Severe weather - what to do?

[Becca]

So it looks like we're going to have some whack-a-doo weather coming through the area and I'm not sure what to do with the bettas in my whiskey barrel outside. They haven't even been in there quite a week yet.

I've been covering them with a tarp on rainy days to avoid any overflow issues. If the water level gets too high they are crazy escape artists. I have 2 layers of net and a plastic grate over the thing and one STILL went missing. I fixed that problem by covering the plastic grate with Glad Press n' Seal, for the time being. Love that stuff.

I don't think a tarp is going to cut it if we really get strong winds, even if I weight it down, so I'm trying to figure out what I should do with them.

Can I put 2 Betta potati in the 29 with the 2 Rainbow Cichlids in there? My gut says "no." At the very least, they'll eat even the largest of the cherry shrimp I've added to the tank, at the worst, they'll harass all of the other occupants. I could also drain a substantial amount of water out of their pond so that it's unlikely to overflow. They're bettas, so I could bring them inside and house them in a 5-gallon bucket (WITH A LID) until the worst of it passes.

Am I worrying too much? What does everyone else with outdoor tubs do in situations like this? I feel bad moving them around like, well, hot potatis.

 

[Owens]

I dont think your worrying too much, the weather has been the craziest I have ever seen out of my 23 years of living here.

I would just put them in the 29 with a divider for the time being. If you dont have one, I would just create a make-shift on for the time being.

The bucket could work short term as well. To be extra safe you could store some water in case of an outtage, so that you can continue water changes.

I hope it doesnt get too bad, I dont have a generator

 

[Andrew]

I wouldn't worry so much about the Bettas... They'll probably do better than the indoor fish if we lose power! I would drop the water level in the tub by 6 inches or so it doesn't overflow and otherwise leave them. They might even spawn for you.

 

[verbal]

I wouldn't worry so much about the Bettas... They'll probably do better than the indoor fish if we lose power! I would drop the water level in the tub by 6 inches or so it doesn't overflow and otherwise leave them. They might even spawn for you.

+1

 

[Becca]

I doubt they'll spawn - they just did that 2 weeks ago and ate the eggs.

Luckily all of our tanks are fairly under-stocked, so water changes aren't a huge concern for us with a power outage. The only one that would be an immediate issue is my 6-gallon Edge, but good call on storing water. I'd guess we're better off using the 5-gallon buckets for that.

 

[daninmd]

i would just lower the water level in the barrel before it rains, we arent going to get that much rain, just take out an extra 6 inches or so

 

[Tony]

+1 on dropping the water level. That's all I'm planning for my outdoor stuff.

 

[Becca]

Ok, we'll go with that, then!

 

[mscichlid]

"whack-a doo"

 

[Sonny Disposition]

Can you put them in a five gallon bucket with an air stone and bring the bucket inside? They should be ok.

So it looks like we're going to have some whack-a-doo weather coming through the area and I'm not sure what to do with the bettas in my whiskey barrel outside. They haven't even been in there quite a week yet.

I've been covering them with a tarp on rainy days to avoid any overflow issues. If the water level gets too high they are crazy escape artists. I have 2 layers of net and a plastic grate over the thing and one STILL went missing. I fixed that problem by covering the plastic grate with Glad Press n' Seal, for the time being. Love that stuff.

I don't think a tarp is going to cut it if we really get strong winds, even if I weight it down, so I'm trying to figure out what I should do with them.

Can I put 2 Betta potati in the 29 with the 2 Rainbow Cichlids in there? My gut says "no." At the very least, they'll eat even the largest of the cherry shrimp I've added to the tank, at the worst, they'll harass all of the other occupants. I could also drain a substantial amount of water out of their pond so that it's unlikely to overflow. They're bettas, so I could bring them inside and house them in a 5-gallon bucket (WITH A LID) until the worst of it passes.

Am I worrying too much? What does everyone else with outdoor tubs do in situations like this? I feel bad moving them around like, well, hot potatis.

 

[Becca]

Can you put them in a five gallon bucket with an air stone and bring the bucket inside? They should be ok.

They're Bettas, don't need an air stone. I took the water level down about half way and left a cover on, so hopefully it all works out. So far we haven't really had any rain, just angry looking skies.

 

[JLW]

I'll answer the other question, since the first is pretty well taken care of ....

Rainbow Cichlids and Betta patoti are probably not a good mix for anything longer than a few days.

 

[mchambers]

The rainbows are still less than 2", so it might work longer.

 

[Becca]

The rainbows are still less than 2", so it might work longer.

Everyone survived . Dropping the water level worked out pretty well... actually, too well... it hardly rose at all, so I'll have to fill 'er up tonight.

I thought it would be far worse. I'm pretty sure I saw a cow fly by my office window in Rockville but there was nary a downed branch in Montgomery Village. Whatever hit, it was very localized, and it seemed to have a bone to pick with my place of work. We lost power.

 

[jonclark96]

Yes, a very odd storm. At work in Frederick, we had the first storm roll through at 8 AM, then nothing for the rest of the day. 8 miles south at home, big rains in the afternoon, and further south in MontCo some really rough stuff.