My Power Was Out For 5 Days

[toebash17]

hello i have a 55 gallon tank with all african cichilds in there. well my power was out for 5 days. all i could think of doing was putting an air bubbler in there so they would have at least get some oxygen. none of my fish have died yet but they are all breathing hard and swimming slow and at the top of the tank. i havent taken any reading of my water yet since the power has only been back on for an hour or two. does any one have any suggestions on what i should do thanks alot


andy

 

[madgap]

Bloody Hell.
I was seriously pissed off when my power was down for an hour. I can only imagin how distressing that must be for you.
I really hope they pick up soon.

 

[ihasanzongi]

i would try doing a 25-30% water change u might have small cycle in your filters if you did keep them wet it will be smaller but i belive that the good stuff dies off within 24 hours with no ammona.

 

[dthoffsett]

I'd do a water change like ihasanzongi suggested, test you water, you may need to do more water changes in the next few days if you have a mini-cycle. I'd also keep the lights off and the room they are in dark and quiet if possible to minimize stress. If you haven't already, cut down your feedings to once every other day until everyone is bright and perky again. Good luck, and keep us updated.

 

[toebash17]

i did a 25% water change and i feed them not that much food today and have had a blanket over them since yesterday and when i checked on them today nothing had diedd yet. and the breathing was doing a lot better still breathing heavy but not as bad as yesterday and when i did the water change it seemed to help a lot....

thanks andy

 

[Tolak]

I would test for ammonia & nitrite daily, more than likely your tank will go through a mini-cycle. If you detect any ammo or nitrite do a 25% water change, and increase aeration.

Usually gasping at the surface indicates nitrite, as it inhibits a fish's system from properly utilizing O2. Increasing aeration will help.

Less food means less waste produced, and healthy adult fish can go without eating for a week without any problem. You can practically eliminate feeding unless you have fry in the tank.

 

[toebash17]

yea right now i have both filters going on in my tank and i went out and bought a bubbler for more aeration. my ammonia is a little bit high but its not to bad. and no i do not have any fry. thanks for telling me about the whole feeding thing i did not know about how an adult fish does not have to eat for a whole week.

 

[jgray152]

When ever this happends, I keep testing my water for ammonia, if your tank is established, there should be some bateria in the gravel, plants, glass etc.

My 30 gallon went without filtration for about 6 months with fish in it. Bacteria grew all over the place keeping the ammonia and nitrite down to zero. I just filtered the water by hand and changed the water every week.

Anyways, I would recirculate the water as many times a day as possible while the power is out to keep the water oxygenated and to release trapped gases.

Just keep an eye on the ammonia and Nitrite, change the water as needed.