Power Outage Options

[starsplitter7]

In Florida we have a chance of having a tropical storm or hurricane this week. I don't panic; we have them all the time. But I realized today that this is the first time we have a chance of a hurricane since I have had fish. This is a small, low wind tropical storm or hurricane, so my only worry is the loss of power.

Any idea how I keep my fish aerated if we lose power? I was planning on cleaning their tanks tonight to make sure they are pristine, and if we lose power I plan to drop water from buckets manually from a higher location.

I was planning to look for the battery operated aerators tomorrow (I work today). Do they work?

Any other suggestions?

If they start overheating, I assume I could put in frozen water bottles (until we run out of ice).

I figure I should ask now, before there is a problem.

I have 5 tanks running at this this time (and two Betta/fry tanks).

[Jim Powers]

I like using battery operated air pumps.
They are not too expensive ($10-$15 or so) and work well. They will also run for a very long time on the batteries (generally D).
I have three of these pumps and 7 tanks so I tend to move them around abit if we have a power outage.
There is even one kind that can be plugged in to an outlet. It doesn't run when plugged in until the power is interupted.It then kicks on battery until the power comes back on. Then it shuts off again. This is nice if you are gone and the power goes out. You can also just turn it on like a regular battery pump.
You should be able to find battery operated air pumps at most pet stores. I believe Petsmart carries them.
Good luck!!!

[plaalye]

Good luck SS! I hope the storm passes you by.

[Marcos Mataratzis]

Hi Tanja,

I use to keep iced water bottles into my freezer for emergency situations.
Battery air pumps works fine. another option are computer UPS. You can use one external filter or canister at a time for one or two minutes every hour not to loose your beneficial bacterias.

Marcos

[Emma Turner]

If you have a lot of tanks running, it may be worth investing in a small generator in case of emergencies. We have one which runs on petrol and is quite noisy, but it has literally saved our loaches on several occasions now.

Emma

[Gary Stanton]

Batteries are great for short outages. Longer ones require a generator. I've had one for 2 1/2 years and used it last winter. The power was out for almost a day. Longer and batteries would not have worked. A few days and the biological system would be in jeopardy. Here it gets much colder than Florida too. It turned into a peace of mind thing for me.

[wasserscheu]

What would oxygen do if applied via fine airstone (very low dosed)? Would it "burn" something or "somebody"?

... a magnetic valve could open during power-out and close once power is back. But if it were that simple it would be practiced already, so what´s the catch?

[starsplitter7]

I picked up battery operated air pumps for $7 and lots of batteries, and I will clean my tanks today before I head to work.

It is just a tropical storm/small hurricane. The biggest threat right now is tornadoes.

We just have to keep an eye out.

[iam1ru12]

I'm in the Philippines and last June we had a super typhoon hit our area, bringing in muddy floodwaters up to many people's house ceilings. It was a good thing my neighborhood wasn't hit by the floodwaters, otherwise I would have said goodbye to the fishes in my two (at that time) tanks. However, we had a power outage that lasted for a week! Yes, seven days!

Good thing I had battery-operated aerators that I had readied for emergencies. One size-D battery lasted for nearly 24 hours. I was lucky each aerator needed only one such battery to operate. My fishes survived the ordeal.

Now I got myself a rechargeable pump that runs on AC but automatically reverts to DC once there is a power outage. The battery-operated pumps will get to work after the rechargeable battery runs out of power.

[newshound]

I have read that enclosed/canister filters go toxic very quickly if the power goes out due to a lack of O2.
When the power goes off I open up my canister filters to allow some O2 exchange to happen.
This is another reason Martins under water river tank filter design is so good. The sponges will not suffer as great of a loss as a canister filter WHEN the power goes out.

This is also another great reason to under stock tanks. Heck you might be on vacation when a major power loss strikes.

[Gary Stanton]

This is also another great reason to under stock tanks. Heck you might be on vacation when a major power loss strikes.

This is the issue many people forget. Great point, thanks.

[Diana]

Canister filters can indeed go foul VERY quickly. If there is any hint that the power is going to be out for more than a few hours I would definitely open the filters, and for a longer power outage it ight be worthwhile to dump the media into a more open container, including possibly the tank itself (if the filter had been cleaned recently) or a plastic storage container with its own air bubbler, dechlorinated water and a few drops of ammonia.
HOB filters are already pretty open, so perhaps just pouring some tank water through them every hour or so would be enough.

Another reason to stay on top of filter maintenance.