Hurricane- Lose any fish?

[ColleenT]

I lost power for 45 hours. My biggest worries were the fish. i took the filter media out of the filter and floated it in the tank, i covered the tank with towels to hold in some heat. i had a propane camp stove so heated water and did a little water change, adding the warm water. I lost one neon tetra but the others all did ok. I think the live plants helped, i had hornwort floating in there which is supposed to be good for oxygenation. Whatever it was, i am glad to say all the others are doing great.

Did any of you have problems?

[Scleropages]

We are on day 4 without power. So far, no losses. Part of me ants to add some hot water (my family is boiling water for personal use over a camping stove and/or camp fire) to the tanks 2x/day to try to keep the temp up, but the other part of me doesn't want to subject the inhabitants of the tanks to a roller-coaster ride on the thermometer. I figure that would stress them out more than just being in cold water for a while. So, I am leaving them be and trying to let as much sunlight as possible hit the tanks and the rooms they are in.

[ColleenT]

Good Luck. It did not bother mine, what i did was use a cup and gently submerge the cup into the tank. i did that over and over. by the end, the fish were more alert. since it took a while, i don't think it shocked them. So sorry you are still without power. I hope you are all ok.

[MChambers]

Good article on coping with power outages:

http://aquaticlifefarm.com/web_pages/al ... e_pwr.html

[Bas Pels]

I think a system can be build good, or badly

In the last 5 years I did not have any outing of the power, I think due to a few smart solutions by the builders.

Obviously, a hurricane such as Sandy will never happen in NL (we aretoo far north, and after the climate has change,d the sea is too shallow and further the UK will shild anything coming from thew ocean) but still, I'm surprized by the general attitude: outings happen.

We would not accept such outings, I think

Anyway, good luck saving your fishes

[ColleenT]

in my area, Hurricanes are very rare, and outages are possible, but not typical. usually if we do have one, it only lasts a little while. This was an unusual storm, but it really made us think about getting a generator.

[Scleropages]

MChambers, thanks for the link/info. We're on day 6 without power at my house. The outside air temp went down to ~37 deg F last night. Yesterday, I started to lose some of my

Synodontis lucipinnis

in my rift lake tank so I started to remove tank water and add water heated to near boiling on a camping stove. The cichlids in the tank seemed to be doing okay, but I had already lost 5 synos so I moved the catfish to a 33gal rubbermaid garbage can, packed a sponge filter and air pump that was on/in one of my planted tanks, took a few heaters and some lava rock from the rift lake tank, and brought them to my friend's house with power. I lost two more last night. I believe I have 6-8 more still living in the rubbermaid. Just hoping I don't have a similar experience with that as I had with my

Synodontis alberti

when I attempted to house them in a similar setup after my 125gal split a seal. Here is evidence of the tough times we're going through in NJ right now.

The view up my street:


My losses:

[Scleropages]

Here's a couple more pics of my neighborhood taken on Oct 30, 2012. In total, I counted 24 large trees down in little more than a 1/4 square mile:

Deciduous tree and electric power line mayhem...


Conifers were not spared either...

[ColleenT]

i am so sorry. You really got hit hard. I just ordered 2 battery powered air filters for the next time we have an outage. I can keep plenty of batteries on hand. I hope your other fish pull thru this. Glad you did not have a tree fall on your house or anything that tragic. i know how much it stinks to be without power. i really hope it comes back soon for you!

[MChambers]

MChambers, thanks for the link/info. We're on day 6 without power at my house. The outside air temp went down to ~37 deg F last night. Yesterday, I started to lose some of my

Synodontis lucipinnis

in my rift lake tank so I started to remove tank water and add water heated to near boiling on a camping stove. The cichlids in the tank seemed to be doing okay, but I had already lost 5 synos so I moved the catfish to a 33gal rubbermaid garbage can, packed a sponge filter and air pump that was on/in one of my planted tanks, took a few heaters and some lava rock from the rift lake tank, and brought them to my friend's house with power. I lost two more last night. I believe I have 6-8 more still living in the rubbermaid. Just hoping I don't have a similar experience with that as I had with my

Synodontis alberti

when I attempted to house them in a similar setup after my 125gal split a seal. Here is evidence of the tough times we're going through in NJ right now.

The view up my street:


My losses:

You're welcome. I hope the article helps you. It helped me last summer, after the derecho, but I didn't have falling temperatures on top of the power loss.

Amazing pictures. Reminds me of what it looked like here last summer, as far as tree loss, and also after Hurricane Isabel in 2005. But you've got far more devastation with the horrible flooding. Good luck.

[wrasse]

I hope the authorities can clear the mess fast and re-establish power.
All that damage and the losses is really sad to see.

[Scleropages]

We're on day 7 without power and the outside air temp went down to ~35 deg F last night. Luckily, no losses to report today. The fish in my 125gal riverine tank seem to be tolerating me adding the hot water 2x/day. Thankfully, my hot water heater is still working like a champ. I plan to keep adding hot water until the power comes back on. I also put styrofoam fish boxes/lids on top of the tank to help try to provide a little more insulation. Fingers are crossed that the fish can put up with this for the time being.

[m1ke715m]

my power was off for 5 days and 10 hours. i stopped feeding 2 days before the storm hit but after day 3 my tanks were down to 60 and the bedroom tank was 56... plecos just couldnt take it.. was doing cold water changes everyday and filling with the safety syphon on very slow to maximize oxygenation day 3 i fed a little bit to the fry and the plecos

i lost ALOT of fish... that being said you wouldnt even be able to tell because i have so many fish to begin with but this is what i lost

12 L-66 juvies
L-600? cant find
1 super red ancistrus
common bn fry
1 calico ancistrus
4 L-129s i think.. only found 3 in the tank maybe the rest are hiding 1 def died
my entire colony of callochromis melanostigma and fry minus 3 and some fry
all of my kilesa fry around 50.. none of the adults..
4 kitumba females, 1 albino kitumba male 1 albino kitumba juvie, kitumba fry
female cyp kerenge
kerenge fry
cyp tanzanian neon fry
1 or 2 cyp karilani juvies.. most of the small fry..
a lot of my cyp katete juvies but the adults seem fine..
all my korneliae fry/juvies
yellow calvus pair? cant find could be in the conch
gallireya reef peacock fry
7 neolamp. marunguensis juvies
1 male copadichromis virginalis gold
foai juvies
chitande type masinje juvies
1 ectodus descampsii ndole
ruby red fry
2 female ethelwynnae
female lwanda


whole colony of kissi bembas
whole colony of chalinochromis brichardi
half colony of black calvus
goldhead comps
orange chaitika comps
black nangu comps
syno macrostoma/microstoma hybrid


im definitely getting a generator and battery backups and all sorts of stuff soon as this craziness is over.. thinking about getting one that runs off gas and getting a propate kit for it since there was really no getting gas after a few days and i could stock up on propane easily enough. i was kicking myself for not getting stuff setup for this kind of thing after Irene but i really thought oh thats not gonna ever happen again.. well im not going to let it happen again..

[ColleenT]

wow, i am so sorry. This Storm was horrible.

[Scleropages]

m1ke715m, sorry to hear about your losses. Sounds like your house is a fish store! As a suggestion, I think it's best to not feed your fish while they are going through a power outage. When they are stressed, they are not going to be digesting their food effectively anyway... especially when the water temp is colder than a normal tropical range. The enzymes just won't work. Most healthy fish can go ~2 weeks without food and survive.

I will also be investing in a generator (probably a Honda) in the near future so I can be more prepared for this type of emergency in the future. I'm going to stop by my house in a couple of hours to check on the 125gal and do another water change. Fingers are crossed my S. angelica monsters are doing okay.

[m1ke715m]

you wouldnt even be able to tell i lost any fish if you came here.. i have 17 tanks and wayyyy too many fish.. it could have been alot worse

i stopped feeding 2 days before the hurricane so my fish went more than 7 days without food.. also tangs are not as forgiving as malawi.. i barely had any malawi loss other than fry and juvies.. i fed the plecos and fry on day 3 just a little bit.. the problem was my tanks got way too cold.. i was doing daily water changes to combat ammonia and oxygenation but theres really no getting around 56-60 degree water temps.. i dont have gas in my apartment complex its all electrical so i had no hot water, no stove, no heat.. i myself was freezing.. im pissed mostly about the kitumbas and L-66

[bassgenie]

I lost power for 5 days. My tanks dropped into the low 60s. I ran my air and sponges on Battery backups in cycles. Did water changes every other day. Thank Heaven I have gas heat and I still had hot water, so I could change the water with some warm water. I have a couple hundred fish and 11 Tanks. It was a ton of work, plus I'm working 12 hour shifts since the storm hit as part of the FEMA Recovery/cleanup. Peoples houses were literally torn off their foundations and knocked into the next. Some parts of the Island had a 14 foot Storm Surge. A friend of mine had to be rescued off of his roof and his house is now condemned, another friends mom was found deceased in a tree.. There are parts of the city still with a foot of standing water, total carnage. Nature really showed her Fury. I got my power back on a couple of days ago and my tanks still haven't fully stabilized. I'm treating one of my tanks for some illness, but the rest seem to be ok. I Even got a spawn in a tank. I got off easy..
So far, Ive Lost a Sub adult L-128 and an adult L-200. I also lost a few Very nice various African Cichlids, some rare. I got off easy, many people weren't as prepared. Terrible storm, Ive never seen one this bad in Staten Island. My Sister lost her house in the storm surge, but we didnt loose any loved ones. Material things can be replaced. I'm planning on downsizing a bit, this thing shook me up.

I really liked this Green Phantom.



This was my view yesterday in my dump truck. This was a block from my Grandfathers house. The water came up to the middle of the first floor. My aunt was floating on her couch for a few hours. She told us she was in Brooklyn and she was ok when we were preparing for the Hurricane. They live almost a quarter mile from the shoreline. Insanity. Entire neighborhoods are now condemned. This has been 12 of my 24 hours in a day for over a week now.

[ColleenT]

OH that is horrible. i feel so bad for those who lost so much.

[Richard B]

Some terrible losses & horrendous damage - let's hope for complete recovery soon

[m1ke715m]

we're bout to get hit with some monster nor'easter today now too.. hopefully its not too bad.. i was supposed to go to brooklyn i think im going to hunker down in the house in case my power goes out again

[Scleropages]

Thankfully, the power at my house came back on yesterday PM. I learned that Harlequin Rasboras are much more sensitive to cold than Brass Tetras or Pearl Celestial Danios as all of the Rasboras died in one of my planted tanks but hardly any of the latter two died.

My mbuna all seem to be alive, but some are showing signs of serious swim/air bladder dysfunction.

The fish in my 125gal riverine tank all made it.

It is starting to snow out here in Hackettstown. The next nor'eastern is already here! Hopefully, all of the loose/weak stuff has already come down from Sandy and people don't lose power again.

[ColleenT]

Glad you have your power back. sorry about your fish.

[excuzzzeme]

No power x 7 days. Losses minimal considering no power:

12 Bristlenose fry
3 Guppies
2 Silver Dollars

Came close to losing my Oscar and Disjunctivus. Added an airstone to the tank and ran it for about 4 - 6 hrs each day while generator was running. Seemed to be sufficient. The Oscar quit gasping.

[Coriequest]

This is so sad and a big reminder for what can happen anywhere. I'm so sorry for those who lost fish and more in this terrible storm!

[ColleenT]

i recently ordered 2 battery powered air filters and air stones. They take 2 D batteries, and i can stock up on those before any storm. I can heat water with our propane camp stove, so i think this combo would work great to keep them going.

[Narwhal72]

I keep a dozen battery powered air pumps around for emergencies. You can get them from Kmart pretty cheap in the fishing tackle section.

Heating the tanks in cold weather is the biggest problem. In a pinch you can use the chemical hand warmer heat packs to keep the temperature up a few degrees. Wrap them in a folded over paper plate and tape the plate to the underside of the aquarium (assuming you have an open top stand). This will give you about 10 hours of heat and can keep a tank of 55 gallons about 2-3 degrees above ambient.

Fortunately where I live now we have all underground utilities so power outages are really rare. Where I used to live winter storms would knock out power regularly which was a pain.

Andy

[corybreed]

I got my electricity back after 14 days. I have 40 tanks in my fish room. After the first few days the temperatures started to drop, eventually, down to 49 degrees. In the dark I was able to move most of my fish to a friends house and a local shop. I think I saved about 75 percent of my fish room. I did lose my tank of Syno brichardi, my Peruvian basket mouth cichlids that I raised to adulthood, some assorted plecos and corys, four giant black jaguars and most of my doradids. I am fortunate that my house and family are fine. Many here suffered terrible losses.

Mark

[ColleenT]

Wow 2 weeks! i am glad you were able to save some of your fish.