Qattarra Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Power Failure – What to do? It’s pretty much inevitable that one day you will be sitting in the comforts of your home, enjoying the relaxing sounds of your aquarium when all of a sudden your power goes out. You’ll be running around frantically searching for candles and matches when it will hit you – what’s going to happen to the fish?! Preparing in advance for a situation just like this one is going to be a big help and you’ll thank yourself for having the foresight to have stocked your cupboards with all the necessary equipment. Here are your immediate concerns when the power goes out; the oxygen levels in the tank, the water temperature and filtration. Let’s deal with the issue of oxygen first. Re-Oxygenating the Water Keep the water in the tank aerated by using a battery powered air pump. These are very inexpensive and may well save the life of your fish in an emergency situation. In the absence of this handy little device you’re going to have to improvise and you’ll know if your fish are having a hard time with the lack of oxygen in the tank because they’ll probably be gasping at the water’s surface for air; let’s hope it doesn’t get to this point though! Keep a bottle of hydrogen peroxide on hand as it can be added to the water to keep fish adequately oxygenated for the time being. Use about 1 teaspoon for every 30 gallons of water in your tank. This should last for about 12 –24 hours, so just repeat the process when and if necessary. Another thing you may have to do is to manually re-oxygenate the water and remove the carbon dioxide. This might sound impossible but if you use a container of some sort and fill it up with tank water, you can then pour the water back into the aquarium from an elevated level and achieve the desired result. The problem with this particular method is that you’ll have to do it over and over again repeatedly – hopefully you have a big family and you can all take turns at it. Make sure you do this repetitively every 30 minutes. Maintaining Water Temperature As soon as the power dies, make a note of the current water temperature in the tank. You will want to try to maintain that temperature as best you can. When the water temperature begins to drop you have a few options that you can utilize. First of all you might want to try using large freezer sized zip lock bags by filling and sealing them with hot water from your tap (the water that has accumulated in your hot water tank should stay warm for a while). Place the bags into the aquarium and this will help to warm the water. Alternately, you may choose to do some water changes using warm tap water. If your water heater is powered by gas then you might end up providing the neighbors with hot water too! Another simple idea to retain the heat in the tank is to wrap the aquarium with warm blankets and towels. Keeping the glass warm will help to keep the water warm as well. Filtration In order to keep the water quality in the tank at acceptable levels you’ll want to begin doing water changes so that ammonia and nitrite levels don’t get too high. The other thing you really need to do is to stop feeding your fish. We’ve talked enough about the nitrogen cycle by now to know that fish waste only adds to your ammonia levels and that’s the last thing you want to deal with when your filter is not functioning. You may feel like the bad guy for making your fish go without food for a while, but you need to trust that they can handle it even if the blackout persists for several days your fish will be fine. The absolute best option when the power fails is to use an uninterrupted power supply unit. This device looks like a large power strip and is essentially powered by a charged battery. You can run your air pump and filter on it for a period of days. You may also choose to plug your heater into it, however the heater will absorb wattage quickly and may deplete the power supply of the unit within a matter of hours. TIP – Once the power is working again you might want to consider giving your fish a half dosage treatment of ich guard, as fish are more predisposed to contracting this parasite when they have been in cold water. Your Essential Aquarium Tool Box Part of being a responsible fish keeper is having the ability to foresee potential problems that may arise at some point in the future and to always have a contingency plan that will help you handle any issue, big or small. No aquarist is complete without his essential aquarium supplies or ‘tool box’ if you will. Here’s a list of everything that you’ll want or need to have in your own supply box. AQUARIUM TOOL BOX 1 Filter brush 2 Test kits for pH, ammonia, nitrite & nitrate 3 Hydrometer 4 Aquarium safe silicon sealer 5 De-Chlorinator 6 Fish nets (a variety of sizes) 7 Extra air tubing 8 Algae scraper 9 Razor blades 10 Gravel vacuum 11 Cleaning pads 12 Medications 13 Stress coat 14 Quarantine tank and the equipment to go with it 15 Battery powered air pump 16 Batteries 17 Uninterrupted power supply unit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevchewy Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Some good tips... when i move out and have my own fish room, my contingency plan will be a UPS... just in case! nev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainmaker69 Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 I was always paranoid about power failures so I bought a generator. Someday I might get to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishyguy9616 Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Hey Qattarra You have listed many good ideas. You must have had lots of experience in this area. One small point is to not overcrowd your aquariums. Power failure or not, less problems of all kinds occur with a tank that is not crowded. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Of course you are right. I didn't write this, it is an excert from an e-book I have. I wanted to share the info, it might help someone out some day Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaggle Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 I want to buy a generator for the house I am thinking about a large one like larger then 5000W so I can keep all the tanks up and a small heater. Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kona Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Het Qattarra can you tell me where a battery powered air pump is available. I don't recall seeing one. I am assuming it would have not been ment for aquariams? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vapor Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Thanks for the info. Some good ideas there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williewonka Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Het Qattarra can you tell me where a battery powered air pump is available. I don't recall seeing one. I am assuming it would have not been ment for aquariams? I've seen them at WalMart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 I need to get one or two also. I do believe they are at walmart. They must be available at BA's, Petcetera or PJ's also. Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Chicklets Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 I have seen them at the Wallywierd here in the Fort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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