Yikes! My power went out!

My power has been out for almost the last 2 hours. I was laying on the couch with my girls when it came on and it scared the bejeepers out of us!

I'm concerned about my fish. I have 4 regular neon fish and 4 black neons and 1 algae eater. The regular neons lost their color but they are all still alive. One looks weak, like the filter is kinda pushing him around the tank. I'm hoping they are going to be OK!


On the lighter side....My first thought when the power went out was "I should post that the lights just went out!" (I was on here getting ready to reply to a post at the time....now if I can just remember what post that was!)

your fish should be ok sweetie. I have an 80 gallon (freshwater- i'm thinking about converting it to saltwater- we have a MASSIVE pleco in there) a 10 gallon (also with tetras) and two bettas. The fish should be ok for a few hours, even without a filter/heater since they are freshwater.....so try not to worry too much. What you can do is fill hot water bottles and kinda tie them around the tank or place them on top if their temperature drops too quickly. / Other than that though- you should be fine Do you have flaslights and candles?

We had flashlights on and fortunately it was a warm day, so the house was pretty warm too. The lack of the filter scared me most. The color looks better on most of them now.

they will be fine. The loss of color is normal. Neons lose their color during the night and then when the light is on, the color comes back. I'm surprised you haven't noticed before

Just agitate the water every few hours if it's going to be that long just so it doesn't sit there.

Some people don't have filtration at all on their tanks but they do have the water moving. That's my worry more than actual filtration.

Originally Posted by Rosey

they will be fine. The loss of color is normal. Neons lose their color during the night and then when the light is on, the color comes back. I'm surprised you haven't noticed before

Just agitate the water every few hours if it's going to be that long just so it doesn't sit there.

Some people don't have filtration at all on their tanks but they do have the water moving. That's my worry more than actual filtration.

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Actually I haven't noticed they loose their color with the lights off! That is sooooo relieving to know! Thank you!

Is the power back on yet? How are your fish?

Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Is the power back on yet? How are your fish?

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I think they have to be without a filter for quite a while longer than 2 hours. Maybe 8 or more.

Plus as long as the scum sucker is doing his job there shouldn't be much worry.

How is the weather in your area...why is your power out?

I saw on the Weather Channel this morning that either Michigan or Ohio (I can't remember where...) had power outages, as the weather was crappy.

Hopefully it comes back on soon...

Originally Posted by MoochNNoodles

On the lighter side....My first thought when the power went out was "I should post that the lights just went out!"

(I was on here getting ready to reply to a post at the time....now if I can just remember what post that was!)

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I was wondering how you were posting if you had no power. Imagining little Mooch and Noodles on the hamster wheel putting out the electricity for the computer.

I hate when the power goes out.We were without it for 51 hours Winter before last. OMG!!! 4 kids and no power,doesn't make for a good time at all.That was the final straw and we went out and got a generator as soon as we could.

Originally Posted by crittermom

I hate when the power goes out.We were without it for 51 hours Winter before last. OMG!!! 4 kids and no power,doesn't make for a good time at all.That was the final straw and we went out and got a generator as soon as we could.

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I feel ya- we were without power for 3 weeks the summer before my senior year of high school (think about Memphis summers they're scorching and the humidity is a nightmare). Hurricane Elvis really took a toll on everyone. It was a massive straight line storm. But thankfully we wound up being ok. Even my fish wound up being ok for 3 weeks (we thought for sure we'd loose them)Haha and i never got teased again for having sooooooo many candles- they certainly came in handy The worst thing was trying to get gas and ice- the lines were SOOOOOOOOO long! We cooked out for 3 weeks straight so our food wouldn't go bad That was also the time i went to floral design school. Since we had no power at the shop- we moved into Anderton's Seafood Resturant into the ballroom (only place in the city with power). We had flowers sent in from across the city- only one shop was open and all they could spare were hidious pink carnations (which explains my utter disdane for carnations now ) It was definitely interesting to say the least

The power came back on right before I posted this. I don't know why it went out yet. We weren't having bad weather and I didn't hear any sirens. I was texting a friend who lives on the north side of town and she had power. I havn't checked the news yet, but I'm guessing they will say something about it.

My fishies look good today so all is well there.

Glad to hear you all made it thru the power outage!

At least it's warm today, LeighAnn.

Originally Posted by neetanddave

At least it's warm today, LeighAnn.

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Oh yeah! It was like 68 here! My thermostat read 77 at 5pm. I was out without a jacket and in short sleeves!

Originally Posted by MoochNNoodles

Actually I haven't noticed they loose their color with the lights off! That is sooooo relieving to know! Thank you!

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I freaked out once in the morning when i turned the light on and they were all transparent...i posted frantically on a fish forum and low and behold it's normal...lol

How to post on forums during a power outage:
1) Have a laptop with a charged battery
2) Know a dial-up internet number....
Good to go for awhile at least!

(sadly, I have done this....in a poweroutage, macguyvered out connectivity)