no power....

[labloverl]

Power is coming on and off, what do I do if it stays off. It's supposed to snow a bunch tonight so the power will probably be out. I have a 5 gallon tank, 10 gallon (with 3 males), and a 3.5 gallon. They're in a room that usually stays 72*. The tanks are heated and cycled. The house is heated by a wood stove. If the power goes out, should I cup the fish and put them in the heated room? Is there anything more I could do?

[callistra]

How long do you expect the power to be out?

Sometimes I use these if it's just going to be out a short time or keeps hiccuping: http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13

I always have surge protectors on all my fish equipment which won't help if the power goes out but will help if there is a surge during the outage.

Short of a generator.. Move them to the warmest room in the house and wrap their tanks in towls to keep the heat in.

[bryanacute]

You to? It's supposed to snow about 5-6 inches tonight. So far our power hasn't gone out. But, there is supposed to be super windy. I might have to set up a small tank and put a divider in it to separate the girls, and put it in my heated bedroom.

[labloverl]

Well I'm wondering if it would be better to try to move their tanks or just cup them. I have 5 males, and 4 cups though. I do have a .75 gallon vase and a 1.5 hospital tank.

[callistra]

The small cups will cool down fast but if you cover the later tanks especially the 10 gallons they'll hold heat a lot longer

[isochronism]

Move them to a table close to wood stove if that is all you have for heat, and monitor with their tank thermometers. (?)

[LittleBlueFishlets]

So the house will stay at 72F, even if the power goes out? That's excellent!

If there's a warmer room, I'd move the entire tank into it. As Callistra said, you're better off keeping them in the larger tank, and monitoring the temperature, as Isochronism suggested.

To help retain heat, if needed: You can wrap the tank with aluminum foil, then wrap it again with towels or a blanket to provide extra insulation. Cover the lid too. (The lid/top is a large potential source of heat loss.) Make sure the bettas can breathe though!

If heat loss continues (which I don't think will happen, since the house temp is 72F): You could always heat some water with the stove, and do small water changes. (Obviously, don't make it too hot, and don't add it rapidly! You don't want to shock the fish with a drastic temp change. I suggest using a thermometer to monitor the temp of the heated water, and keep it within a few degrees of the tank temp.)

[Virto]

When we had a multi-day power outage, we'd float bags of hot water in the chiclid tank to keep things warm.

A small zip-lock bag filled with warm or hot water, floated in the tank will keep the temp up for a little while. You'll probably have to change the bag every 1-2 hours, depending on the size of the tank and the temp of the water.

If you have a very small tank, do not use the hottest water possible, as you may shock a fish. I find this method much more simple than trying to do partial water changes.

[FoodFish]

Originally Posted by Virto

When we had a multi-day power outage, we'd float bags of hot water in the chiclid tank to keep things warm.

A small zip-lock bag filled with warm or hot water, floated in the tank will keep the temp up for a little while. You'll probably have to change the bag every 1-2 hours, depending on the size of the tank and the temp of the water.

If you have a very small tank, do not use the hottest water possible, as you may shock a fish. I find this method much more simple than trying to do partial water changes.

Thanks for the advice! I'm learning!

[LittleBlueFishlets]

Originally Posted by Virto

When we had a multi-day power outage, we'd float bags of hot water in the chiclid tank to keep things warm.

A small zip-lock bag filled with warm or hot water, floated in the tank will keep the temp up for a little while. You'll probably have to change the bag every 1-2 hours, depending on the size of the tank and the temp of the water.

If you have a very small tank, do not use the hottest water possible, as you may shock a fish. I find this method much more simple than trying to do partial water changes.

I like this idea!