Power Cut Next Week - Help!

[maniacstpreacher]

Hello, i wonder if anyone can help with a really obvious question...

I have a fairly new tank (95litres & cycled) with 3 platies and lots of snails living in it. Next week, we are having a power cut (due to some works on the electic lines) for a few hours. Its gonna happen whilst i am at work, and i am worried about my new fish! i'm sure the oxygen in the water will be ok while its off, but how do i stop the temperature dropping, as i've read that temp fluctuations arent good for the fish.

Do i leave it to cool down then heat up when the power comes on? or do i wrap it in blankets to keep the heat in (and risk it getting too hot - its normally about 24 degrees)? This must happen pretty regularly so i'm probably worrying over nothing...

 

[nitrochicken]

How many hours is a few?
I reckon 3-4 hours would be ok with not too much drop in temperature, assuming your house is not too cold.
You could maybe leave your central heating on that day to help keep ambient temperature up.
If you wrap the tank in a blanket, there's no way it could overheat as your heater has a thermostat built in. When the power goes off the blankets may slow the cooling a little so probably would be worthwile.

Dale

 

[8inary]

i had a similar thing happen to me: a few months back, we had a knock at the door and a guy from the electrical company said, that they were doing some work, that would mean the electric being off for around 6 hours - I advised him of my tanks, but he said, nar they will be fine for that time, i said, well i did not agree to the works, and said i would if they supplied a generator, to my surprise, he agreed, and sure enough on the day in question a large generator came to power the house, they routed in to the main box and it ran all day....great result!

the problem isnt so much the heat loss, as the tank should be fine for that time, the good bacteria dies off after 4-6 hours, and once its all dead
you switch the power on and whoosh, bad bacteria straight into your tank, and its good night fishes!

so, contact them and insist on having a generator!

 

[nitro7]

How many hours is a few?
I reckon 3-4 hours would be ok with not too much drop in temperature, assuming your house is not too cold.
You could maybe leave your central heating on that day to help keep ambient temperature up.
If you wrap the tank in a blanket, there's no way it could overheat as your heater has a thermostat built in. When the power goes off the blankets may slow the cooling a little so probably would be worthwile.

Dale

lol nitrochicken' central heating works with electric,but your second one is good

 

[maniacstpreacher]

Why would the bacteria die? its an internal filter so it will stay wet, so i would have thought it would be ok - unless i am missing something?

It will be off for about 4 hours i think, (and my central heating is electric) so i will put a few blankets around it and hope for the best.

i think its too late notice to get a generator but i will give them a ring and see.

Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[TigerIssey]

The bacteria dies due to the lack of circulating water, hence lack of oxygen. This is why for a smaller period it is okay, once the bacteria have used the available oxygen whoosh as 8inary says, they die then you release them into the water.

 

[Inchworm]

If you get home before it comes back on, pour a little water through the filter and it will keep the bacteria going a while longer.

 

[rabbut]

They won't die back strait after the oxygen has gone acctually, they'll motabolise any available nitrate back to ammonia first

For a tank on an internal filter, wrapping it in blankets should be fine for 4 hours. If you can get a generator, or UPS (Un-interuptable Power Supply, designed mainly for computers, gives upto 3hours running at 400W via a back-up battery) then great If not, stock-up on de-chlorinator and be ready for the possibility of a mini-cycle should one occur

All the best
Rabbut

 

[nitrochicken]

I'm aware heating needs electric(!) but if it was on high for a few hours before the power cut at least the temperature in the house would stay up for longer and help out.
I was going to suggest a UPS but a small one suitable for home use wouldnt run a 100W(quessing?) heater for that long. It would however, run your pump for a considerable amount of time as it will only be around 6W or so. You can get cheap ones (£25 ish) from www.ebuyer.com and they can deliver quickly. They are designed to be left on permenantly and just kick in when power cuts out. You could then leave it in place to protect against power cuts in the future.

Dale

 

[rabbut]

In a small tank, the heater will actually increase efficincy. Internal heating wastes power in a UPS if it isn't operating at maximum load *apparently* Weird or what... A UPS is designed to run a computer for a while while the mains is dead. Most cheapo's do 30min at 400W, which will still give a couple of hours to a filter and heater. Thats better than nothing You are looking 4-5 for just the filter realistically, due to internal losses....

All the best
Rabbut

 

[maniacstpreacher]

i hadnt even considered the filter problem, i assumed the bacteria would sit there happily until the water started flowing through it (you can tell i'm new to this!)

I will have a look at getting one of those UPS devices - it seems like a good idea, i think i still have time to get one, and it will be useful to have for the future as its bound to happen again!

otherwise it looks like i'll do a water change when i get home, and keep testing the water!

thanks again for your help

 

[OldMan47]

The filter should be fine if the power is only out for 4 hours. there will be a slow die back but not enough to worry much about in that time. The heat is another matter. If your temperature does not drop more than 3 or 4 degrees, it will also not be a problem. Most fish are treated as if they were made of glass or something. Fish in the wild will easily go through changes of several degrees every day just from the day and night variation in temperatures. Our fish do not come from an ocean where temperatures are fairly stable. They come from little creeks, small shallow ponds, ditches and similar environments where 4 degrees daily variation will be quite common. They will be fine unless the power is out for many hours.

 

[Tolak]

Don't feed the fish for 2 days before the cut, less food means less waste produced. Do a water change the day before the cut. Wrap a blanket around the tank, go to work & don't worry about it.

The nitrifying bacteria will be fine. Several hours may make them die back just a bit, but with less waste being produced this will balance out. Feed lightly for the next few days.

I bred platys outdoors last summer, large tub that would vary by 8F in a 24 hour period. All summer long, tons of fry.

 

[mav8989]

I personally have used computer UPS backups several times during power outages. In fact, they worked so well that I have one on the marine and one on the big freshwater tank. Really you need only plug in the items that MUST be on into the outlets marked "backup" and the remaining less important items can be plugged into the regular outlets that go out with the power loss. Unfortunately, the most important thing where I live is the heaters, so you have to carefully evaluate how long your heater at some particular wattage can run on the UPS.

Just as an aside, recently I just had to relocate my tanks when I moved. Same issue, heaters. I have between 100 and 300 watt heaters for different tanks. Basically I went out and bought a mobile power inverter that is marked "400 watts" on the package so I could run the heaters while driving to the new place. When I open the package I learned that it can do up to 100 watts through a cigarette lighter plug but beyond that the current exceeds the fuse limit on my cigarette lighter jack. Misleading advertising at its best. Next I had to hardwire to the battery using some heavy cable to get the full 400 watt capability. Relocation went off without a hitch - though I was worried about speeding and getting pulled over by a cop who would look in my back seat and see jumbo sized kitty litter pails with holes cut in the top with tubes and wires coming out. They sort of jump to conclusions nowadays

Funny how so much non-aquarium stuff is just what you need in a pinch.....

P.S. - Don't get too excited about losing your beneficial bacteria - just be smart about it. I always take care to ensure some circulation and to minimize the temperature fluctuation the best I can... but the stuff isn't like some magical exotic unstable element that goes poof as soon as something changes a tad.....