# In case of power outage, what do you do?



## northtexasfossilguy (Mar 6, 2009)

In case the power goes off for an extended period of time, I don't want to lose my animals to lack of oxygen. So I was thinking either battery powered air stones in each tank or power for the filters. 

Has anyone done any projects like this? I would be interested to know the setup and idea behind it, how you could automatically detect a loss of power and after say thirty minutes trigger airstones to turn on and run down batteries. Or powerheads might be a better deal? I'm not sure which uses less power. I personally want to shoot for about two days running time with a system like this.

How long can fish survive without a tank with filters running?
How long can they go comfortably without the filters running?
How long will the bacterial colony survive if a filter stops working?
Would a twice daily 25-50% water change every day suffice for a couple days time to keep the oxygen in the water or not?
Do plants keep the water oxygenated enough in case the power goes off for a day?


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

Let me see, about four years ago we had a windstorm that took power out for four days with temp in the 20's in winter. At the time I had my 100 gal discus tank going and I need to keep air running for the fish. I covered the tank with a sleeping bag and did not feed or uncover for the four days. The fish were fine when I uncovered it. I figure that I was saved because there is a wood stove in that room and it did not get cold enough to kill the fish. The O2 for some reason was not a problem even though I have to run air or my fish stress, I expect that the temp was a little cooler and could hold more O2. Penn Plax has a batterie/ac air pump it is supposed to switch over to batterie when the power goes out.


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## redman88 (Jan 6, 2009)

some day i hope to own a house and put in a few solar panels for power. then i would just need batteries for night time use.


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

northtexasfossilguy said:


> Do plants keep the water oxygenated enough in case the power goes off for a day?


I've never personally experience a power outage that lasted more than 2 days, but I made sure my plants were getting as much sunlight as I could during that time. In the absense of light, a plant cannot produce oxygen but will instead just consume it.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

O2 shouldn't be a problem if the power goes out assuming your tank isn't overloaded with fish. I've kept fish in buckets without a bubbler for days and they never even gasped at the surface.

In the reefing hobby people buy generators to ensure their tanks don't fail, but for our freshwater needs that seems excessive especially since our livestock is far more robust


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## tbonedeluxe (Jun 29, 2009)

Here's some feedback on power outages.
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/...e403760cac4538&action=printpage;topic=20027.0


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## northtexasfossilguy (Mar 6, 2009)

Oh wow I liked the one about cutting a hole in a bucket and just letting the tank water drip into the tank slowly. That is actually a pretty ingenious idea.

I also had no idea the fish were as hearty as everyone says they are. This certainly is a relief.

I thought it was a great idea to salvage the filter media by putting it in the tank where it could continue to consume ammonia, nitrates and nitrites, at least for a while without dying.


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## Andy Ritter (Nov 26, 2008)

For short periods of time (a few hours) I don't worry about the tank, but in the event of longer outages I have a generator. Probably overkill, and definitely expensive, but I would regret losing any plants and fish to a power outage. I just looked at it like a one time insurance policy. I figure if I can pay thousands of dollars a year to insure my cars, house, and life, and those policies never even get used, why can't I spend a thousand bucks once to insure that I always have power? I had the power go out for four days after an ice storm a few years ago and the generator sure was nice to have (and the tanks did great). Plus, my wife liked the fact that we didn't lose all of our "comforts" as well.

My two cents.

Andy


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## JERP (Feb 4, 2003)

The only thing i do for power outages is turn off my CO2. My CO2 reactor is inline with the exhaust of my filter. When the filter turns off, there is no back-pressure and the CO2 dumps into the reactor.


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## Darksome (Feb 15, 2009)

I never worry about power outages...if it's a few hours the fish can survive, unless you have delicate species which many people don't. If longer, say days...cool temp=more oxygen...so no worries there, but filtration...maybe a small water change. I have also heard that when fish are gasping at the surface you can use hydrogen peroxide to increase the oxygen content in the water...not a whole bottle though...I don't know how much exactly...but definitely not a lot.


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## essabee (Oct 11, 2006)

I lived without electricity and in remote inhospitable areas most of my life but being hooked to planted tanks, I always had a tank or two in my room. I never had a filter for the tanks, you actually don't need one in a planted tank unless you overstock fishes and over feed them. I used natural daylight to light my tanks, you will not get algae trouble if you use indirect Northern daylight entering the tank from the top. Living in the tropics the ambient temperature was OK for most tropical fishes, except for the few winter months. In winters I used to keep my room warm with a charcoal burning samovar. The tanks I kept were of 4' 2' 2' size as larger tanks were easier to maintain in those circumstances. I carried on periodical water changes but it was a pain for I had to use a hand pump from a bore, bore water here is usual around 25C.

Now after retirement, I live in a small town which does have electricity but then daily power outages are normal. Suffering from a virulent form of MTS, I indulge myself to several planted tanks (and continue to add more whenever I can). Although I still use natural lights, using CO2, I supplement them with artificial lights. Electricity available, my tanks are nominally filtered by powered UGF of my own design where both mechanical and biological filtration takes place. Needed as I stock my tanks with more fishes these days although I still do not overfeed them. I do use electrical heaters these days, but I have retained the large sized tanks to enable the tanks to retain heat during short power outages, I also ensure that the non-viewing sides are not subject to air flow. Water changes are easy, I preheat the water to the temperature I need in a external drum, and change water only when preheated water is available. I now have a solenoid valve for the CO2 which naturally cuts off the gas at power outages.

For longer power outages - nothing like a generator for SOS.


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## rjfurbank (Jan 21, 2008)

Thanks for posting this--a good topic and I have enjoyed seeing everyone's ideas.

I have actually been thinking about this recently as I have had tanks for >2 years now and have yet to have a power outag--I expect that I'm due. . .

Currenlty I only have a single small battery powered air pump but have 5 tanks. I think I will purchase a few more just in case--sounds like getting O2 into the tanks for the fish/shrimp/etc. is the most crucial thing. I was considering investing in a few of the pumps that come on automatically when the power goes out but it seems from everyone's responses that the timing is not that crucial.

I was also wondering that if the temperature was dropping too much would it be a good idea to perform partial water changes using warm water from the sink (after treatment)?


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

I have a good sized gasoline generator that runs a good deal of the house. I've had to use it several times for extended periods of time.


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

I have these thing you can get it from best buy or frys that supposed be for saving computer data. Basicly it is a big back up battery inside... I have 3 of those in a row for a filter.


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

rjfurbank said:


> Thanks for posting this--a good topic and I have enjoyed seeing everyone's ideas.
> 
> I was also wondering that if the temperature was dropping too much would it be a good idea to perform partial water changes using warm water from the sink (after treatment)?


I would not suggest putting warm water into the tank to heat it up, it is too much of a shock for the fish. A better choice is to put the heated water into a bag and place the bag in the tank, also wrap the tank in blankets or a sleeping bag to insulate the tank and keep the heat in.


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## armedbiggiet (May 6, 2006)

Karebear said:


> I would not suggest putting warm water into the tank to heat it up, it is too much of a shock for the fish. A better choice is to put the heated water into a bag and place the bag in the tank, also wrap the tank in blankets or a sleeping bag to insulate the tank and keep the heat in.


You got that right Karebear, most of the fish would get sick by it and I experienced not eating any food for a while even you think that was close to the right temp.


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## kunalrsingh (May 1, 2008)

power outage are very common in the place i live. 3 hr power cut every day is the norm. i have my filter connected to a battery so even if the power is out the filter is working. if the power goes out for long then i switch on my generator...


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