Power Cut?

[doddc]

help
iv just been informed that the local poer company is cutting the power to my area in a few days to do maintenance on the power lines. the power will be off from 9am to 4 pm i have a 43lt tank! what do i do?

 

[ALW]

get a hot water bottle and keep an eye on the temp, dont let it drop too quick!

 

[Corleone]

Also watch your ammonia levels. It may take some water changes if the power's out for too long. Depending on the type of filter, you can probably run some of the tank water through it manually to get a bit of the ammonia through your bacteria colony.

If you have the money to spare, there's options to keep the tank running. I use an uninturruptible power supply, usually sold for computers. Plug the filter into it and it'll kick in when the power cuts and will keep the filter running as long as the battery holds out. It'll run a PC and monitor for a half hour, but it's kept my filter going for four hours (longest power outage I've had since I got the tank).

 

[OldMan47]

For an outage that long I would favor pulling the filter media out of the filter, doing a quick rinse with a partial water change and then drop the media right into the tank. It will allow the media to stay in a good oxygen rich environment rather than the stagnant water it would see if it stays in the filter. When the power comes back on just put it all back together and everything should recover quickly. You may see a little ammonia build while the power is off but it should not get too high and the filter should get it right back down once its running.

 

[Tolak]

Since you have some advance notice you are at an advantage. Don't feed for 24 hours before, or 24 hours after the cut, feed lightly for the next week. Less food means less waste produced, minimizing any ammonia or nitrite spikes.

If you are not going to be around floating the cleaned media is your best bet. If you will be around, take a plastic cup, a beer cup works great, and punch some holes in the bottom. Clip this to the inside of the tank, so it is filled with water. Place your media in it, and every hour or so pour some tank water through it. This will work pretty much the same as your filter.

Floating warm water in bottles is the best idea to keep the temperature up, if it is hot like it is by me the air will be off, and there is no need for this.