What to do during a power outage?

Question

I have two aquariums, an 18 gallon, and a 55 gallon. Both of them are 24 inches tall.

Right now, there's only four fish in them. A betta in the 18 gallon, a Clown loach and two rosie barbs in the 55 gallon. They both have undergravel filters, and the 55 gallon tank has a pair of Fluval 204 filters.

I hear that the good bacteria in the filters can die if they don't get oxygen for half an hour or so, so I've taken the tops off the fluvals in order to let some air into them, but what else can I do, and what should I do when the power comes back on? It's been off for ten minutes already.

Answer 1

Don't move them! They will be fine, luckily your tanks are really understocked. Their should be more then enough o2 to last them for a couple of days, they will create a very small bio-load- your bacteria will be able to handle it.

If you see any of he fish (exclude the betta) hanging at the surface sort of gasping then do a 25% water change. You will probably be fine though.

The bacteria will be fine. Bacteria grows in the gravel as well. If you are cycling your tanks then test the water quality over the next few days. You probably won't see a change.

Again- you are lucky your tanks are so understocked. You can seriously breathe easy. I had fully stocked tanks go for 3 or 4 days without any problems. I did partial water changes every other day. Didn't lose anybody.

Answer 2

Normally I'd be worried, but given the number and types of fishes I'm not. The betta breathes air from the surface. He's tough he'll survive in a pickle jar for weeks. (With water changes every 4 days he could live for years. Live not live well.)

The 3 small fish in the 55 gallon tank have days worth of O2 in the water. If you had more I'd just do your weekly water change early. Or remove 5 gallons and pour it back in every few hours.

The bacteria will survive in both tank will survive in large enough number to reduce themselves in a few days, and given number of fish in your tanks isn't worth worrying about any way. If you had a fully stocked tank you's want to monitor your ammonia levels, and double the normal volume of your water changes.

PS- I'm more concerned about temps. Are they getting too hot or too cold. The betta ideally likes things around 80 (75-85), and will survive into the low 60 if the change is gradual. The other fish are tropical so that's ~72-82.

Answer 3

The 'bio-load' is so light in the tank you'll be fine.

Maybe take the lid off the tank and open a window. Because you have wisely selected to give the fish plenty of space you have avoid this as being a crisis, and many other problems along the way.

Most people try to jam as many fish into a tank as possible and the loose interest in the hobby after they have foul tanks or run in's with disease.

don't mess with the tanks, you are OK for several days.

Answer 4

I just had my power turned back on after three days, no thanks to summer storms with hurricane-force winds (you ever hear 71mph wind? It moved the air conditioner in my window!)... I have a 55-gallon with two silver dollars, three zebra danios, three guppies, five cory catfish, three African dwarf frogs, and seven neon tetras. I also have a 10-gallon that used to have seven baby guppies, but sadly, only five are left at this point.

My fiance and I put airline tubing and hose into the tanks and would blow in the water to create aeration. At this point, when the power is off, that's your main concern. You can always re-cycle your tank if you have to, but you have to keep your water aerated. We also (luckily) had these things called "Bag Buddies" on hand, which essentially release oxygen bubbles into the water, as well as chemicals to calm stressed fish and keep ammonia in check.

Come day two, we started to hourly siphon out a bucket of water, then proceed to pour it back in. This created some decent aeration. My fiance ordered two battery-operated aerators online at work, and had them shipped for overnight delivery yesterday. The power finally came back on today at around noon, and the aerators came at around 2pm. Go figure. Even though we thought we were doing a pretty good aerating the water, we still ended up losing two of our baby guppies.

While the power is off, do not feed your fish, as this will contribute to rapidly increasing ammonia and nitrite levels.

When the power comes back on, you need to empty out all the water from your filter and clean your filter medium by gently scrubbing it with a toothbrush. There is lots of decomposing nastiness on there that you don't want to introduce into your aquarium.

Hopefully your power came back on sooner than mine did... *anger*

Good luck!

Answer 5

The city I live in had bad storms last night, & most people are with out power now for several days. I work at a pet store & people have been calling for a battery operated pump. Its not a bad idea to have one on hand incase of situations like yours. They are not too expensive, either.

You may want to consider a water change after your power comes back on if its off for a while.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Good luck.

In the future you might consider a battery backup power supply such as the type used on computers. They'd provide hours of protection to run your pumps and keep your fish alive.

Answer 7

You can buy a UPS for under $100 at Staples and other stores. Then you will have peace of mind. But plug only the air pump in it, so it runs longer.

Answer 8

put them in a bowl/bowls and put a flashlight or candle next to the bowl/bowls

Answer 9

it helps to feed your fishes meatloaf and salsa