Power Outage

[MissNoodle]

If you want to power multiple tanks maybe get a dual outlet pump? Unless you already purchased one.. Lol
That's so unfortunate that wasn't enough to keep your tank going... I once lost my pump for about a week and was somehow barely able to keep my cycle alive in it.. Ridiculous your filters aren't enough for you...
Hopefully everything stablizes soon.

The air pump had a splitter, but a 10gal power pump stopped powering the 3 splits it was originally powering before the outage. I don't know why and ive fussed all morning trying to fix it without any luck.

I think the problem comes down to the fact that my cycled media was in my sponge filter which stopped working for over 24 hours now even if my HOB was working after 6 hours--it has a new cartridge in it so it wouldn't be considered cycled by itself. But my old cartridge fell apart and wouldnt fit in the slot anymore, so I had no choice but to put the used fiber into the sponge filter to keep my cycle. Didnt expect this to fail like this :/ I have a bag of bio media in the HOB too, but its just over a month old being added, so while it should have been cycled, it doesn't seem to have helped.

I'm just grateful the community tank has the hardier species in it. Though, a month old molly fry isn't quite that hardy yet so it makes sense he wouldnt have made it as easily. If my blackwater tank failed, id have much heavier losses. That tank has 6 loaches and two cories. Plus a dwarf gourami, but all of them made it through the outage and their filter is up and running fine. Everyone is unaffected.

My betta boy's 5 gal is without a filter atm because I had to keep it hooked up only to the crashed tank. I'm currently on the road to go get a new pump to fix all this (on the bus, I don't drive lol) so its a temporary thing. Not like hes bothered by any of this. Just busy making his bubble nest without a care

 

[Crazycoryfishlady]

The air pump had a splitter, but a 10gal power pump stopped powering the 3 splits it was originally powering before the outage. I don't know why and ive fussed all morning trying to fix it without any luck.

I think the problem comes down to the fact that my cycled media was in my sponge filter which stopped working for over 24 hours now even if my HOB was working after 6 hours--it has a new cartridge in it so it wouldn't be considered cycled by itself. But my old cartridge fell apart and wouldnt fit in the slot anymore, so I had no choice but to put the used fiber into the sponge filter to keep my cycle. Didnt expect this to fail like this :/ I have a bag of bio media in the HOB too, but its just over a month old being added, so while it should have been cycled, it doesn't seem to have helped.

I'm just grateful the community tank has the hardier species in it. Though, a month old molly fry isn't quite that hardy yet so it makes sense he wouldnt have made it as easily. If my blackwater tank failed, id have much heavier losses. That tank has 6 loaches and two cories. Plus a dwarf gourami, but all of them made it through the outage and their filter is up and running fine. Everyone is unaffected.

My betta boy's 5 gal is without a filter atm because I had to keep it hooked up only to the crashed tank. I'm currently on the road to go get a new pump to fix all this (on the bus, I don't drive lol) so its a temporary thing. Not like hes bothered by any of this. Just busy making his bubble nest without a care

The pumps I have are rated for 40-60 gallons and have dual outlets, so you don't need a splitter to power two tanks.
I currently have two 20 gallon spong filters and 2 hob filters on my 55 using one of these pumps.
Then I have the other pump hooked up to two filters in a 20 long, and one filter in a 10 gallon, only needing one splitter for 3 filters. And I could still split the line even more...
I don't think it's exactly that the pump you had is working lesser, more than it's not supposed to be split 3 ways, but generally a max of only 2 ways.
Epsecially for a 10 gallon rated one.
It just lessens the pressure, and you would've had to mess with it for hours on end to get it in the right spot again.

It's sort of like if you tried to take one sponge and split it between 3 tanks, but hoping it will still work the same as if it was one large sponge, I guess. It can't when it's been divided by so much.
You'll have extra power with a higher rated filter, extra outlet lines, and a less likely hood of losing any filters if you have a power outage, since it's actually overrated instead of underrated.

 

[MissNoodle]

The pumps I have are rated for 40-60 gallons and have dual outlets, so you don't need a splitter to power two tanks.
I currently have two 20 gallon spong filters and 2 hob filters on my 55 using one of these pumps.
Then I have the other pump hooked up to two filters in a 20 long, and one filter in a 10 gallon, only needing one splitter for 3 filters. And I could still split the line even more...
I don't think it's exactly that the pump you had is working lesser, more than it's not supposed to be split 3 ways, but generally a max of only 2 ways.
Epsecially for a 10 gallon rated one.
It just lessens the pressure, and you would've had to mess with it for hours on end to get it in the right spot again.

It's sort of like if you tried to take one sponge and split it between 3 tanks, but hoping it will still work the same as if it was one large sponge, I guess. It can't when it's been divided by so much.
You'll have extra power with a higher rated filter, extra outlet lines, and a less likely hood of losing any filters if you have a power outage, since it's actually overrated instead of underrated.

That's what I'm thinking. It won't even run 2 tanks anymore even just as a bubbler. It refuses to. So gonna get a stronger one to run 2 tanks on and keep the weak one for the 5 gal. Originally we just had the one tank but then added more and it worked fine between them but now no. Thinking before I may have just been lucky there. Very harsh lesson learned.

 

[CheshireKat]

If the sponge filter remained submerged, it should've still had BB on it. I guess not enough though? Who knows. At this point you can only move forward and try to fix what's gone wrong.

I have problems with my air pumps as well. You'd think a pump rated for a 40 gallon wouldn't have problems supplying 7, 3, and 10 gallons through a gang valve, but I have to adjust the airflow to each just right for them all to get air.
Same story with a pump rated for 10 gallons. The 5 gallon line gets all the air and the 1.5 gallon gets a few bubbles. I don't know if it's something I'm doing wrong or what. I have noticed that sometimes moving the airline to the 1.5 affects the air pressure somehow.

I do know that the air pumps show to have the pump raised higher than the tanks. I don't know if that has any affect. I don't have furniture that tall...

 

[Kmshyamsunder]

During a heat wave, we are under a heat advisory so I'm not worried about temperatures, but I am worried about filtration.

One tank is run under a sponge filter and the other two have HOB plus an extra sponge filter... how long can the tanks go without filtration? Two have live plants.

We don't know how long the power will be out, its only our block. Pretty sure a car knocked out a pole.

I have two bettas and a dwarf gourami which are air breathers, but I'm worried about my mollies, tetras, cories, and loaches...

I have faced this.
The solution is simple. You can make diy set up with
Get 9 or 12 volt dc motors number is left to your choice. These motors run 9 volts Duracell or you can hook these 12 volt car or any other 9 or 12 volt poet source.
to make siphon to draw water from the tank and flow the water to top filter .
Many diy stuff is available on you tube. This will solve the filtration problem you can modify it to your needs

Link on you tube

 

[MissNoodle]

Got a stronger pump which is working perfect for my two bigger tanks and then kept the 10gal pump for my betta's tank so hoping to keep everyone alive now, but ill only update this thread after this if things take a turn.

Photo, the 5gal sponge filter bubbling away

 

[pagoda]

Sorry for the delay....was sleeping

Gel bio balls...ideal for cancelling out ammonia & other nasties

Pure Aquarium

 

[MissNoodle]

Sorry for the delay....was sleeping

Gel bio balls...ideal for cancelling out ammonia & other nasties

Pure Aquarium

Oh thank you, these look great! Def being bookmarked and will be happy to get these. So these, a battery operated pump, and a friend suggested the seachem ammo guard that you stick on the tank and it notifies all the time... I think itll be handy to use in combo with the API Masterkit.

 

[Joshuaharestad]

An electrician working on my house killed power to my tanks. Its gonna be five hours before I can get home to hook up the backup generator. Should I be worried about the fish?

 

[Cichlidude]

Nope. All will be just fine. Thousands loose power every day for hours, days and weeks.

 

[fjh]

Nope, they should be fine. You might want to take your filter media and put it in a bucket with fish water (in case it takes more than 5hrs, you don't want it to dry out).

 

[86 ssinit]

You should be fine. Unless there’s a big temp drop from house to outside. As in if the tanks can get cold. Heat won’t matter as much.

 

[kallililly1973]

I usually take my ceramic media if I lose power and swish it around in a bucket of tank water then let it sink right into the tank . But as others said they will b fine

 

[RuralGuppykeeper]

Once my guppies went through a power outage of about 5hours one warm day in a 10 gallon aquarium, they all survived and luckily didn't appear stressed. You may want to watch or unplug your HOB filter (if it doesn't self-prime) and I agree with keeping your filter media as wet as you can.
When you get power on again, go see if you need to manually prime the HOB filter to get it to start moving water again. I don't have any experience with canister filters though.
It probably wouldn't hurt to check the water quality too. That way you can know whether you need to do any additional water changes/partial aquarium cleanings.

I don't know if your HOB filter will self-prime, but my mistake came partly that my filter couldn't. I had left my old HOB plugged in, but the water level was too low for it to physically self-prime. When the power came back on, the filter motor pushed out all but a little water from the filter. I think I basically overheated the poor motor, since the remaining water inside the filter was very warm afterwards. I'm glad it was nothing worse, but the filter could only run a weak water flow afterwards. It was in storage for at least 5 years, and run for 2 years total until my mistake. Luckily I had the new internal filter that came with the new fish tank kit, so I moved the 'old' filter sponge into the new filter instead.

 

[jdhef]

Like kallililly1973, if I am experiencing an extended power outage, I put my ceramic media directly into the tank.

 

[H Farnsworth]

Like everyone said you'll be fine. If the tank gets cold and you have a wood stove you can boil some water and put it in a mason jar with a lid. I've used this trick a couple times with great success.

 

[atoken64]

Due to high winds over a million residents in my area are without electricity. To make matters worse a tree in my yard fell and took out the hydro pole at the same time. I have been without power since 7 am eastern time. Just informed that because of high winds and the amount of work to be done, I may not have power for a few days. I am worried that the levels in my tank will rise quickly as I have large cichlids. Also the tank temps have dropped from 78 to just under 71. So my question is:
I have a gas stove, can I warm up some water that way and do partial water changes to keep levels down? Will this work? Seeing as no filters can run. To make matters worse the temperature is supposed to drop to around 31F tonight, and I live in an older place that is not well insulated anymore.

 

[coralbandit]

I am with you.
No power for over 12 hours.
Hoping it is on tomorrow.
High today was 53 and dropping to low 30s tonight.
Nasty storm.
I hope all are safe.

 

[atoken64]

I am with you.
No power for over 12 hours.
Hoping it is on tomorrow.
High today was 53 and dropping to low 30s tonight.
Nasty storm.
I hope all are safe.

Thanks yes all are safe, tree is cleared away and the power pole braced up to make sure it doesn't land in my driveway or house. Just worried for my fish and especially for my Flowerhorn.

 

[saltwater60]

What you should do is place hot water in pop bottles and float them in your tank. Hopefully you have a gas hot water tank to make it easier.
Also yes small partial water changes and stop feeding.
When you get power back clean your filter pads and drain the water from your filter. You should be able to keep the water temp pretty consistent. Also agitate the water for air. You can get battery back up air pumps.

 

[atoken64]

What you should do is place hot water in pop bottles and float them in your tank. Hopefully you have a gas hot water tank to make it easier.
Also yes small partial water changes and stop feeding.
When you get power back clean your filter pads and drain the water from your filter. You should be able to keep the water temp pretty consistent. Also agitate the water for air. You can get battery back up air pumps.

All the battery air pumps sold out at my lfs. I have not fed my fish since last night. If I see my fish getting distressed I'll do the small changes in the dark tonight.

 

[coralbandit]

My generator would not start so I figured I would wait it out..
Lost/ losing Fish an now power may not be back till tomorrow night. Went and got a replacement but only 5000w..
This week has been exciting. I am ready for it to end.....
When I think I bought central a.c. and hate to use it I am mad at myself for not having whole house generator instead....

 

[Elkwatcher]

All the battery air pumps sold out at my lfs. I have not fed my fish since last night. If I see my fish getting distressed I'll do the small changes in the dark tonight.

Make sure to agitate the water the best way you can, pouring tank water from a cup or bucket often. If you choose to heat with hot water in bottles, the water will lose oxygen as it heats up and fish can suffocate. Lost a wonderful King Kong Parrot to a 7 day outage when I didn't have a batter air pump.. not I have one for each tank on hand! The temperature going down is not what you have to worry about, it's the ammonia and oxygen.

 

[NathJK]

If you have canisters or jobs you need to take the media out and put it in the tank. Just let it rest in there. The bacterial in a stopped canisters won't last a day with no O2. Then aerate the water best you can buy splashing it our doing small water changes.

Also wrap the tank in foil and blankets for insulation. It'll keep the temps and also calm the fish.

 

[Elkwatcher]

Do water changes before power goes out if possible.

Calcium Chloride Heater (note must be pure 100% Calcium Chloride: 130F
plastic water bottle 500 ml bottle
add water to almost fill and 100 g calcium chloride
monitor temp take out or add more bottles

Power Off

Can use heat packs. heat to 113 F tape to side of tank with painters tape
tape near bottom
cover completely with painters tape

Cover tank with Mylar Emergency foil blanket or reg blankets.

Aerate with battery powered air pump a must (Amazon) Most important*****
Need filtration put air stone to bottom of aquarium place filter media over airstone attached to battery air pump.

Ammonia filtering *****Unplug regular filters or ammonia will be pumped in when power returns.****

HOB Filter media can be removed and put in a container of tank water and returned later for long power outages.

Don’t feed fish*****

Power back on

Let tank go back to normal temp

Don’t feed fish right away

Do a large water change


Make an emergency kit

Battery powered air pumps
Sponge filters
Airstone/ weighted airstone
Batteries D size for air pumps
Mylar blanket 52 x 84 -36 x40 for 20 gal heat rises
Thermometers
Flash lights
500 ml water bottles for heated water if necessary
Heat packs/ 72 hr 110 F red line to outside for oxygen 1 to 20-30 gals monitor temperature.
Tape/ painters tape
Box filters
Airline tubing
Blankets

Tank will be ok at 63 degrees if necessary
Watch for ICH

 

[coralbandit]

Power back on !
Need to assess losses in fish room tomorrow .
It stayed pretty warm down there [74f+] but no filters on heavy stocked tanks ??
Lost an larger denison barb and my last Mono Sebae angel [about 6-8 inches ] from my 180g in the living room where the room temp dropped to 63f..
Really looking forward to a "new week " ..Hopefully better also ..

 

[BlueRamChiclidLover22]

I live in California and anyone who lives here will know immediately what I’m talking about. I had to take down my tank because of it. Thankfully I was already going to do that because we are going to move (I think). But anyway I just wanted to see how everyone was doing and any tips I can give to beginners or something. I’m not a master aquarist and I only have one tank BUT I spend hours and hours researching. Also I just want to see a picture of your tank. If it’s a jar walstad style a planted with co2 or a artificial tank, I just want to see people’s tanks and see if they are ok.

 

[atoken64]

Power back on !
Need to assess losses in fish room tomorrow .
It stayed pretty warm down there [74f+] but no filters on heavy stocked tanks ??
Lost an larger denison barb and my last Mono Sebae angel [about 6-8 inches ] from my 180g in the living room where the room temp dropped to 63f..
Really looking forward to a "new week " ..Hopefully better also ..

Have not been home all day as I work, did a small water change before I want to bed for an hour. The Hydro Linemen were just pulling in my driveway, they have to change the pole as it was unsafe. So while they are doing that I did a 50% change in each tank. Some of my fish don't seem to ok especially my to Big BRP and my Jellybeans in the the EBA tank. One EBA might not make it as well. So far my Flowerhorn seems ok aside from the cold water. The only casualty is my Golden Severum, it had laid eggs twice with my Green Severum. I was unable to take out the media so I am going to redose my tank as soon as the filters come on and then do another water change tomorrow. I have only had an hour and a half sleep since friday night. Good news is they are almost ready to turn my power back on.

 

[atoken64]

Do water changes before power goes out if possible.

Calcium Chloride Heater (note must be pure 100% Calcium Chloride: 130F
plastic water bottle 500 ml bottle
add water to almost fill and 100 g calcium chloride
monitor temp take out or add more bottles

Power Off

Can use heat packs. heat to 113 F tape to side of tank with painters tape
tape near bottom
cover completely with painters tape

Cover tank with Mylar Emergency foil blanket or reg blankets.

Aerate with battery powered air pump a must (Amazon) Most important*****
Need filtration put air stone to bottom of aquarium place filter media over airstone attached to battery air pump.

Ammonia filtering *****Unplug regular filters or ammonia will be pumped in when power returns.****

HOB Filter media can be removed and put in a container of tank water and returned later for long power outages.

Don’t feed fish*****

Power back on

Let tank go back to normal temp

Don’t feed fish right away

Do a large water change


Make an emergency kit

Battery powered air pumps
Sponge filters
Airstone/ weighted airstone
Batteries D size for air pumps
Mylar blanket 52 x 84 -36 x40 for 20 gal heat rises
Thermometers
Flash lights
500 ml water bottles for heated water if necessary
Heat packs/ 72 hr 110 F red line to outside for oxygen 1 to 20-30 gals monitor temperature.
Tape/ painters tape
Box filters
Airline tubing
Blankets

Tank will be ok at 63 degrees if necessary
Watch for ICH

My tanks are a lot colder than that, I have salt and Tetra Ich tabs on hand, as I can't gradually raise the heat in two tanks as the heaters are preset to 79 degrees. But my house temp right now is 42 degrees so with the heaters and my house warming up the tank temps should rise slowly I hope.

 

[Asomeone]

Is yalls power still out? Wut kinda horrid government. Hasnt it been like 3 weeks?

 

[BlueRamChiclidLover22]

Is yalls power still out? Wut kinda horrid government. Hasnt it been like 3 weeks?

It’s been on and off. 1 day on, 2 days off. Its mostly back on and has been on for three days now.

 

[newbywho]

Freaking out new to hobby and power just went out is my fish going to be ok so I need to do any thing

 

[Coradee]

Welcome to Fishlore, there’s some useful tips & links on this thread that may be helpful
Prepare Your Aquarium For Power Outages - General Discussion 55586

 

[newbywho]

thank you very much its still out but this is very helpful thank god for att hot spot

 

[coralbandit]

Most important is keeping tank warm IMO .
I lost power the other weekend for a couple days ..
All fish made it through first 24 hours easy ...
I lost less then 5 fish or so and have 60 tanks !
It was cold here up north but fortunately all my tanks besides 3 are in one room [fish room ] where the temp never went below mid 70s..
My house almost went below 60 before I got back up generator going ..
Good luck .

 

[newbywho]

I haven't been in the hobby long felt like I was at the hospital with my kids lol have hand warms floating in zip locks and just ran to wallmart for a battery power bubbler its ment for fishing but should do the trick

 

[Dennis57]

Most important is the battery operated bubbler, they also have the 1 that you plug in, and when power goes out it senses that there is no power and turns on the bubblers. Cost around 20.00

 

[newbywho]

Most important is the battery operated bubbler, they also have the 1 that you plug in, and when power goes out it senses that there is no power and turns on the bubblers. Cost around 20.00

have to look for one of thos

 

[Murphy29345]

I have a 75 gallon tank that is full of guppies and fry. I will be going on vacation within the next few days. My apartment has a problem with having many power outages during storms. While I am gone, it is suppose to be storming everyday. My concern is that every time the power goes out my tank filter does not kick back on. I have to take it out to get it back going. My friend who is looking over the tank will not be able to come everyday to check on the tanks. However, I have two bubbler that are in the tank. Will my fish be able to survive without the filter being on till my friend gets there? Because the heater, lights, and bubbler will turn back on automatically. Is there something I can do to help keep my fish alive?

 

[LadfromLondon]

This might not help as it will not be cycled, but if you bought a sponge filter and attached it to your bubbler it’ll start automatically once power kicks back on. It would be better than nothing.

 

[AmnScott]

Your tank can go a couple hours without filtration. In fact, I had a 2 day power outage here in California so all of my filters were off the entire time. I just made sure to keep the filter media wet with tank water and I did 30% water changes about every 12 hours to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels down, and to aerate the tank.

Filters with internal pumps will start on their own after a power outage. AquaClear filters, from my experience, will also start back up on their own as long as the water line in the tank is above the motor level. Many filters will start back up their own when the water level is high enough, in fact.

 

[Islandvic]

Check out the Tiger Direct website, they have a ton of UPS (uninteruptable power supply) options that will run your filter and air pump for awhile when the power goes out. Sign up for their emails, and you will get emails for sales. Most times there will be a couple of refurbished UPS's for half off.

I would not plug the lights or especially the heater into it though.

An air pump probably consumes around 3-5 watts and a typical HOB filter around 7-15 watts of power.

At this small load, an UPS should power the tank well over an hour or more.

 

[Marioguerra94]

Its 2° Fahrenheit outside. I got 2 29 gallon tanks. Power went out about 2 hours ago. How long so you think I they have with no heat and no aeration? Mollies guppies and shrimp.

 

[StarGirl]

Wrap them with blankets and heater packs if you have any.

 

[Lucy]

Hi!
I'm so sorry about your power. If you do a forum search you'll find several threads.

I can't answer your timeline questions specifically but it would be a good idea to wrap your tank in blankets to keep the heat in.
Don't feed the fish (less in less out, so to speak)

Can you safely get out to get a battery operated air pump?

Might be too late for some of these suggestions but help in the future.
Prepare Your Aquarium For Power Outages | General Discussion Forum | 55586

 

[RelaxingBettas]

I wouldn't stress the aeration as much as the heat, thankfully those are stock I have found to be somewhat more tolerable of cold- this is what would be going through my head (actually my plans in case it happens here, we're encased in ice, it isn't good)- close rooms. Seal under cracks. Find blankets, coats, wool, down, any insulating layers and pack (they could be moved to one room if nano tanks). I'd start a fire if I have a fireplace, generate some power if I could, then I would pull out my battery aerator (and wish I have more than one, and so few batteries- I am ill prepared). Pretend they are baby incubators with the power out- we had an ice storm once with the power out five days and I had a waterbed, I cannot describe how cold it got. PRESERVE THAT HEAT. Good luck.

 

[ForceTen]

I put a lit candle below the tank and it worked great. Power was out for 6 days once and I had zero problem.
Don't put it to close. I put mine about 8 inches from the top of the flame.

 

[Marioguerra94]

I put a lit candle below the tank and it worked great. Power was out for 6 days once and I had zero problem.
Don't put it to close. I put mine about 8 inches from the top of the flame.

This is actually what I ended up doing. We left to mu inlaws cause I didn't want my son in a house at like 40 degrees inside lol but hope my fish will be ok

 

[RelaxingBettas]

I put a lit candle below the tank and it worked great. Power was out for 6 days once and I had zero problem.
Don't put it to close. I put mine about 8 inches from the top of the flame.

Genius, how have I spent years camping and rigging candle/flowerpot heaters and it didn't occur to me? I literally make beeswax candles, lol. Thank you, I hope it doesn't come up, but if it does I feel less grim!

This is actually what I ended up doing. We left to mu inlaws cause I didn't want my son in a house at like 40 degrees inside lol but hope my fish will be ok

Oh dear, I hope you're close, a lit candle unattended is making me nervous (your son first, of course, but next, your house!)

 

[fishnovice33]

Happened to me.

I used 4 empty plastic bottles with tops (like a rinsed soda/water bottle, filled with hottest water possible from faucet and let float.

Worked very well.