Ukraine's only state aquarium, located in the Dnipro, barely survived a blackout, but dozens of exotic fish died, and hundreds more are under threat, TSN reports. 

When there was no light for more than two days, so that the tropical fish would not freeze, the employees heated water in pans in complete darkness and topped up the pools and tanks.

Still, not all aquarium inhabitants have recovered from the sharp drop in temperature and lack of lighting. 

The aquarium has a freezer full of fish that did not survive the blackout.

They died from the cold and lack of oxygen, because the compressor that supplies it to the aquariums did not work due to a blackout.

A crocodile named Gena from the Nile is still stunned.

He does not tolerate cold temperatures, he can get pneumonia.

To save him, biologists boiled water in a pan on a gas stove and poured it into the pool.

"You can't explain to him that you shouldn't get into cold water, and he might catch a cold and die.

When we realized that it could not be turned on quickly, we simply brought a gas cylinder and a two-camphor stove from home," says biologist Larisa. 

 Those fish that survived two days without light are still weak.

It was especially difficult for the piranhas when the temperature dropped to a critical 13 degrees for them.

Some have not experienced this. 

The light in the aquarium disappears, often several times a day.

Due to the constant darkness, the fish do not understand whether it is day or night and this has a negative effect on them - they are all lethargic and have a poor appetite.

"Without light, they cannot feed, where we have small fish, for example, when the light is turned off, they simply won't take food in the dark," the workers explain.

In this aquarium there are more than a hundred species of fish, some of which are rare and very picky about the conditions.

Water in aquariums - 120 tons, it must be constantly heated and filtered.

The generator here is not enough for everything.

And refueling it for the state aquarium is very expensive.

"We are forced to start it, turn on a part, it works for, for example, an hour, then we turn it off, turn on another part.

At 100 percent of its capacity, it consumes 150 liters per day," explains the director of the aquarium, Mykola Yerukh. 

Representatives of the Dnipro National University, whose aquarium is on its balance sheet, appealed to the Association of Zoos of the European Union for help.

They agreed to provide 20,000 euros there.

"These funds should be enough to be able to buy portable compressors, these are spare batteries for the diesel generator itself, consumables - the diesel itself," - says the university.  

So far, the funds have not arrived, so the Dnipro Aquarium is trying to prepare for new shutdowns on its own.

They stock up on diesel fuel, gas cylinders and stoves and will be happy for any help.

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