What Do You Do When The Power Goes In Your House?

[kakihara]

I'm getting a few new sockets and put inside the house and out the back garden in a few weeks time.

My problem is that the power will have to be turned off for a while (how long, I've no idea) and I don't know what's gonna happen to my tank, how cold it's gonna get and how quickly it will decrease in tempertaure.

It's only a 60 litre tank so it's not as if it would take as long to cool down as a 180 litre.

I'm a bit worried frankly.

Has anyone got any ideas on what I should do?

Cheers

 

[timmystood]

Is there anywhere you can take your fish that day??

You can keep the heat in a tank buy wrapping it in a blanket or duvet. The fact you have time to plan is fantastic! It's horrible when the power goes off unexpectantly!

Maybe you can invest in a battery pump to keep the oxygen flowing in the water for the time the power is off. Elite do a decent one for about £15.

The only major problem you have is the filter bacteria. If you have an internal filter it'll be ok off for quite a while, if it's an external/box filter then we could have a problem. You may be able to take the filter media and put it in a sandwich bag with holes in and put it in the tank to help keep the media alive. But i'm guessing on a tank that size it's an interal filter?

 

[voo]

You could always ask the electricians to do all their wiring first and install the plug sockets, then the electric would only need to be off for half hour whilst they connect it to the mains?

 

[CFC]

Why not hire a small generator and some long leads so you can have the generator running in the garden to power your tank, a days hire shouldnt cost much more than 50 euros or whatever currency they are using over there now.

 

[Fillet 'O' Fish]

Where I live we are always having power cuts for varying times. I was worried about my filter media bacteria and keeping the constant flow of water, as well as the heaters. I have just invested in a UPS for a typical home compter. Now when we have a power cut everything keeps working for ages (as my pump doesnt use anywhere near as much electric as a computer and monitor).
Although they get more expensive the longer the UPS is to last, a standard one will set you back around £50 - £60.
For me well worth the money rather than damage my fish etc.
Hope this helps.

 

[Fishkeeper2004]

To be honest, in past experiance, the electric has been out for between 24-48 hours here, and it really didn't affect my tanks temperature. (This was mid-July.. but my heater is still turned off now because my tanks temperature is running a little too high!) I can only see the problem being with the filtration.. unless it suddenly gets alot colder here than it is now!

 

[Cheffi]

Where I live we are always having power cuts for varying times. I was worried about my filter media bacteria and keeping the constant flow of water, as well as the heaters. I have just invested in a UPS for a typical home compter. Now when we have a power cut everything keeps working for ages (as my pump doesnt use anywhere near as much electric as a computer and monitor).
Although they get more expensive the longer the UPS is to last, a standard one will set you back around £50 - £60.
For me well worth the money rather than damage my fish etc.
Hope this helps.

We already use one for the biz computer but when I looked into buying a slightly bigger one it appeared it would only run the filter for around 15-20 mins max. Can you tell me which one you have and have you actually given it a test run to see how long it will work for? Thanks.

To be honest, in past experiance, the electric has been out for between 24-48 hours here, and it really didn't affect my tanks temperature. (This was mid-July.. but my heater is still turned off now because my tanks temperature is running a little too high!) I can only see the problem being with the filtration.. unless it suddenly gets alot colder here than it is now!

Have to say at this time of year I'd be more concerned with my filter being off than my heater.

 

[raptorrex]

You may be able to take the filter media and put it in a sandwich bag with holes in and put it in the tank to help keep the media alive. But i'm guessing on a tank that size it's an interal filter?

now thats a good idea would an old stocking do the trick? lots of small holes lol

 

[BigIan]

You may be able to take the filter media and put it in a sandwich bag with holes in and put it in the tank to help keep the media alive. But i'm guessing on a tank that size it's an interal filter?

now thats a good idea would an old stocking do the trick? lots of small holes lol

yep aslong as its clean....

they should be able to do the bulk of the work without turning the power out the actual connection and testing only takes 20-30 mins....

 

[raptorrex]

yep aslong as its clean....

lol

 

[Torrean]

I wouldn't worry about it much honestly. If it's only gonna be out for a day or so the fish should be able to deal with it. If your worried about the filter then use a cup and pour water through it a few times each hour. If your worried about the temperature then wrap the tank in a blanket. Another thing that's handy to have is a battery powered airstone (used in fishing) These can be used to keep filters alive by oxygenating the water in the filter.

 

[iroc]

I'm getting a few new sockets and put inside the house and out the back garden in a few weeks time.

My problem is that the power will have to be turned off for a while (how long, I've no idea) and I don't know what's gonna happen to my tank, how cold it's gonna get and how quickly it will decrease in tempertaure.

It's only a 60 litre tank so it's not as if it would take as long to cool down as a 180 litre.

I'm a bit worried frankly.

Has anyone got any ideas on what I should do?

Cheers

get a small UPS thats what I have my heater and filter pluged into that way with the power off I still have 6 hours of power for my tank and my computer................

 

[kakihara]

Cheers for the response people

I'm hoping he only would have to put the power off for about 2 hours maximum (as well as putting in some sockets to the living room ...for a new tank ... has to run a wire from the fuse board to outside the house, back into the kitchen and then out to the back garden, so I guess that could take a while!!) as I reckon it would take about 4 hours for the tank to fall to room temp ... which I'm sure the fish wouldn't like!!

If it's gonna take longer that that I can always stick on the gas central heating and turn it up to 25 degs

Oh yeah, it's an internal filter (Intepet ph 2).

 

[Namelessthedogboy]

Generally I panic !