How Long With No Electric?

[nudzy]

Hi I just wondered how long my tanks will be ok without electric, as in no filter and no heater etc.

The electric company just knocked and told me they will be turning mine off to find the fault, that has caused half the street to have no electric since yesterday.

It will be off approx 6 hours.

My neighbough has a tank and his electric has been off since 7pm yesterday, he did a partial water change today but the fish are at the top of the tank, and not looking happy, he cant keep the water warm, as no heater, he says the fish are now quite lethargic, and he cant add any warm as no hot water.

Just wondered if anyone else has had this and were their fish ok

thanks for replys, leccy will be off in about half an hour for how long ?? not sure

 

[minxfishy]

Providing its not long, you should be ok, you can wrap the tank in a duvet or quickly before they shut the electric off, boil the kettle and fill some old bottles with hot water, then float them in the tank. As long as the media is kept wet, it shouldnt lose any bacteria, it all depend how long it will be off.

 

[nudzy]

thanks sooo much for quick reply, dont know how long ill be on-line.

It should be about 6 hours, but it depends on how long it takes them to fix it, but as I said the guy down the road has had none for 21 hours

and he is realy worried. I know some people will say its just a fish, but erm noooooo!

 

[minxfishy]

I dont blame him for being worried, their isnt much he can do at this stage, again, tell him to wrap the tank in a duvet (may sound silly but it will help), stop feeding the fish and once its back on again, get some warm water in and test daily for any cycle that may occur, water changes then as appropriate.

Hope they dont keep it off for too long for you, good luck

 

[nudzy]

gosh I hope so too, ive got babies in one of the tanks, and pregnant fish in another, im worried I already wrapped the smaller two in a blanket

so you think maybe no hope for his fish then. omg dont even want to think about that for mine. Also they have their own personalities so you cant just replace them.

 

[minxfishy]

Oh no, I dont think there is no hope, its not been that long, they will adjust to the temperature drop, but without flow over the filter media he will lose some bacteria, he will just need to test regularly and do partial water changes in the event of any mini cycle.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi nudzy

I hope I'm not posting too late.

It's important to keep temperature changes gradual. If the water does cool off, warm it up slowly. It's more natural and will keep the fish from being stressed again.

The other thing to be concerned about is the beneficial bacteria in your filter. If there is no water running through it, they will not get the oxygen they need to stay alive. If you can move water across the media it will solve this problem. Depending on the kind of filter you have, you might pour tank water into it or something similar to accomplish this.

Good luck.

 

[nudzy]

thanks soo much for that, its put my mind at ease a bit to know my fish should be ok.

ill let you know. im just worried for the babies, and my shrimp they dont like the cold lol, nor to i and soon it will be cold and dark here, just off to find spare quilt for big tank

thanks again

 

[Inchworm]

Hi nudzy

It might make you feel better if I tell you that a few years ago, the apartment house that I lived in got a good deal on windows off season. It was in January that they decided to change all the windows in the complex. Despite having a near freezing wind blowing through my home, all my fish were OK. I did the blanket thing and it turned out fine.

Well, I did make one mistake....... I let one of the blankets touch the water in a tank and it acted like a giant wick. By the time I discovered it, half the water had been sucked out. But, I refilled it and all was well.

 

[Amerce]

If you have a gas cooker and a hot water bottle what you could do is warm up some water on the cooker and fill the bottle up and let that float in the tank, it will keep warm for a while and you can repeat again when the bottle gets cold

Had my elecy go down the other day but only for an hour, so I know what you are going through I don't know what I would have done if it had gone off for 6 hours I've a discus tank and I don't think they would have liked it

What shrimps do you have ?

If they are cherry then they will be ok with a temp dip, I have my cherrys in a unheated tank and they are breeding nicely for me in there.

 

[nudzy]

gosh thanks so much people,

for the shrimp, I have cherries and amno, the fry are just a week old, and in a netty trap in the big tank, its set at 26 at the mo. Just other live bearers, some juvi corries about a month old, tetras, corries, etc in there. It has an external eheim running it. (rio 180)

The middle tank has endlers, neons, and a breeding group of pepper corries. This is an aqua one 620 with a trickle filter so should be easy to keep the media mature. (90 liters)

the little tank has killis and cherries in it, the two smaller tanks have already been wrapped in a blanket. It has an internal filter, (not sure what type) with a trickle spray bar (10 liters)

I got an electric cooker, but have filled 2 flasks with water, and one with tea lol.

and filled my hot water bottle, (maybe for me lol)

oooo they just knocked again, should be about 10 mins, im off to line up the candles and check the torch!

 

[bae1994]

if you hve any cash you may be able to get a generator

but you might not need it just if they start then have to order a apart dunno


ebay number
Item number: 230320277824

 

[nudzy]

ok, so heres an update, I covered my tanks with blankets and a quilt, I stock-piled the hot water, made a flask of tea, lined the candles up, grabbed the torch.

the electric went off, and........ came back on about 3 minutes later

I sat there waiting for it to go again, checked in the street, it was all dark except my house (im on the end)

I asked the men down the hole if everything was ok, and they said are you the fish lady we managed to isolate yours!!!!!!!!

So I boiled the kettle, made them all a hot drink, and got on with watching the fish lol

Now the whole street is back on so panic over, and everyone is happy.

But thanks to all for your reassurance in my moment of panic. I know there was no need, but I do my fish. xx

 

[Breedon]

It's good to know that they thought about your fish, some wouldnt give a dam.

 

[kevinthecow]

fish lady?
lucky, privledges.
I've had this happen for 5 hours.
lucky, my fish adjusted to the temp. by then. (Heater exploded during a water change, nothing was harmed. took a few hours to clean up the mess, and then run and buy a new heater. got the wrong heater, had to go back get a stronger heater.)

anyways, whoever got your house with the electricity, is a very nice person. No one would really give a damn about my fish if it happend. >__> (My street is filled with dogowners, i'm practically the only fishkeeper.)