Power outage last night, woke up to filter running dry

[IHaveADogToo]

Big storm overnight, last night. According to my flashing clocks this morning, power returned around 4:00 in the morning. I don't know if it was off for seconds, or hours, as I was asleep. I could sleep through a tornado.

Okay, not a big deal. My 10 gallon looked fine, everything was running.

I go out into the living room where my 30 gallon is and I hear it... the grinding sound of a HOB filter running dry.

No dead fish. Filter media is still wet. I take a little tank water and put it into the filter and it starts pumping water again. Weird. I have the tank filled well above the filter's "minimum" line. Shouldn't it have grabbed water when power came back on? Apparently my filter was running dry from (at least) 4:00 to 7:30. My air stone was still running, so the water was getting oxygenated, but that's not a filter.

Had to go to work, so didn't have time to test the water. Will have to test it this evening when I return home.

How screwed am I? I'm terrified that I'm going to come home to dead fish tonight. What are the chances my cycled filter is no longer cycled? This is my sorority/community tank.

 

[Colin_T]

you'll be fine, HOB filters do well during power failures because they have air getting into the filter to allow for oxygen, carbon dioxide exchange.

Just keep your feeding down for the next 2 weeks and monitor ammonia and nitrite. But there shouldn't be an issue.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

The air stone still running and the filter media staying wet are the only reasons I'm not in panic mode right now. But, still, it's concerning that when the power returned and the filter turned back on, it didn't grab water and instead ran dry for 3 1/2 hours. I thought for sure, that since I'm above the minimum line, it would have grabbed water when it came back on. But apparently not. Is this just how HOB filters work? Do they always need "help" getting running again?

 

[Colin_T]

Aquaclear HOB filters normally restart if the pump/ motor is lower then the water level. However, if the water level is lower then the motor, then they don't always start sucking water. Your tank water level might have been just a touch too low and the filter couldn't restart, or there was a minor air leak where the intake pipe joins the pump.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

That's possible. I do keep my water level a little low, because there's a few holes in my top cover, for the filter and whatnot, and I don't want any kuhli loaches to escape. I might just need to fill the tank a bit more.

Thanks @Colin_T

 

[Colin_T]

You can put filter sponges in gaps in coverglass to make it harder for fish to jump. Alternatively go to a shop that sells material to make clothing and buy some mosquitoe netting. It is the same green netting they use in aquarium fish nets and you buy it by the meter/ yard. Cut a piece and stretch it across the tank and hold it in place with the coverglass. Just make sure the netting does not hang over the edge of the tank or it can cause water to drip out of the tank.

 

[seangee]

No panic - it will be fine.