In light of Covid-19 causing so many closings and the suggested social distancing and other restrictions, I thought maybe it would be good to talk a bit about preparing your tank for same restrictions. To me, a lot of the preparedness is the same as for losing power for extended periods, but I’d love to hear what others think and maybe what you’re doing…
Here’s my preparedness plan:
- Always keep ~10g of RODI water ready. I go through about .75g per day in evap, plus enough for a quick 10% water change in my 50g. We have a well, so no power = no water which makes having some on hand at all time a must.
- Automatic, battery-powered air stone. This has saved me several times already. It comes on as soon as the power goes off and it can run for 36 hours on the internal battery. If that dies, it can run from a battery bank for my cell phone for days.
- Generator. After we had a couple of multi-day power outages in recent memory this became a must have for me. I have two generators now (one for work, but it lives at my house). One is a quiet generator that can handle the tank on a few gallons of gas for a day. More if I leave the lights off. The second is for things in my house like lights and the fridge. I wish it was a 220v so I could run our well pump. We have a tail for it, but I bought the wrong generator.
- Plenty of fish food. I have a small stock of frozen, but I grow my own live food. That’s proven really valuable because I can sustain that almost indefinitely with the amount I feed and how fast they grow.
What is part of your plan to be ready?
One thing I forgot, which is maybe obvious but maybe not… gas for said generator 
I just topped off our gas can this morning.
Good idea Adam. In situations where you know something may happen I like to have my brute cans filled with rodi and ready for salt mixing along with all my top off buckets filled. Luckily my neighbor has a outside outlet and she is on a separate grid then my house. I would love to invest in a honda inverter but to this date have not needed it. Worse case I have used a inverter plugged into the car to atleast keep the return pump going. Now heat would be a issue these days as I have 2 tanks on 1 system and have to run 3 heaters total to keep my heat in my desired range. Being in the basement does not help at all.
I keep forgetting to order a battery powered air pump so thank you for that reminder
Right now with this covid 19 and election year my main focus is the business and being prepared for possible months with little to no income coming in. I have already noticed the phones ringing less. My son’s job keeps sending the employees home early since they have slowed down as well. Though I have to admit I have been showing my tank a lot of love lately by staring at those purdy Carl’s and talking to them. Gotta give them some positive vibes to keep them growing lmao.
Right now I have a Briggs and Stratton storm responder generator. 6250’watts. It can run half my house and all my tanks. Got 2 battery operated air pumps. One for each tank. GAS, yes twice a year I pour the 5 gallon can in my SUV and then refill it. Just to keep the gas fresh. That is very important.I also run the generator s few time a year just to keep it ready if nessecery. After taking care of the house I run the main pumps in each tank and also the heaters. I put air stones with the batterie operated bumps in each tank and wait. I hope I have enough to out last any power outage. But one never knows???
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We have a generator too and yup mine is full of gas.
I’ve been thinking of one of those gas powered whole house generators but those get pricey and I kinda want to move when the kids are done with college. Presuming this whole pandemic allows for a return to normalcy in 3-5 years.
If my power goes out longer than a few hours I’m just f<*$%ed
Well that’s not great @Aquatic_Utopia 
… If it were me, I’d invest in at least a battery powered air stone. That can buy you a day if temperatures are favorable.