Power Outages

[BryceHockey]

This morning we lost power in the entire house for only around 30 seconds. It must've been something with the electric company.

I'm aware that 30 seconds isn't long at all, but what would you do if the power was out for longer? Isn't it true that the healthy bacteria will die if the filter is off and water is not circulating through it? Just was curious what all of you would do/have done if you are without electricity for a long period of time, or maybe it isn't even an issue.

By the way, I don't have a sponge otherwise I'm sure you could just float that in tank water. My filter in particular is an Aqueon Power Filter, but that shouldn't really matter since it's a general question.

 

[OldMan47]

For a prolonged power outage, your best bet with most filters would be to place the filter media into the main part of the tank and keep the bacteria alive. The filter won't work in that position but the bacteria on the media should be able to survive for days. If the power outage is less than a couple of hours, you won't lose much anyway.

 

[keenonfish]

I recently lost power for a substantial amount of time. Quite unusual for my area but have decided when I get a larger tank I will look into buying a small generator. Having a UGF mean't having to manually pump air into the uplift tube every hour or so all night. Was not fun not to mention boiling water for a container to keep the everything warm. This part was a losing battle and the water actually dipped to about 21 degrees but then the power came back after 10 hours so I finally got some rest
I think a larger tank would have kept it's temperature better and removable filters as above. Not sure if I was overkill but at least my fish were unharmed

 

[Colin_T]

For external power filters you can put the outlet hose into a bucket and let the bucket fill up with water. Then put the hose back into the tank and pour the bucket of water into the tank. Do this every 30minutes or so and you can keep the filter alive for days.

For external power filters like the Aquaclear hang on back (HOB) type filters, you can scoop up some tank water and pour it into the filter chamber. Do this every half hour or so and it will help keep the bacteria alive.

If you have an internal filter than provide some water movement every half hour or so. Either blow some air through a bit of airline (with or without an airstone attached), or get a jug and scoop some tank water up and pour it back into the tank. This will create water movement and surface turbulence and keep the fish and filter alive for longer.

After a power failure keep the feeding down to once a day or less and monitor the water quality over the next couple of weeks.

Battery operated air pumps and back-up generators can be used if you have regular power failures.

 

[drobbyb]

For external power filters you can put the outlet hose into a bucket and let the bucket fill up with water. Then put the hose back into the tank and pour the bucket of water into the tank. Do this every 30minutes or so and you can keep the filter alive for days.

For external power filters like the Aquaclear hang on back (HOB) type filters, you can scoop up some tank water and pour it into the filter chamber. Do this every half hour or so and it will help keep the bacteria alive.

If you have an internal filter than provide some water movement every half hour or so. Either blow some air through a bit of airline (with or without an airstone attached), or get a jug and scoop some tank water up and pour it back into the tank. This will create water movement and surface turbulence and keep the fish and filter alive for longer.

After a power failure keep the feeding down to once a day or less and monitor the water quality over the next couple of weeks.

Battery operated air pumps and back-up generators can be used if you have regular power failures.

Very nice explanation Colin_T.

The beauty of sponge filters is that they can be run on battery operated pumps. You can keep your fish alive indefinately with a battery powered pump assuming this happened in the summertime.

 

[BryceHockey]

Good responses, especially Colin's. I assumed that you would want to somehow keep water in the filter. It's very rare to have a power outage for over a few hours where I'm at, but it's always good to have a plan ready.