Hurricane Prep for Fish--Any Advice?

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storm_in_a_teacup
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Hurricane Prep for Fish--Any Advice?

#1 Postby storm_in_a_teacup » Sat Sep 08, 2018 1:02 am

So...I don't know how many people here on Storm2K know about fish care, but one thing that's been bothering me for a while now is how to deal with a long-term power outage (more than a few days) in a large (100+ gallons) tropical fish tank.

During Hurricane Ike my father jury-rigged a crazy contraption of a livewell aerator, marine batteries, and power inverters, and it lasted for the three days we were out of power. But for a longer term outage, I think you'd need some way of running the filter (especially if it is a canister filter that can go anoxic if the water doesn't move through it).

Would this sort of a set up work to power an aquarium filter as well, or does it basically require a generator?
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Re: Hurricane Prep for Fish--Any Advice?

#2 Postby tolakram » Sat Sep 08, 2018 6:14 am

I have a 1500 watt generator specifically for keeping the fish tanks alive. 150 and a 40 gallon Marine (reef). I need to keep both corals and fish alive. :) For freshwater I would make sure a filter stays running which should be enough to aerate the water. For saltwater you are going to have flow pumps in the tank anyway so keep those running and the fish will be fine. You can get a decent generator for under $300. I had enough excess wattage to keep a small chest freezer going as well.

Longest outage I've had up here, well away from the ocean, is 48 hours. In a hurricane zone I think the biggest problem would be road conditions and gas supply for the generator.
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Re: Hurricane Prep for Fish--Any Advice?

#3 Postby storm_in_a_teacup » Sat Sep 08, 2018 3:34 pm

tolakram wrote:I have a 1500 watt generator specifically for keeping the fish tanks alive. 150 and a 40 gallon Marine (reef). I need to keep both corals and fish alive. :) For freshwater I would make sure a filter stays running which should be enough to aerate the water. For saltwater you are going to have flow pumps in the tank anyway so keep those running and the fish will be fine. You can get a decent generator for under $300. I had enough excess wattage to keep a small chest freezer going as well.

Longest outage I've had up here, well away from the ocean, is 48 hours. In a hurricane zone I think the biggest problem would be road conditions and gas supply for the generator.


Thanks for the advice.
Also I had no idea you kept fish. What species do you have?
(I have blue acara, giant danios, panda garra, tiger striped silver dollars, and Japanese weather loaches. My biggest loach is named Dr. Eel Frank eheheh)
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Re: Hurricane Prep for Fish--Any Advice?

#4 Postby tolakram » Sat Sep 08, 2018 4:00 pm

Fish are kind of secondary for me. Yellow Tang, Kole Tang, Foxface, my clowns who lay eggs every 20 days, a few others. It's my stony corals that take all the work. :)

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