hibernation

Question
My tank is 55 gallons and due to the recent ice storm, I lost power for 3 days so no heat. The temp indoors went down into the 40's and all my fish are laying on the bottom of the tank. I have 3 pink kissing gourami, 2 cory catfish, another catfish and about 5 black marble mollies. I have had two people tell me that the fish are probably in hibernation and to let the temp come up gradually by itself.  These same fish survived 8 days without power when hurricane Ike came through in September 2009. So, do you think they dead or hibernating?  Thank you for your time and kind consideration.

Answer
Unfortunately, mother nature is sometimes not kind to the home aquarium.  When electrical power is shut off to an aquarium, there are two things that will occur that threatens the health of your fish:
1.) The loss of electrically powered filtration. Filtration that provides water movement that gives off oxygen and provides the best removing biological wastes (Ammonia/Nitrite) produced by the fish.
2.) There will no longer be a source of electrical heat to maintain the water at a steady, stable temperature.
That being said if your fish ARE still alive, they are most likely in a serious state of shock/stress- not hibernation.  However, when increasing the temperature, raising the temp slowly is the correct way to do it, as extreme changes would take an already shocked fish over that fatal edge. Feed them VERY sparingly until they show some improvement, as stressed fish do not eat well and sometimes not at all. Fortunately, these are all very hardy fish, so if they get past the initial shock, a speedy recovery should soon follow.
Hope this has been helpful to you