On the 18th of sept. they are going to cut off my blocks electricity for 5 hours. Im worried because i have a nano aquarium with 2 clowns 1 damsel and a cleaner shrimp. what do you suggest that i do? can they handle 5 hours?
2007-09-14 02:20:36 · 8 answers · asked by Chris M 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
They need air and a minimum temperature.
The dissolved o2 in the tank will not last very long with still water. Its best to get a battery operated bubbler. They're like $9 at fish stores & they take 2 d-cell batteries.
For heat, if its too cold, you can tape hand-warmers (the ones they sell in the hunting / camping section of wal-mart) to the tank. Be sure to watch the temperature! If these things get too much oxygen, they can get super hot.
Also, Don't feed them the day before or during the event. They can easilly go a couple days without eating anything. The bacteria that consume leftover food also compete with the fish for oxygen. They win over the fish for oxygen consumption if o2 is low in the tank.
I forgot to pay my electricity bill a couple months in a row last winter & they shut me off for 4 days. All of my freshwater fish lived. My snails were consumed as food by the fish though. At the time I had african cichlids & loaches.
You may want to consider removing the carbon from the filter. Without water passing over it (even for a few hours), the good aerobic bacteria living on the filter will die, and then bad bacteria will come along to eat them. Then when the electricity comes back on, it will spew toxins back into the tank. I'm not sure if 5 hours is enough time for this process to happen though.
2007-09-14 07:10:13 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get a battery powered air pump at a bait shop. They are sold to keep bait minnows alive while fishermen fish. They're not very expensive. That will take care of aeration and should keep the bacteria colonies alive.Without oxygen the bacteria start to die after about two hours. Wrap the tank in some sort of blanket to reduce heat loss.You could use one of those "survival blankets" that hikers and hunters carry,they come in a small package and are reuse-able too. Some sellers still call them "space blankets".
That should keep your Nano alive for five hours, maybe even over night if necessary.
It's good to have this stuff on hand in case of future power failures,and the pumps run on "D" batteries.
2007-09-14 03:34:43 · answer #2 · answered by PeeTee 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what size fish tank you have. If you don't have a heater, you could turn on the lights for the aquarium and let that heat up the water, although I'm not sure how long that would take and the amount of energy used to do so I would strongly suggest buying a heater and if you didn't want to buy something new because you can't afford it you can always use outside resources such as Craigslist or Ebay to find really good deals.
2016-05-19 03:03:48 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The main problem would be if they got too cold. Is there somewhere else you can take the tank to plug it in? Or possibly take the fish to another tank for the day?
2007-09-14 02:27:19 · answer #4 · answered by mom of 2 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi, What I would do is get a battery powered air pump & a airstone. I would use that why'll the power is out. Good luck
2007-09-14 02:47:19 · answer #5 · answered by fishbarn 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think they will be fine. i have gotten freshwater fish through weeks without electric by doing water changes every other day. the only adivce i would offer is fast them for a day so they don't poop.
2007-09-14 04:15:58 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
5 hours is nothing to worry about.
2007-09-14 02:52:58 · answer #7 · answered by joe 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ugh!
Try contacting the people at "That Fish Place"
http://www.thatpetplace.com/
(Click on "contact" -- is on upper right hand side of their home page)
2007-09-14 02:27:38 · answer #8 · answered by aattura 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋