Power Outages ??????

How long can a tank survive without any power?? Its a FOWLR 1 anemone and some crabs. We are getting some bad storms this way and just preparing.... :rolleyes:
 

guppie

Member
Being for Ca. we have this problem all the time. Mine has been off for over two hours, with no problems, I just did the old take the water out of the tank and pour it back in it worked well. I have heard of people going longer then a day with out power and useing that trick and not looseing any fish. You might want to take the lid off your tank also. Good Luck
 
thanks for the quick replys,I was going into
panic mode :rolleyes: I was trying to explain to my wife that we could use a generator for more than my tank ;)
 

pufferlover

Active Member
scy I envy you. Most books say that up to 6 hours your bio will stay intact, after 6 you should shut off pumps so they don't start up before you change the media. I once had a 9 hour outage and had to change everything in all 10 tanks (that was a fun night). I now have battery operated pumps that come on if power goes out and that helps quite a bit as far as giving the fish o2.
 
E

egg

Guest
You can goto American Power Conversion www.apc.com and buy a battery backup UPS. They're made for computers, but I used one back when I had a big expensive tank.
The 650 model ran my 2 fluval 403s (430s? i forget) and a BackPak w/ protein skimmer for 4 hours (probably coulda gone longer, but thats when the power came on). If you get a big one, like a 1500, you could prbably run all your filters and maybe even some lighting for upwards of 8 hours.
 

playtime

Member
Well, I am from california and worry constantly about our stupid power situation. My power has gone out on many occasions and everyone is fine, (I did loose a blue hippo tang) but the power went off and on 3 times in the same day. Now, when the power goes out, I call the electric company and find out how long they expect the power to be out, and if it isn't more than 2 hours, I just leave it alone but, if it is more than 2 hours, I unplug the pumps and skimmer oh, and the lights just to be safe. I am getting battery powered pumps and a converter for my boat battery so I can use that for long periods. Right now, a generator isn't in my budget. Also, doing the water change helps too. Good luck.
playtime
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
My FO survived a week wo power when we got hit by Hurricane Georges. I ran several of those dinky battery pumps that you drop an airstone line in the tank.
No casualities.
However, the main reason I have postposed going with a reef tank was for this reason exactly, as I doubt a reef tank will make it during a long term outage resulting from big storms.
 
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