Powerless hillstreams

[TrebleClef84]

I'm a part of that power outage in Ohio, they say it could take 5-7 days to get it back. I can do water changes everyday to keep the rest of the fish alive, but I'm worried about the still water and the hillstreams. Will they be okay?

[Jim Powers]

If you can find one, try to get a battery operated air pump. They usually cost about $10-$15 and can be found at pet and bait shops. Two might even be better. The batteries last at least 15 hours so keep that in mind. I would keep up the water changes and if you can't find the battery air pumps, you will want to agitate the surface of the water often. You can scoop out water and pour it back in from a foot or more above the water surface. Hopefully, that will be enough. I feel fortunate that even though its over 100F here, I still have power.
Good Luck and keep us posted!!!

[DainBramage1991]

This is probably less helpful, but it worked for me in an outage: I intermittently fed air into a 12" air stone by plugging a squeeze-bulb style lens cleaner (typically used by photographers) into the other end of the airline tube. It is a fair amount of work and has to be done several times an hour, but it just might save your fish in a pinch if you can get your hands on one.

Jim's solution of scooping water out and dumping it back in is probably simpler, more effective, and less labor intensive. I just wanted to offer another possible alternative.

Good luck! I hope all goes well for you, your family, and your fish.