[Austinite]

I'm in Texas but of course seeing on the news about the artic temperatures in the Midwest and hoping forum members are doing okay! I imagine they are doing more important things than checking the cichlid forum?! I cannot imagine such cold air outside, and therefore how cold it is getting inside people's homes. Shout out to anyone affected are hope you are coping!

I'm sure there are bigger concerns for people & property, but I suppose there isn't a way to keep cichlid tanks warm enough under cold conditions? Or if power is out for an extended amount of time? I have battery operated bubblers for power outages, but have never had to worry about the tank water getting too cold.

 

[ken31cay]

I used to live in Minnesota and it got cold enough in a normal winter, on the cold days my fingers would crack and start bleeding if I took off my gloves for 20 minutes. My daughter is there now, says it's been surreal with everything was closed so people could stay at home. It's actually dangerous to go outside there when it's that cold.

 

[wryan]

Fortunately, no power outages here thus far (knock on wood)

My fish room is located in a corner part of the basement, and two of the walls are below grade. The room is carpeted, drywalled, and insulated (including the ceiling)

Due to the nature of our heating system (gas forced-air) and the ductwork, this room stays quite warm as compared to the rest of the house/basement ... particularly in winter.

It's typically 72F to 74F in there.

Have no idea what it would be like if the power went out and I had to fire up the wood-burning furnace and rely on convection. Hope I never have to find out.

 

[Iggy Newcastle]

It absolutely sucked. Waking up at 5 am and seeing on my phone that it was -31 was a very strange feeling.

Most of my tanks are in the basement, which is typically in the high 60s. Lost power a few times but not for very long. 30 minutes tops.

I'm vacationing now in Mexico. Wish I would have left a week earlier. Its 110 degrees warmer. 130 if you factor in the wind chill we experienced.

 

[fish_gazer]

In southeast Michigan, the lowest we got down to was -13 with a wind chill of -29. That's pretty cold for this area and thankfully it did not last. My car made some awful sounds on the coldest morning (something to the effect of whaaaaat are you doing trying to start me??) and a couple of people didn't make it in to work because of car problems.

 

[wryan]

It absolutely sucked. Waking up at 5 am and seeing on my phone that it was -31 was a very strange feeling.

Most of my tanks are in the basement, which is typically in the high 60s. Lost power a few times but not for very long. 30 minutes tops.

I'm vacationing now in Mexico. Wish I would have left a week earlier. Its 110 degrees warmer. 130 if you factor in the wind chill we experienced.

LOL ... :thumb: