horrible times what do i do

im really sorry to hear you are having such problems neil, not a nice situation at all... this is just an idea (and maybe a bad one), but maybe buying some of those pocket pack hand heaters and throwing them inside a ziplock bag, then put the whole bag in the tank? possibly this will keep the temp up just a bit, and also cost a pretty penny too.
or, and this is an even worse idea... put a piece of steel in the tank, and put a blowtorch on the side of the rod out of the water for a few hours in the evening to try and heat the water that way....

or a battery powered heater if you can find one...

all are very rash drastic ideas, but it might be the only chance you got.

You could wrap the tank with a few thick blankets as an insulator. Are you aerating with battery powered pumps at least? This will at least help with O2 and there are products such as Am-Guard by Seachem that will help with Ammonia spikes and such.

HTH Good luck.

no i dont have any battery powered pumps, but none of my fish are gasping and i have been aerating by getting a plastic cup and holding it like 2 feet above the tank and dumping it in so that is makes alot of bubble and it seems to be working.

I have 6 of those hand warmers and i was worried about using them. they must create some kind of gas i think, and they react with oxygen so i cant seal them into a bag... they wouldnt work because they need air for them to heat.

just put the warmers in a bag with the top open.... and submerge the bag so that the lip never goes under.

I like the blowtorch metal rod one. though it seems dangerous

How are you getting online? There's no place with power anywhere to close to your house?

i am at the university which it like 5 miles from my house

Luckily I haven't been in a situation like this (yet). My suggestion would be to buy a generator. Of course it is kinda after the fact now, but if I was living in an area prone to power outages I would invest in one.

For a few bucks, you can get a power inverter and connect that to a car battery. Obviously it will drain the battery after a while, but it might help in a pinch, and if you are dedicated and maybe have two cars available, it might work to keep heaters and filters running for quite a while. I got one that does up to 500W (I think) a while back for like $20, haven't had a need to use it yet, but it is easy enough to plug into the cigarette lighter outlet (or screw to the battery directly) and connect a power cable/power brick.

Hope your fish will make it.

spypet said:

more likely it was 50 watts (110v)
car inverters can effectively run a low watt
electronic device, not a 200w heating element.
and consistent with what you wrote, if you are
going to use your car as a generator, you may
as well rent/invest in a generator.

Click to expand...

No, more likely 500W, something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Vector-Power-Inverter-Model-VEC024CA/dp/B0000AXDTP

They go on sale every so often. Come in handy if the power is out for a few hours. Not great for a couple of days obviously.

I agree with Spypet. Consider whether it's possible to take the fish to the university with you. Or maybe you could transfer them all to a smaller, better insulated tank that would stay warmer longer each time you dump in hot water.

If you have any losses, at least you gave a valiant effort.

wrap your tank with this?

http://www.roadtrucker.com/12-volt-heating/12-volt-heating.htm

swylie said:

I agree with Spypet. Consider whether it's possible to take the fish to the university with you. Or maybe you could transfer them all to a smaller, better insulated tank that would stay warmer longer each time you dump in hot water.

If you have any losses, at least you gave a valiant effort.

Click to expand...

I agree with swylie who agrees with Spypet

If you get the converter, you might want to get another battery and have one charging somewhare and swap them out.
Just a thought,,,,,, If you have a canister filter and hooked up a hose to the output.
Ran it down to the bottom of the tank, have air come in , and run the hose straight up, like a lift tube.
Might pull something through.

Generator faaarrrrr less work ,,,,,, but,,,,,,,,more money.

I think a generator would be your best bet... If you can not buy one what about renting one. I know united rentals has them and I'm sure a few other places around you have them to rent. I hope your fish all make it!

y84k said:

I think a generator would be your best bet... If you can not buy one what about renting one. I know united rentals has them and I'm sure a few other places around you have them to rent. I hope your fish all make it!

Click to expand...

In my limited experience, he has no hope for a generator. They've already been snapped up by other people, and those that haven't are being sold at ridiculous markup. This was true of kerosene heaters when a big ice storm hit SE Pennsylvania around 1990ish. I'm probably off by a few years; I was young.

Hey Neil

Sounds like you don't have power yet as well.
I lost every single fish I had including my wifes guppy tank and my precius apisto beanshis that just had babies. I wrapped my tanks with towels and blankets. Worked for a few days but nothing can compete with the nightime drop of 9 degrees.

Generators and heaters are out of the question. Every city in ks is in a state of emergency and all the stores surrounding are completely sold out of these items. Hell walmarts deli section was completely picked dry here in Manhattan.

I finally had to take my reptiles to the dorms as a friend is housing them since campus has heat/electricity.

Let me know how you fair. I've heard its Dec 22nd before everyone gets power.

Yeah I was thinking that as well that all the rentals are probally gone... this makes me think that I should save up and buy one for those just "in-case" emergency times espcially with how much I have invested into my aquarium. I would be pretty mad/sad if all that time and effort went down the drain!!!

Plus I'm sure you could put it to good use like for tailgating or lighting up the backyard for football at night or something like that as well...

By the way. I've got a 600w power inverter that I used on a couple of lamps above my beardie and diamondback terrapin tanks. It didn't last but 20 minutes if that.

And I went through two marine grade batteries. I have up and moved them to dorms as I mentioned above.

Definetly rethinking of setting up my 55 planted discus. Atleast waiting until I van purchase a generator for times like this.

And I'm posting all this from my beloved blackberry that thankfully is keeping me updated with what's going on around town.

hmm... WWMG (what would Macgyver do)


http://www.rain.org/~philfear/how2solar.html also, definitely should invest in a battery operated air pump.

In the meantime, insulate your tank with foam, blankets..etc

or possibly move the fish to a temporary tank at a friends house or LFS??