Powercuts - what to do ?

[Rob_G]

Hi all,

In the event of a prolonged powercut, what should we do ?

How long would the filter bacteria and fish survive ?

Many thanks,

Rob

 

[sylvia]

The bacteria would die within a few hours and the fish would die when the water quality begins to deteriorate or the temperature went down. Water changes with warmer water might keep them alive until the end of the power cut. Or battery-powered equipment - an airstone at least.

 

[Rob_G]

Thks Slyvia. I don't have backup - battery powered equipment - yet.

How many people do and is it easy to come by ? I havent seen any. Would be interested to hear of anyones experiences of a lengthy power cut and what you did.

Thks,

Rob

 

[gwlee7]

Since most aquarium equipment (filters, airstones, and even heaters for the most part) is low wattage, couldn't you just purchase some sort of DC to AC conveter like the ones people use when they go camping? I seen ones that run off of a car battery and have a power strip. I'm not sure how long they would run but it could help.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

How long of a power cut are you expecting?

Since most of the bacteria is actually inside the tank and the fish can do ok for a day or so without filtration (I take it your tank isn't grossly overstocked), a power cut lasting a day or so should not be too bad.

Also, for the bacteria, you could put tank water into the filter to keep the bacteria submursed. There should be adequate nitrogenous compounds in the water to keep them alive for some time.

 

[sylvia]

The main problem isn't with filtration though - it's with heating. During a powercut temperature generaly goes down - both in the tank and a normaly heated room so if you have a large (therefor less heat-loss) tank, you have more time than if you have a small tank. Fish hardiness is obviously important as well.

 

[k2snowboards88]

I was thinking about this myself. what if i took a bucket of water out of the tank. then i added some pure amonia to it, and put the filter cartriges from the tank into the bucket. Woudl that sustane the bacteria culture?

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I dohn't think so, since there are two different types: nitrosomus and nitrobacter bacteria. These require ammonia or nitrites. It would take a while for hte nitrites to build up, so it would require recycling, to an extent.

Heating, yes. I didn't consider that. However, room temp also makes a difference. Fortunately for me, my room temp is close to the tank temp.

 

[sylvia]

It isn't just the lack of food - it's the lack of essential oxygen as well. Without anything left to cause surface aggitation and therefor gas exchange, and with a temperature fluctuation (though warm water changes can solve this to some extent though obviously isn't a long term solution), the bacteria can die rather quickly. Usualy, however, enough survive to catch up on the cycle quickly once the power's back and regular water changes while this (the re-cycling) is happening will keep the fish alive - but if there's a power cut and the temperature drops dramaticaly, the fish can die almost instantly (especialy in smaller tanks where the heat is lost much quicker).

 

[moneywastedonfish]

i live in queensland, australia and we get blackouts weekly in summer - more correctly brownouts.
I've found the biggest problem is that sometimes after a blackout the filter will not restart itself. So maybe have two filters running so hopefully at least one of them will kick back in when the power comes on. If i'm home i periodically blow air through the air tube of my internal filter. Or a book i read suggested a ten minute spurt on the bike pump every hour or two to increase disolved O2 and increase gas exchange. I don't have to worry about a heater though (its 32 degrees C as i write) so can't help you there.
Hope that helped.
Also the filter bacteria should last a while - like 48 hrs at least with minimal water movement - provided the temp doesn't drop too much.

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

I've found the biggest problem is that sometimes after a blackout the filter will not restart itself.

yeah that's the 1st thing to check when the power comes back on, mine all do that when we get power glitches

 

[phillips321]

if the power goes out and only the best bacteria has survived then when they regenerate only the genes from the good bacteria will survive.

thus, u now have a better tank then before the powercut. Survival of the fittest causes your tanks filtration to improve.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

But they multiply so often that mutations and weaknesses are bound to occur.

 

[karrihug]

i lost power for 31 hours this summer with a hurricane. the only problem i had was in my angel tank, it is my most heavily stocked. i had a car battery adapter that i ran my filter for about 1/2 hour a couple of times on that tank when they started looking bad and i didn't lose anything. of course the only problem i had with heat was it getting too hot. if i had a battery powered air pump i think the angels would have not needed the filter. and apparently didn't lose any bacteria cause i never had any spikes