if i lose power...

mjsdas

mjsdas

Member
since its summer and thunderstorms are not uncommon, and power sometimes goes out. i'm going on vacation for almost 2 weeks and my son is in charge of the tank. We have a small generater that we can run to power the tank if the power is off for more then a hour or so, but my son works durring the day and may not be home when the power goes out to start it up.
How long i can expect the inhabitents of my tank to survive without the water movement and filtration if the power does go out? i've got 6 small fish, 2 shrimp, and quite a few corals(most kinds but no sps) in a 46 gal.
 
viper_930

viper_930

Active Member
No water current and filtration shouldn't be an issue, unless the power goes out for like more that a a few days. The main problem would be the heating for the tank. What is your normal room temperature?
 
tanksalot

tanksalot

Member
During last years big blackout we went for around 24hrs with no ill effect to the tank, but I wouldnt want to try that again.
 
jeepboy

jeepboy

Member
If you think the power outage is very likely while noone is there, you could get a UPS and have a small powerhead near the surface plugged into it. Then if the power goes out, you'll still have some water surface agitation.
 
chinnyr

chinnyr

Member
I would'nt go past 24-36 hours.I went about 55 hours after last year's hurricane and only lost some unwanted hitchiker crabs and one coral.
 
mjsdas

mjsdas

Member
we have central air conditioning so the house it as 72 degrees, but if power goes off that goes off too so the house would start to warm up a bit. the power really doesnt go out that often, but i does happen atleast once or twice a summer.
So i take it that things would start dieing because the water movement at the surface brings oxygen into the water, and without the fresh oxygen the fish cant really breath? is that right? or would the temperature be the cause? And the corals will live longer then the fish right?
 
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