My Power Went Off Today For An Hour Need To Ask A Question

[Durbkat]

my power went off today for an hour and my fish in my long 20g didn't look as good as they usually do. If the power goes out again for more than an hour can you all give me some advice on how to oxygenate my tanks since I don't have a battery air pump?

 

[canarsie11]

if your tank is fully cycled it should be fine IMO

 

[collared_drifter]

ya if its out for an hour it will be fine .... anything more then 2 hours is pushing it... do you have one of those handheld fans? my power went out one time and to oxygenate the water i put the tip of that little fan on the surface of the water to agitate it and make lots of buubles...

 

[rdd1952]

The filter is the main consideration. If the filter and media stays wet, it would probably be ok for a few days as long as you pour water through it from time to time to keep the bacteria fed. If the filter dries out though (bio-wheels come to mind) then your bacteria will die off pretty quickly.

There was someone on another forum I go to on occasion that lives in Jefferson Parish near New Orleans. He kept all his fish alive for 2 weeks without power after Katrina simply by pouring water through the filters and doing small water changes (with the spring water they were getting to drink) every other day. He had said he was going to do a post about how he did it but I haven't been back to that site in a couple weeks

 

[Tiggs]

why do you think your water will lose O2 within 2hrs

 

[rdd1952]

why do you think your water will lose O2 within 2hrs

If it's hot and the AC isn't working the water temp can rise and drive out the oxygen. That's probably not going to happen in an hour though unless it's very hot. Water holds temperature very well so it should stay pretty close to the temp it was. Naturally, the smaller the tank, the more it will rise in a short time frame.

 

[Durbkat]

Well thanks. I was just wondering because in my long 20g their are some big fish that I'd thought took up more oxygen and I thought like maybe if I took some tubing and put an airstone on one end, stuck the airstone in the water and blew on the other end that would work, could I do that? And do you all know how much usually a battery air pump cost?

 

[rdd1952]

Not sure about the battery back up but the easiest way to get oxygen in the water is to simply dip water up with a cup and pour it back. If you can do that for a few minutes, it should be fine. If the power is only off for an hour though, oxygen shouldn't be a problem. Oxygenization occurs at the surface to all you really need is surface disturbance.

 

[Durbkat]

Really? Thanks. But what do I do if it is in the winter time and say we have a winter storm or its really cold and the power goes out. What can I do for heat and oxygen?

 

[rdd1952]

Heat in the winter is a problem. I have heard that some people use hot water bottles. Fill with hot water (maybe boiled on the charcoal grill?), and place in the tank to float and raise the temp slowly. The only way to get the oxygen in the tank other than an airstone or pouring the water in is to add plants but with no light, they woldn't produce a huge amount of oxygen.

 

[morgan]

We have just had a note from power company to say our power is going off for up to 6 hours on the 16th Oct, so I came back and read this thread. I have a battery powered air line (which I have not used before but bought in case of something like this). I have an internal filter so it should be OK. I will pour some tank water through about every hour. So, thanks for the info. I don't think the cool weather will be a problem as the heating is on.

 

[rdd1952]

I think the key is that the filter and media stay wet. If they do, the bacteria will be ok. I have left the filter unplugged on one of my 2.5 gallon betta tanks for 9 hours and just last week, I left the filter AND heater unplugged on my 29 gallon overnight (about 8 hrs) both without any ill effects. I tested the ammonia and nitrite each time for 3 straight days and never even saw a mini cycle.

I think we sometimes think of the bacteria as constantly needing food mainly because they are constantly processing ammonia. I suspect they're just like us or our fish and can go a day without food without any problem.

 

[morgan]

Thanks, if I didn't have somewhere to get the info I would be panicking! I saw the battery air line in a sale online when I was buying sponges and fishfood so I bought it. I'm glad I did now. My tank is 20UK gals so it should aerate enough. Hope the power company will be super-efficient and get it done sooner than they thought!