ReefSafari Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 So while I am in portland I get a call from a freind saying the whole are is out of power, I drive home thinking things will be back up and running as the PUD here is usually on it, I get home mind you with a box of new corals and the system had dropped in temp more than I thought it would, the tank was at 67 degrees, quickly fired up the generator and got the tank going, well I believe my heater is shot cuase the tank has not warmed up past 71, I placed a heater near the tank, and im waiting for the nearest place to get a temp heater, either walmart or petco, my question is how low and for and for how long can the tank go for before I start loosing corals? I guess im going on about 18 hours now with reduced temps....67 was the lowest it got, and for the past 8-9 hours its been holding at 71...but wont go any higher, this is with the radiator type heater right next to the sump, so im pretty sure my heater is shot. I have about a few more hours to go before I can get a new temporary one..anybody have any experiences with extended power outages and low temps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frlejo Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 should be fine, i have my sump in the unheated garage. no heater at all 6 months out of the year, tank averages 75 all year long, seems to do fine. corals & fish can take cold easier than hot, alot of lfs do not have heaters in their tanks, just let room temperature run the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Hope everything does ok David-good seeing ya again yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefboy Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 you will only have issues once it gets below 65 if u can keep in the 68-70's you'll be fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytshall Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Can't send out PMs but I might be heading up to meadows tomorrow and back down thru hood river. Got a new oydsea 500W heater if you are interested. Mike 614-378-3788 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefSafari Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 should be fine' date=' i have my sump in the unheated garage. no heater at all 6 months out of the year, tank averages 75 all year long, seems to do fine. corals & fish can take cold easier than hot, alot of lfs do not have heaters in their tanks, just let room temperature run the tank.[/quote'] Thanks for the reply, that is good to know, I was in panic mode there for a bit... Hope everything does ok David-good seeing ya again yesterday Thanks again Brad for the Reactor, Your tank is INSANE!!! I was so excited to see it, I was very impressed, thanks for giving me a tour! you will only have issues once it gets below 65 if u can keep in the 68-70's you'll be fine Awesome, thanks for the reply, the tank never went below 67...and I slowly brought the temp back up... Can't send out PMs but I might be heading up to meadows tomorrow and back down thru hood river. Got a new oydsea 500W heater if you are interested. Mike 614-378-3788 Thanks Mike, I went and picked up a new temp heater at petco in the Dalles, Thanks though, How was the mountain, I wanted to go, but was stuck babsitting several generators all weekend, I heard they got dumped on up there... Thanks for everyones advice, kept the tank as warm as possible till the next morning, and ran to Petco and grabbed a heater, while I was in Petco one of the employee's came up to me and said there was a guy on the phone that was in an emergency, He didn't have a backup generator and woke up to all of his tanks crashing, all his fish had died, and the corals where all starting to do the same, so I got ahold of him, and told him all I had was a 40 breeder but it was hooked up to a generator and I could move some stuff around and make room, well come to find out he had alot of corals, very nice ones too...I felt so bad for him, it was heart breaking, So while he gets things back up and running, (power was off all weekend) I have probably one of the most jam packed 40 breeders I have ever seen...I believe he is going to be getting out of the hobby, so he might be selling some of these things, I told him I would help him, and talked to him about PNWMAS, Anyway, its been a long weekend, but I am glad I was able to help out a little, saved most of his more sensitive corals and some of his favorites... Power was restored last night finally, most of the gorge was out of power...I don't think I can fit one more thing in this tank, I hope it all does ok, everything seems to be doing well so far...The gorge is a beautiful place to live, but not this last week, thats for sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPaquatics Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Nice tank! Its stocked! Glad everything worked out ok. I have hit 67 before too. Was very nerve wracking. But like it was mentioned above, cold is better than hot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankb Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Nice tank! I am always worried about this kind of catastrophe. Hopefully, everything is fine now for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefSafari Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Nice tank! I am always worried about this kind of catastrophe. Hopefully' date=' everything is fine now for you.[/quote'] Everything is going good now, tank temp is stable, just watching all the other parameters now, didn't loose anything so far, I wish I had an automatic generator that came on as soon as the power went out, that would be nice, I was in portland at the meeting when it went out, and had to race back to fire it up. Generators are one of those things that hardley ever get used, but when they do they can be a life saver. I am glad I had one....I felt so bad the guy lost all his fish, I wished I could have helped more...everyone I spoke with said they where not prepaired for this, and honestly I wasn't either...candles, batteries, ect..ect. I think this is ther first time my area has been days without power, in the past its only been just a few hours and they get it back up and running...I can't imagine working months if not years to get these setups cycled, balanced out, corals growing, and then in one weekend watch it all die, just gut wrenching... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tif Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Back in November we lost power for about 30 hours or so. My 29 gal biocube is not hooked up to a generator. As soon as the power went out (I was home recovering from surgery) I wrapped the aquarium in fleece blankets and then wrapped it in a down comforter. My tank is generally at 79degF. By the time the power came back on the tank was at 71. Not too bad for 30 hours with no heater. I'm still not prepared for when the power goes out again. The best idea I can come up with is to run the heater off the power inverter in the Jeep. Glad it worked out okay and that you were in the right place at the right time to help the person in crisis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tif Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Back in November we lost power for about 30 hours or so. My 29 gal biocube is not hooked up to a generator. As soon as the power went out (I was home recovering from surgery) I wrapped the aquarium in fleece blankets and then wrapped it in a down comforter. My tank is generally at 79degF. By the time the power came back on the tank was at 71. Not too bad for 30 hours with no heater. I'm still not prepared for when the power goes out again. The best idea I can come up with is to run the heater off the power inverter in the Jeep. Glad it worked out okay and that you were in the right place at the right time to help the person in crisis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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