How long?????
- Thread starter shaggyblz
- Start date
jwilson
New Member
Filtration should be ok as you have live rock taking care of a lot of that, and you can always do a partial water change if needed.
Everything should be ok with whatever minimal ambient lighting for a while too.
The real big issues are de-oxygenation and water movement, and depending on where you live/time of year temperature. If your water movement is a bubbler/air stone then you should be ok for a couple of days minimum.
You can take some hard foam insulation board and tape that around the tank to hold heat in or out as best as you can. A fan bowing across the top fo the tank can help to keep it cool through evaporitive cooling if getting hot is and issue.
Of course, all of this is without guarantee etc. as it is just from what I have learned in my own reading, research etc, I have not had the experience of going long term without power.
Everything should be ok with whatever minimal ambient lighting for a while too.
The real big issues are de-oxygenation and water movement, and depending on where you live/time of year temperature. If your water movement is a bubbler/air stone then you should be ok for a couple of days minimum.
You can take some hard foam insulation board and tape that around the tank to hold heat in or out as best as you can. A fan bowing across the top fo the tank can help to keep it cool through evaporitive cooling if getting hot is and issue.
Of course, all of this is without guarantee etc. as it is just from what I have learned in my own reading, research etc, I have not had the experience of going long term without power.
srfisher17
Active Member
Originally Posted by Shaggyblz
http:///forum/post/2757519
If the electricity goes out, how long will my tank be safe? I have a back-up battery supply for the water movement but nothing else. No filters, lights or heaters.
There are so many variables to give a one-size-fits-all answer. A large, lightly stocked tank can go much longer than a small heavily stocked one. But water movement is the most critical. be sure the water movement includes surface agitation. Light & heat shouldn't
be a problem.If the tank gets too hot, use ice as top off water if you can.Cooler water will hold more O2 than warm. Fish can handle a fairly broad temp range as long as change is gradual. Mechanical & chemical filtration isn't critical, but bio-filtration is. if LR is doing this job, the water movement should take care of it. If your bio-filtration is part of your filter system, be sure to rinse all the media after a long power outage.Test for ammonia and change water or use something like Ammo-Lock to neutralize the ammonia. Feed as little as possible. Once every 3 days is plenty. I went w/o power for 4-5 days a couple of times, then bought a generator that got me thru a few small storms. Then, Katrina got everything. Are you in Ike's area, or just planning ahead?
http:///forum/post/2757519
If the electricity goes out, how long will my tank be safe? I have a back-up battery supply for the water movement but nothing else. No filters, lights or heaters.
There are so many variables to give a one-size-fits-all answer. A large, lightly stocked tank can go much longer than a small heavily stocked one. But water movement is the most critical. be sure the water movement includes surface agitation. Light & heat shouldn't
be a problem.If the tank gets too hot, use ice as top off water if you can.Cooler water will hold more O2 than warm. Fish can handle a fairly broad temp range as long as change is gradual. Mechanical & chemical filtration isn't critical, but bio-filtration is. if LR is doing this job, the water movement should take care of it. If your bio-filtration is part of your filter system, be sure to rinse all the media after a long power outage.Test for ammonia and change water or use something like Ammo-Lock to neutralize the ammonia. Feed as little as possible. Once every 3 days is plenty. I went w/o power for 4-5 days a couple of times, then bought a generator that got me thru a few small storms. Then, Katrina got everything. Are you in Ike's area, or just planning ahead?
oceansidefish
Active Member
I have only gone a couple hours in my tank without power. Everything was just dandy. I would be more worried if I lived in Florida. Just make sure your sump wont overflow.
shaggyblz
Member
Originally Posted by srfisher17
http:///forum/post/2757536
There are so many variables to give a one-size-fits-all answer. A large, lightly stocked tank can go much longer than a small heavily stocked one. But water movement is the most critical. be sure the water movement includes surface agitation. Light & heat shouldn't
be a problem.If the tank gets too hot, use ice as top off water if you can.Cooler water will hold more O2 than warm. Fish can handle a fairly broad temp range as long as change is gradual. Mechanical & chemical filtration isn't critical, but bio-filtration is. if LR is doing this job, the water movement should take care of it. If your bio-filtration is part of your filter system, be sure to rinse all the media after a long power outage.Test for ammonia and change water or use something like Ammo-Lock to neutralize the ammonia. Feed as little as possible. Once every 3 days is plenty. I went w/o power for 4-5 days a couple of times, then bought a generator that got me thru a few small storms. Then, Katrina got everything. Are you in Ike's area, or just planning ahead?
No. I'm no where near the hurricanes. I live in Kentucky. Although we did get some strong wind yesterday (60-70mph gusts) that caused a power outage for a few hours. Had never really thought about the lack of electricity taking out my aquarium until then. I am currently running an Eco-tech power head that moves the water very well. It can run for about thirty hours on the backup battery.
Thanks guys. That puts one of my worries behind me.
http:///forum/post/2757536
There are so many variables to give a one-size-fits-all answer. A large, lightly stocked tank can go much longer than a small heavily stocked one. But water movement is the most critical. be sure the water movement includes surface agitation. Light & heat shouldn't
be a problem.If the tank gets too hot, use ice as top off water if you can.Cooler water will hold more O2 than warm. Fish can handle a fairly broad temp range as long as change is gradual. Mechanical & chemical filtration isn't critical, but bio-filtration is. if LR is doing this job, the water movement should take care of it. If your bio-filtration is part of your filter system, be sure to rinse all the media after a long power outage.Test for ammonia and change water or use something like Ammo-Lock to neutralize the ammonia. Feed as little as possible. Once every 3 days is plenty. I went w/o power for 4-5 days a couple of times, then bought a generator that got me thru a few small storms. Then, Katrina got everything. Are you in Ike's area, or just planning ahead?
No. I'm no where near the hurricanes. I live in Kentucky. Although we did get some strong wind yesterday (60-70mph gusts) that caused a power outage for a few hours. Had never really thought about the lack of electricity taking out my aquarium until then. I am currently running an Eco-tech power head that moves the water very well. It can run for about thirty hours on the backup battery.
Thanks guys. That puts one of my worries behind me.
jcarroll
Member
One time when I was living out in Denver, there was a rolling blackout that lasted 5 hours. I was so nervous! All my fish were fine though. It seems stupid looking back, but I went over about every 15 minutes after the first two hours and kinda splashed around in the water a bit with my arm. It was my first tank and I was clueless as to what to do!