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Help just had major power cut and worried my Zebs will die git no electric or gas to heat any water up ???? I did water change tonight not early hours of morning all power is down got babies in there too and more eggs ???? Anyone got any ideas

Battery powered air pump?

If you have a grill for cooking outside you can remove tank water to a pot, heat it on the grill and return it to the tank.

Battery powered air pumps will get O in and Co2 out. Failing this you need to roil the surface regularly. You can use a straw to blow into the water, or stir it with your hand.

Remove the bio media from the filter and float it in the tank.

You may be able to rent an inverter. This hooks to a car battery and converts it into usable power.

panic over got power back on about 3 hrs later was a blackout all street lights were off too had no way of heating water as my cooker is electric too it had happened in middle of the night my girlfriend had got up to make our baby his bottle and woke me to tell me so all is ok now thanks

we had 2 x 6 hour power cuts in 2 days - and the drop in temperature sparked mine into spawning

haha bonus when that happens thats all i was worried about was dropping to much in temp as its been very very cold out side last few wks mine had just spawned too so extra worry

I've had a similar experience, fortunately no long term harm seems to have been done. I did daily 20% water changes for at least 2 weeks afterwards in case the filter colony was depleted. really I'm amazed that nobody has marketed an 'aquarium survival kit' for power outages. I'm sure there would be a way using 'intelligent' electronics to power a pump & a small heater at the minimum setting with a couple of motorcycle batteries with solar assistance. The solar panel could alternately charge/discharge the batteries when not in use to keep them in good condition and provide daytime assistance when it is in use.

It wouldn't be cheap (I'd estimate at least £200) but with a typical zebra colony being well over £1000 it would be a cheap insurance policy considering that it doesn't need renewing annually.

One more tip to add to those mentioned in previous posts: If the power goes down & it's cold, throw a heavy duvet over the tank to insulate it, a polysterene/styrofoam filled beanbags over the tank and panels taped to the glass will help trap heat. Lastly, it would be worth considering a small camping gas stove to heat water such as this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-PORTABLE- ... 51aaccf7f9