Irene

Guys, I'm in Charleston SC an Irene has a good chance of doing so serious damage here. If my electricity is gone for a long period of time what can I do - especially if I have to evacuate and not here!?
I don't have any kind of generator or power backup, I have a million things to do in a short period of time if this thing tracks to hit here. As of now they are predicting it to hit a little more north like the willmington NC area, but I don't trust the judgement of any of these computer system models.

 

Your best bet is to go to a hardware store and purchase a gas generator (if you have the means and they still have some for sale). Go buy gas and fill it up all the way. Start it before you leave, if evacuated. If you stay, start it when power goes out. Try to keep it in an isolated, ventilated if possible room, and run #12 drop cords to your appliances you wish to run.

 

Let me ask, what are the chances of survival for the fish if I cant get one? Just say worst case scenario, the power is gone for a week?

 

Yea unless you want to drive to Columbia (only 1.5 hours!) and give me your stuff, I think the generator is the only thing to do. There was another thread about the storm and someone recommended an inverter because they're cheap, but does the car have to be running the whole time, or is that thing a battery as well?

Either way, I remember the ice storm Columbia had maybe 6 years ago and we were out of power for over a week, not sure if that hit Charleston or not, but that would definitely have wiped out a tank. 25 - 35 degrees for a week with no power = fish popsicles.

*Edit - at least it won't be cold in this case

 

Hey Fellow South Carolinian's, I'm also in Columbia. We're supposed to get some nasty storms here as a result, and our power is pretty darn iffy.

 

Battery powered air pumps are cheap and can be a lifesaver. I have both straight battery powered and the ones you plug into the wall and when they sense a loss of power they switch to battery power.

For long term I have a gas generator but rarely use it.

 

Battery operated air pumps. Weigh the airstone to the bottom by rubberbanding a piece of rubble to the airline hose. Fill up (cleaned) milk cartons with ro/di water and freeze it now. Float in the tank and as it slowly melts, it tops off and cools at the same time. Put a powerhead on a UPS. There are hundreds of threads on this subject on 3Reef so do some searches for other ideas.

I wish you guys good luck.

 

I would have suggested battery air pumps, but I've never seen them at a LFS...and I have been to LFS in Charleston, SC recently. If you're without power for a day, depending on tank size, you will have some losses. Longer than that...

Now we have to worry about Earthquakes too!!!

 

Wrap the tank in an old sleeping bag or blankets and the water temp will be more steady.

 

Yea, that was weird. I'm on the 7th floor downtown in Columbia and our building was swaying a tad, kind of made me nauseous!