below that, because the fish tummies can't process when their bodies cool down. It's that slow-when-cold thing, see above.. They can die of tummy malfunction if fed. If nothinng else stays open, gas stations tend to: source of food, ice, gas, and oddments of tools. A lone bistro and couple of restaurants and our gas stations and hardwares got us through the 8 day winter blackout. Amazing what a gas station may stock.

 

[OzIA]

Total Fish Loss

Total Fish Loss

Well, I don't know if I have the stomach to try again. I lost all my fish in the latest Iowa storm. We only lost power for about 44 hours but it was more than enough. Others weren't so lucky and were out much longer. I had a roughly 3 hr backup system on the circulation pumps, which had been more than enough in the past. I was out of town in Nashville but my wife said they looked fine at 10:00 pm but we were expected to be without power for some time.

I started driving home at 3:00 am. I stopped in Paducah at 6:00 am and bought a 6500 watt generator. She called me at 8:00 am and said they were all dead. It must have been ugly. They tried to jump out. The screens were knocked out of place and some were even in the water.

The corals survived but even the Coral banded shrimp died. A couple of crabs and snails lived. The temp was 74 when I got there around noon so it wasn't an overheat / too cold issue.

 

[Sk8r]

So sorry to hear. Been there---shepherded 3 tanks worth of fishes with whom I'd spent my grad school all the way from Maryland to Oklahoma, the hard way, by car. Set up at my parents' house and went out. Came back about midnight to find them all dead. Pump failure, and too many fish per tank. I know the feeling of --- how can I start again, how can I invest that much,----they won't be the fish I knew. I can't bring that back.

But...in a little, with the vacant tanks---I ended up getting a fish or two. Couldn't replace Philip the Piranha, but then I got some guppies. And guppies, well, pretty soon you're into fish again. Deep into fish. I've given up this hobby three times in my life, for reasons of moving, for the postgrad disaster, for moving again, but back I come, because...because what I get from their peaceful worlds. Give yourself a breather, keep the viable tank going, and very likely you'll find a way to keep going. Wishing you the very best, with full sympathy.

 

[Da_Neefer]

I'm going to repeat what others have said here. Get a small generator PLEASE! Not all of us are super spendy on fish or corals but with the prices I see some of them going for or just against the whole in aggregate, a 1600w genny is $400. Far far far less than what most of spend on livestock for even a smaller tank. A 5g gas can will get you through 40 or so hours without power.

A peer at work hadn't had an power outage in 3+ years and got complacent. He experienced a 3-4hr outage due to a helicopter that crashed while inspecting the local power lines and lost $600+ in fish. The whole time he was bailing water back into a tank with a jug to save as much as he could.

It CAN happen to you.

 

[OzIA]

Backup system - automatic

Backup system - automatic

I just wasn't prepared for a worse case scenario. I had a battery backup on one of my vortech pumps that gave me about 3 to 4 hours of emergency circulation. Had I been home, things would have probably been different.

I think one of the critical pieces here is to think about what that worse case scenario might be for you.

For me, it would require 36 to 48 hrs of backup circulation in the event I had a power failure again while i was out of town. This would give me enough time to get back in place with a generator. However the problem then becomes temperature. You can probably get decent circulation with an air pump but it will take a lot of battery to run a heater (or chiller if it was very hot) for any length of time.

Since that big battery option is almost as expensive as a whole house generator, the second option is to set up the system so that a friend or neighbor could plug in a small generator within a couple of hours. That would mean the electrical for the emergency life support system would have to be clearly marked and ready to just be plugged in. This also means a small stand-by generator, that is tested and ready to go.

Since I have an Apex, it should also be powered, along with the ISP modem so that I could monitor and guide someone, if necessary. All the backup systems would need to be tested at least every few months.

Some other questions that you might need answers for:
How long can the backup circulation system run and can it fully support all the fish?
How long will the temperature stay within the safe range (in the winter and summer)?
Is the generator easy to start?
Is there fresh fuel?
How long will it run on a full tank?
Who can add fuel if necessary?
Is the emergency electrical clearly marked and easy to connect?

 

[Oldreeferman]

I keep a stack of several new clean 5 gal buckets on hand stored in my basement with lids........Just incase of a tank failure & things need to be removed at light speed, had a tank break on me once & i remember waking up to the sound of water splashing, a worse sound then a cat barfing on the carpet!

 

[Sk8r]

Buckets are precious. Best are the white polystyrene---I don't trust dyes. They can be emergency tanks if you also have a cheap air pump, some airline tubing, and some varied airstones, ranging from plain cylinder to bar. It's best not to let your fish play in the bubbles---they can get a bubble lodged somewhere, and if you think about it, an air bubble underwater can be difficult to get dislodged unless you can get it aligned with the surface.

 

[Omri]

Very informative post - reminds me of when I lost everything during Sandy. I swore I’d never do this again without a generator and her I am. I really need to get some backup in order ASAP!