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Emergency supplies

Joined
Sep 16, 2005
Messages
4,933
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
What type of supplies do you keep on hand in case of a tank emergency?

I have an extra powerhead and an extra heater.

I am asking this question because my pump to my 55 gallon just burned out (salt water dripped on it until it quit). I cannot remove the pump (the sump was built into the cabinet and I cannot unscrew the pump from the sump...:bonk:). So I am currently running my skimmer and a powerhead in the main tank so that the corals and fish don't die until I can upgrade.
 
I have onhand an extra powerhead and heater, battery powered airpumps and parts for my canister filter. The emergency item that i don't yet have but should have is a generator.
 
Even though im 5 minutes away from my LFS, i still have a few powerheads, heaters, and battery air pumps at my place, just in case i guess..... Murphys law and all that ....

p.s. good luck to you replacing that pump cuttlegirl, those types of situations always make me scream!!!
 
I keep several Marineland hang on filters that I use occassionally to run extra carbon, a paper particulate filter or on a QT/hospital tank. They work well for most emergencies as I can set the return above the water for CO2 exchange or run it lower in the tank for water movement (haphazzard DIY adaptation of both the inlets and outlets to make them work on all my tanks). An old canister type filter might be a better thing to keep on hand as the inlet could be placed in the sump and the return in the main tank with the canister placed on a chair if the pump did not provide enough rise (my very old Magnums will do 4' though).

I don't use heaters so I have lots of original purchase spares :hmm:. Unfortunately, the only time I would need them is when the power is out during a winter storm. For that we bought an indoor kerosene heater for the breakfast room during the last such event. Between the heater, minimal fireplace, blankets wrapped around all the tanks and battery operated air pumps we made it through 3 days without loss. HOWEVER, I have no way of moving the water (other than water changes) without electricity and I had seahorses at the time and not cephs.
 

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