Hurricane Dean, may have to evacuate, what should I do?

[glennr1978]

Just in case I have to leave town for a couple days due to hurricane Dean, do any of you have any suggestions for my tank? I know I should get a generator, and will in the near future for sure. However, I just dropped $800 for two hotel rooms for my family and I in case have to leave town so the generator is going to have to wait.

Would it be a bad idea to set up a small battery operated air pump in my tank right before we leave? I'm not sure if the excess air bubbles would cause any problems if we never lose power. Also should I maybe top off a little extra since I will be gone for a couple days (I don't have an ATO yet)? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Glenn.

[LoneStar]

Where are you located at?

What size tank do you have and what kinda livestock?

A battery operated air pump would be the cheapest thing to get and it can be a life saver. A UPS with a powerhead can help out too. Depending on the size of the UPS and powerhead you use, it can last a long time.

[glennr1978]

I'm in Corpus, I think the storm will most likely hit south of here. Since Katrina my wife has been terrified of hurricanes. If there's a chance one may hit within 300 miles of us she wants to leave town. I have a 40g tank with mostly soft corals, and only 2 clown fish (small ones at that), and a purple back pseudochromis. I'm not familiar with a UPS, what's that? Thanks, Glenn.

[LoneStar]

I'm not familiar with a UPS, what's that?


Uninterrupted Power Supply

A UPS is used on a computer to provide backup power when the electricity goes out. It also acts as a AC conditioner. Some are rated 'larger' than others. Depending on which one you get, it can keep a powerhead (like a MaxiJet) going until power gets restored. You can buy them anywhere computers are sold....Best Buy, CompUSA, Altex. I believe there is still a Altex down on SPID Drive in Corpus. I would check there first.

http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13

http://altex.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=ups

If you do decide to get one, buy the largest one you can afford.

[glennr1978]

Thanks for the info., I'm going to Altex tomorrow to pick up one of those.

[brewercm]

Try to put as little on it as you need so it will run as long as possible. Possibly on a tank that size you can get away with a small powerhead or two that has an aeration feature.

Good luck and maybe it will continue the path that it's on and leave us alone.

[erikharrison]

Powerhead and an air pump on a hundred dollar UPS should last an ample amount of time. One MAJOR thing though. Alot of UPSs DO NOT turn back on in the even of a power failure, assuming it lost all battery power. We just bought some rack mount UPSs from Altex, and I quickly learned that fact with all of the rain that we were having. Look for an auto on feature, or one that does not utilize a power button, look for one that only has a switch!