Power outage what to do??

matttimms49 · September 21, 2018, 07:52:38 PM

I'm guessing s lot of people may be in this situation. Been without power since around 6pm, should I be doing anything. Wrapping the fish tanks in foil? Mainly worried about the tanks getting cold.

charlie · September 22, 2018, 06:50:13 AM

I'm in the same boat,not so worried about the temp. But concerned about the bacteria in the filters.

Black_Rose · September 22, 2018, 08:01:34 AM

I've been using a turkey baster to oxygenate the water in the tanks.

Added some warmer water to the betta tank.
So far no deaths.

All my bio-media is covered by water, all but two tanks have sponge filters.

Will be doing massive water changes once power is back on.

matttimms49 · September 22, 2018, 11:48:15 AM

I didn't even think of keeping the filter media wet... Was just worried about temps dropping to low.

Hopefully it's all alright. I will have to get some bio boosters from the LFS.

matttimms49 · September 22, 2018, 01:15:19 PM

Just heard I may be without power for days! I'm freaking out a bit guys

matttimms49 · September 22, 2018, 02:52:23 PM

Can anyone lend me battery airpumps for a few days?

Or a spare generator lol

Black_Rose · September 22, 2018, 03:20:49 PM

I've been hitting stores in the east end looking for battery powered air pumps.
No joy so far.

lucius · September 22, 2018, 05:25:59 PM

You should check out the ice fishing departments at CT, Cabelas' and Sail for battery powered aerators. Seems to be limited stock everywhere.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/frabill-aqua-life-portable-aerator-0784234p.html#spc

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/13596/rapala-battery-powered-aerator

https://www.sail.ca/en/rapala-battery-aerator-498687

matttimms49 · September 22, 2018, 08:06:00 PM

Thanks for the help and advice guys. Luckily my power came back on this afternoon and so far so good with the tanks. Hope everyone else is doing ok.

ksj · September 22, 2018, 08:18:44 PM

Wouldn't heavily planted tanks do fine without movng water?

bergenm · September 22, 2018, 09:06:14 PM

I believe plants produce oxygen during the day, and consume oxygen at night. During a power outage there is little to no light, so plants actually wind up consuming more oxygen than they produce.

Eackone · September 23, 2018, 10:34:19 AM

For those who don't have one yet, I ordered a few battery powered air pumps brand new on ebay for about 6$ a piece.
In a pinch Ebay wouldn't work obviously but at that price I figured it was worth grabbing a few.

matttimms49 · September 23, 2018, 10:49:15 AM

That's awesome. Thanks ms for the heads up

matttimms49 · September 23, 2018, 11:51:15 AM

Some great info from Christine Archer.

Christianloug · September 23, 2018, 05:31:56 PM

Same issue, I figured a way, I find that putting airstones or spare air filters in the tanks and using a bycyle pump works, so just pump every couple of hours and it should be good. I'm running three tanks like that

matttimms49 · September 23, 2018, 06:48:30 PM

That's a good tip. Thanks

CC-Slider · September 23, 2018, 10:36:22 PM

this is the battery air pump I have from amazon. It is from the US site,at the moment the only person selling it on the Canadian site is charging twice the price so avoid him.

https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Blue-Professional-ADB61037-Hurricane/dp/B00BUFXOH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537756482&sr=8-1&keywords=category+5+hurricane+air+pump

It works great it has a rechargeable battery that lasts 12 hours continuous and 24 on intermittent. And once the rechargeable dies you can place 4 D batteries in and keep it going. I have it powering my two running tanks and I am sure it could handle another two.
Unfortunately it is not Prime so it may not have 1 day shipping.

EDIT: I believe I bought mine from http://www.petsandponds.com/en/index.html 2 years ago. I checked their site and they have replacement parts for it but no pump.

matttimms49 · September 24, 2018, 09:46:49 AM

Awesome, thanks for the link.

Anubias · September 24, 2018, 10:36:25 AM

Quote from: matttimms49 on September 24, 2018, 09:46:49 AM
Awesome, thanks for the link.

Pretty sure that I bought one of these retail in July for $18. It is fairly powerful and great if one has intermittent electrical service. It was 220volts; however it worked well overseas.

Gilbotron · September 24, 2018, 11:20:46 AM

Sorry I'm late to the party - crisis has probably passed already...

Freshwater tanks should be fine for days without water movement. There is still an exchange of gas (oxygen and CO2) at the surface, it is just much less without agitation. And a temperature drop over time would also not be much of an impact. It will be very slow and gradual so it won't shock the fish or anything - tropical tanks at room temperature will be fine for a while... Temperature should only be a concern if your house is no longer heated and its middle of winter!

The biggest threat in a power failure is actually canister filters - the beneficial bacteria in them will die off in 2-4 hours of no water movement (its a sealed environment so there is no air exchange), and when this happens, the minute the power is restored, the canister dumps a load of dead bacteria (i.e. ammonia) into the tank, thus polluting it quite heavily. If you know power is going to be out for an extended period, your best bet is to unplug your canisters then clean them out when power is restored - if its a mature tank, then the mini cycle shouldn't impact anything.

Another alternative, is just keep a charged portable battery pack on hand at home (those Motomaster units you use to jump start a car). Much simpler than battery air pumps, especially if you have multiple tanks. Get a unit that has outlets on it and keep it handy and charged. I think I paid $100 for mine and have used it on a number of occasions to keep my canister filters going on my bigger tanks. Last major power outage I ran a canister off it for almost 12 hours... And if it looks like it will be a really long outage, just turn it on for a few minutes every couple hours...