Rough week for our tanks in DC area

[Gatortailale]

Lucky for me I didn't lose power - Reston has underground cables. However, forcast is for 96-98 temps this weekend through Monday. My advice, think about reducing/limit hours on how long you run your lights this weekend. Few days of reduced hours should not hurt anything and will prevent you from cooking your tank (it might even give your heat pump a break).

[amay121]

Lost power for 12 hours, but nothing seems hurt. I'll probably close off my basement during the daylight hours and limit lighting to 6-7 hours and unplug the heaters, then when night hits, I'll open everything up and let the room air out.

[magnetic1]

im dropping my light cycle this weekend for a little... just to save energy

[YBeNormal]

There is a thread or two on RC where people have experimented with turning the lights off for two or three days per month. Not only does it not seem to cause any problems, many people report clearer water and more polyp extension after doing it. I don't have a chiller yet so I have my ACIII set to turn the lights off if temps get too high.

[HowardofNOVA]

Day 3 and no electricity yet!

lost 1 cleaner shrimp so far and have 2 bubblers in each tank going when I left town yesterday!

[basser9]

I turn off my sump pump 6 hours a day....run my lights for 4 hours 3 times a week....10 hrs a day rest of week....THIS HAS always worked for me....corals growth seems much more dependent on current...I have 4 2000hr sureflows on my 150....increase your flow and watch them grow....

[ctenophore]

I was over helping Rik, his power came back on for about 30 mins then went out again! He may not have power till Monday.

[davelin315]

Wow, if anyone needs, I've got plenty of sump space if you need me to hold any pest free corals or fish.

 

One piece of advice for those anticipating excessive heat in their tanks, freeze some blocks of RO/DI water that you can add to your tank to cool it down. If you can do this and run some fans over the water the combination of ice top-off and evaporative cooling will certainly do the trick for keeping temperatures down.

[txaggies07]

I lost power for about 36 hours in Reston. I lost my Flame Angel. :( :( :( :(

[MLazar]

Wow, if anyone needs, I've got plenty of sump space if you need me to hold any pest free corals or fish.

 

One piece of advice for those anticipating excessive heat in their tanks, freeze some blocks of RO/DI water that you can add to your tank to cool it down. If you can do this and run some fans over the water the combination of ice top-off and evaporative cooling will certainly do the trick for keeping temperatures down.

 

Awesome idea, wouldn't have thought of it. Even making ice cube trays of RODI water sounds like it would help.

 

Thanks!

 

Maureen

[Freezerburn]

I actually had a small airpump in florida I was able to power from a solar panel, but that was florida. think it was sold off durring my move.

 

Not sure if this could help anyone but I'll put it out there as a possible backup plan for situations like this.

http://www.solarkey.com/index.asp

Edited June 7, 2008 by Freezerburn

[Guest beatle]

WRT heat, you can also freeze water bottles and put them into the sump. Since the water is contained in the bottle, your salinity will remain the same. My AC went out for 3 days last year during a 100+ heat wave and I believe this saved my inhabitants. Make sure you have a fair amount of frozen water, as you will go through the bottles faster than you can refreeze them.

[bigJPDC]

yep, I tried a ziplock bag full of ice and when that did NOTHING I decided I needed the ice for other things.