Argh...help!

[Akasha72]

Hi all

There's probably lots of threads with this topic already here but I havn't got the time to search the whole site today.

Okay. I'm having my crunky old boiler replaced tomorrow (after 3 years of breakdowns and arguements with my housing association it's finally happening)
It's just dawned on me that they're gonna have to turn the gas and electric off (the timer is electric and I'm guessing the new one will be too) while they do the job. They've told me it's going to take a full day. Now I'm guessing the electric may only off here and there but I'm also well aware of how rubbish my housing association work teams are too and knowing them it'll be off for hours....

What do I do about the fish if it's off for a long time. Will it affect my bacteria and put me back into a fish in cycle again?

Can anyone offer me any advice so I can quit my worrying lol

 

[Louiseness]

IF you could find a battery-operated air pump or powerhead you can put this under/next to your filter to keep the water flowing through the media. That'll help keep all your bacteria alive.

 

[KittyKat]

What sort of filter do you have? If it's an internal, external canister or standard hang on the back (HOTB), just make sure the media is moist for the whole day. If it's a bio-wheel HOTB, then you're a bit screwed (this is why I don't like those ones).

Ease off on the feeding for the few days after and test the water regularly. The filter should be fine if off for 6 hours or so, it would be better with a battery powered pump.

If your house is cold, toss some duvets and blankets over the tank.

From the photo, your tank doesn't look that well planted, so this might be a good opportunity to think about the benefits of having it well planted (plants use up ammonia, etc, so you'd be less likely to have problems if you were in this situation again )

 

[Akasha72]

It was well planted until the fish decided to eat everything lol I'm just left with the twisted vallis that they don't seem to like and the amazon sword. The vallis is growing and speading so I'm just sitting back and waiting it out for a few more weeks.

Anyway ... the panic is over. Just came on to tell you all that. I've just seen one of my neighbours who had her boiler replaced at the beginning of the year. She said her electric was only off for a couple of hours so with my internal filter I'm presuming it will be fine.

They were fed this morning so I'll not feed them again until the work is done with.

thanks guys

 

[mishmash]

Hi, as a trainee Gas engineer and also part qualified electrician, i can tell you, there is NO NEED for the power to be off for longer then a few minutes at a time. It only needs to be off (and this is by law now) whilst the electrician needs to make electrical connections. He can do all the necessary wiring and hardware installation without turning the juice off, and just do that briefly to do the final connections. There are parts of the electrical testing which should be done with the power off too, and if they know what they are doing they can do that quick enough. My advice is explain the situation to them and request that they TELL YOU when they are turning it off so you can monitor how long its off for and hassle them if its taking too long. As far as the boiler goes, your existing one should be connected to a fused spur and so can be disconnected by the removal of the fuse prior to the actual boiler being disconnected and removed. Again if its not, its just a case of turning the power off for the two minutes it takes to unwire the boiler connections then putting it back on again. Good luck