Emergency insulation?

[wlepse]

I recently picked up a battery powered air pump in case our power goes out this winter but that got me thinking about the water temp too. I know it has a large thermal mass but if I am without power for a long time it may cool too much. So I was thinking about getting something to cover the tank for emergencies. Is this just paranoid behavior? Also when the power comes back on, the heater will be on full bore. Would this be too rapid a temp change? Would it be wise to unplug or decrease teh set point and slowly work your way back?

[Padams]

What size tank?

Where do you live and how cold can it get? I would use a blanket on mine if I were to use anything. BUT I have a generator in the garage I can use as well.

[robflanker]

1) You could just get some insulation from Lowes/Home Depot if you were truly concerned, or just some towels
2) I personally wouldn't be hugely concerned - you can always use the taps to add warm water to the tank
3) When the heater comes back on with the power, it wont cook the fish dont worry. It will take a while for the tank to heat up

[sailor]

I picked up some of those silver insulating blankets to cover the tanks if a situation like this ever arises. A friend of mine uses them and says they work like a charm. As far as the heater goes I have always left them plugged in as it takes quite a while to loose any heat and quite a while to recover it.

[wlepse]

I live in northern NJ so it gets cold but not super cold. I wouldsay once or twice a year we lose power but usually during an ice storm so it isn't terribly cold. Even when we got 3 feet a couple years back we didn't lose power. Honestly glad you don't think it is necessary because living in a condo makes storing things a real issue. I will just plan on using a blanket, so long as I can get some away from teh wife.

[robflanker]

I lived in NJ/CT/PA/MA for 10 yrs now - i wouldn't worry about it.

We havent lost power for long enough for it to be an issue in the last 10 yrs. if you want to have some blankets and stuff handy - it wouldnt hurt, but dont worry about buying insulation or any of that.

[domjd05]

I live in Maine, the power goes out maybe once or twice a year.. but it does get into sub zero temperatures at night... I have thought about this myself, I have a fire place, if my tank gets to low I'll just warm some water up, dechlorinate it.. and voila!

wouldn't worry about the heater warming up the water too fast.. turn your heater down when it turns back on if you think its warming up to fast.

[jb300m01]

When my power goes out I have a big blanket that I throw on top of my 75 and make sure it goes all the way around and covers all of the glass (except for the back). If you do use a blanket and you don't take the lights off, make sure to turn them off (if they were on when the power went out) or unplug them. Don't want to take any chances of a fire.

[Northernguy]

As already suggested,blanlkets and warm water change will do!
Now you wanna talk about cold and snow do you!:hmm3grin2orange:
We get 3ft a day!:fish2:
Your darn near in the sunny south! lol

[wlepse]

As already suggested,blanlkets and warm water change will do!
Now you wanna talk about cold and snow do you!:hmm3grin2orange:
We get 3ft a day!:fish2:
Your darn near in the sunny south! lol
No doubt....I had to go to Quebec City last year in the winter and was amazed by the mountains of snow...not even sure how they blew it up over 50 feet!

[Northernguy]

lol It fell that way!
I see piles like that in near every parking lot around here!
Snow is over rated!:spam: