power failures?
� Fuzzy Dice asked:
how do you prevent a disaster when the power goes off from 02:00 to 07:45 AM and you don’t know that the power is off? Our power went off and nobody noticed it. I lost fish from it because my filters, pumps, etc. were off for about 8 hours. What are my options to build a battery backup or other solution?
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how do you prevent a disaster when the power goes off from 02:00 to 07:45 AM and you don’t know that the power is off? Our power went off and nobody noticed it. I lost fish from it because my filters, pumps, etc. were off for about 8 hours. What are my options to build a battery backup or other solution?
February 14th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Fuzzy Dice!
I think that Fish en Papillote would also be fairly easy to make with your dead fish. You can pretty much choose the kind of fish you wish to use, as well as the vegetables you wish to use. Following are some ideas and recipes for you to choose from. Good luck and let us know how your dinner turns out:-)!!
FISH EN PAPILLOTE
en Papillote
The classic method is to cut a heart shape of paper and fold in a papillote, a name that derives from papillon, French for butterfly.
An easier option is a rectangle or a square that suits the shape of the food - and is easier to seal (no scissors needed).
For each serving, tear off a 15-inch (38-cm) square of Chefs Select Parchment Paper. Fold in half to create a crease, then open up.
Fish En Papillote
Place a 6 oz (150 g) fish fillet (fresh or thawed), on one side of crease.
Types of fish - salmon, halibut or any white-fleshed fish - cod, sole, orange roughy are ideal and interchangeable.
Top with some thinly sliced or julienned vegetables - zucchini or thin stalks of asparagus, carrots, mushrooms or green onions.
Season with a pinch of fresh or dried herbs - dill weed, tarragon, thyme, parsley and chives are a natural with fish.
Add a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, white wine, fish or chicken broth or water, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Fold edges together, then tightly fold in the edges, crimping around all sides to seal packets completely. Place on baking sheet.
Bake in preheated 400F (200C) oven for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
Place each packet on dinner plate and serve immediately.
Try these variations:
Provencal - Top fish with chopped tomato, a little minced onion, garlic, sprinkle of dried tarragon, chopped fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon.
Thai One On: Sprinkle fish with minced fresh ginger, garlic, green onion, fresh coriander leaves, a little Oriental hot chili paste (to taste) and a squeeze of lime.
Couldn’t Be Quicker Cajun - Sprinkle 2 tsp Cajun seasoning mix over catfish fillets, and squeeze a little lemon juice over top.
In a hurry? Place packet(s) on a microwavable dinner plate. Microwave 1 packet at high for 2 minutes; 2 packets for 4 minutes or until fish is opaque.
Expand Your Recipe Repertoire
While fish is a classic for this type of cooking, as it is well suited to moist cooking methods; boneless, skinless chicken breasts or a mixture of vegetables can be cooked with equal ease.
February 20th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
If battery backups are made for computers, why not other appliances, like your air pumps and heaters? I don’t think they would need as much juice as shutting down your computer. It’s worth looking into.
February 24th, 2009 at 1:14 am
an Uninterrupted Power Supply is perfect. a computer generally uses more power than an average aquarium with everything running.
I use one on my own fishtank. when the power goes out, power is fed to the aquarium, and it makes a loud beeping sound so i know.
February 26th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
They make battery powered air pumps which are more commonly used to transport fish such as live bait, etc. A much more functional, but expensive solutuion is to use a battery back-up power supply such as the ones sold for computers.
Just be sure that any aquarium equipment you plug into any electrical outlet has a “drip loop”. A battery back-up would have to be mounted off the floor to accomplish this.
A drip loop is simply a bit of slack in the line cord that hangs below the outlet. (If water were to run down the line cord, it would drip off the bottom of the slack area and not run into the outlet.)
March 1st, 2009 at 5:01 am
Your fish should be able to survive at least 12 hours without filtration and aeration unless your tanks are heavily overstocked. Check your stocking levels and get more tanks if your existing tanks are overstocked.
If your stocking levels are OK, probably the fatal effect was the drop in temperature overnight. A cheap option is to make polystyrene “boxes”, out of polystyrene sheets, that can fit around your tanks and insulate them and retain heat. If you get into the habit of “boxing” your tanks everynight the fish should survive a power outage and you’ll also be pleasantly suprised how your electricity bill drops.
If you want a sophisticated solution a UPS with an alarm will keep the tanks functioning while you insulate the tanks, fire up your gas heaters and drop oxygen pills into the tanks and wait out the night.