I have never, in all my years of fish keeping, even living through several hurricanes in Florida, experienced the extended power outage I'm going through now.
At 3am, I lost power in my city (me and 30,000+ others). On top of this, its a 'heat wave' of sorts, with temperatures in the 90s daily.
The water in my 8 tanks has gone from 72 or 77 degrees (depending on the species of fish) to 85 so far. And its only been 15 hours.
All tanks are heavily planted which normally will mean more oxygen to the fish. Plants respire (take in oxygen and give of CO2) 24x7, but with light, they also photosynthesis (take in CO2 and give off oxygen). This giving off of oxygen GREATLY outpaces the giving of of CO2 with proper lighting. \
But with no power now during their 'day,' no oxygen is being produced. My plants are now COMPETING with the fish for available oxygen. With the rising along with the lack of light, the water holds less and less oxygen.
I'm not worried much about the plants. Plants are resillient and even if some die back, they will respond once conditions are right again, and grow.
The fish I am worried about.
I have 4 species of fish currently. Adults and juvies in grow-out tanks. Luckily, 3 of the 4 can take in atmospheric oxygen in a pinch. One cannot, and needs cooler water (those were in the tank at 72 degrees).
Here is what I've done to help save my fish: tried to by a small gas powered generator. What was on sale over the 4th of July weekend for $199 is now $459. Gotta love price gauging. I can't afford $459 this week or this month
Had I had it to spend, I would have, in a heartbeat.
I rememered fishing as a youngster with my grandparents and uncles as a kid (the only 'girl' to venture out on such outings). We had battery operated airpumps to keep the bain minnows alive over a weekend. Hmm....
Found a baitshop open on Sunday in a town 30 miles away, and sure enough, they had some of those pumps. They are more fancy than I remember having, but hey, beggers can't be choosers. And at $15 each, plus the cost of a pack of D-cell batteries, I was armed with something at least.
I bought enough to run 2 or 3 (with splitters) tanks off each pump. Set them up about 5 hours ago and they were bubbling in each tank. I gave my danio specie a bit more than the otos in the adjacent tank, since they are the cool water fish and the otos can 'gulp' air if they have to.
I made sure all lids were on and all openings covered with egg-crate material. All tanks have some floating plants and I've never had a fish (even known 'jumpers') jump out, but with the conditions not being as they should, desperate fish sometimes jump looking for a better 'pond' to live in.
Now, I just wait. It got to over 100degrees in the house, so I had to move into a hotel about 5 miles away (luckily they have power). I'm going back now to check on the pumps. The boxes said one battery lasts 30+ hours, but I don't trust batteries and besides, if anything has died off, I need to remove bodies so the decay doesn't hurt the others' chances. I'll change the batteries if the flow looks reduced.
At 3am, I lost power in my city (me and 30,000+ others). On top of this, its a 'heat wave' of sorts, with temperatures in the 90s daily.
The water in my 8 tanks has gone from 72 or 77 degrees (depending on the species of fish) to 85 so far. And its only been 15 hours.
All tanks are heavily planted which normally will mean more oxygen to the fish. Plants respire (take in oxygen and give of CO2) 24x7, but with light, they also photosynthesis (take in CO2 and give off oxygen). This giving off of oxygen GREATLY outpaces the giving of of CO2 with proper lighting. \
But with no power now during their 'day,' no oxygen is being produced. My plants are now COMPETING with the fish for available oxygen. With the rising along with the lack of light, the water holds less and less oxygen.
I'm not worried much about the plants. Plants are resillient and even if some die back, they will respond once conditions are right again, and grow.
The fish I am worried about.
I have 4 species of fish currently. Adults and juvies in grow-out tanks. Luckily, 3 of the 4 can take in atmospheric oxygen in a pinch. One cannot, and needs cooler water (those were in the tank at 72 degrees).
Here is what I've done to help save my fish: tried to by a small gas powered generator. What was on sale over the 4th of July weekend for $199 is now $459. Gotta love price gauging. I can't afford $459 this week or this month
Had I had it to spend, I would have, in a heartbeat.I rememered fishing as a youngster with my grandparents and uncles as a kid (the only 'girl' to venture out on such outings). We had battery operated airpumps to keep the bain minnows alive over a weekend. Hmm....
Found a baitshop open on Sunday in a town 30 miles away, and sure enough, they had some of those pumps. They are more fancy than I remember having, but hey, beggers can't be choosers. And at $15 each, plus the cost of a pack of D-cell batteries, I was armed with something at least.
I bought enough to run 2 or 3 (with splitters) tanks off each pump. Set them up about 5 hours ago and they were bubbling in each tank. I gave my danio specie a bit more than the otos in the adjacent tank, since they are the cool water fish and the otos can 'gulp' air if they have to.
I made sure all lids were on and all openings covered with egg-crate material. All tanks have some floating plants and I've never had a fish (even known 'jumpers') jump out, but with the conditions not being as they should, desperate fish sometimes jump looking for a better 'pond' to live in.
Now, I just wait. It got to over 100degrees in the house, so I had to move into a hotel about 5 miles away (luckily they have power). I'm going back now to check on the pumps. The boxes said one battery lasts 30+ hours, but I don't trust batteries and besides, if anything has died off, I need to remove bodies so the decay doesn't hurt the others' chances. I'll change the batteries if the flow looks reduced.
