Warning: Power Outage

My block has been hit with a power outage because one my neighbors thought it was cute to release mylar balloons into the air. Well, not that great of an idea because it alll got caught on the powerlines which caused an outage. The power is company is expexting power back on at 2am.

I've been meaning to buy a battery operated air pump before summer because of rolling brownouts well I never got around to it because I thought I had time. Oopss. I was driving to several LFS, chain stores, walmart, bait shops....none to be found.

Long story short....planned ahead. I've been oxygenating my tank using a cup, filling with tank water and pouring it back into my tank causing surface agitation for ten minutes every hour. I've lost a tetra already.

Forgive the typos...on my phone and running out of battery.

 

oh my, you've lost a fish already?!?! that's terrible. I hope they get it back on soon.

 

Oh so sorry AP.

One of my air pumps has a battery back up.
If the power goes out the batteries kick in.

Nice little feature.

Edit:
I mis-read...I'm so sorry you lost a fish.
How long has the power been out?

 

According to my neighbors since noon. I got home at 2pm. I've been monitoring my tanks to see if any fish are grasping for air. My main concern is my main tank which is heavily planted and since the lights are off...the plant will consume oxygen and produce carbon which is why I am worried.

I need to get one of those battery backup pumps. Lesson learn.

My place is all lit up with candles....very cozy.

 

I have both these gadgets for my car.



Combined they can be used to power a low watt air pump for a couple hours. More if you use a timer to cycle on and off every 15 minutes.

 

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss and neighbor from hel. Instead of buying battery operated pumps, may I suggest a UPS (uninterruptible power supply)? These days you can get some which aren't pricey at all which are used to keep servers/PCs up and running. I would recommend one which doesn't have a built in battery i.e. uses a car battery (such that you can swap out the car batteries in the event of an extended power outage). Hook it up to the mains and the battery and your pumps to the UPS, when the power is up; the battery gets charged and when the power goes down, it automatically kick in. Useful considering you can use other appliances with it as well and is silent compared to a generator set.

This is mine which is able to supply a max power of only 300W:

 

if you lost a fish already it is due to your filter not running more likely than the air pump. I would go buy a computer ups if this was a common thing to happen... they are about 35 at walmart they should be good for 350 watts of power that should give you a couple hours of an efficient filter running or an air pump running alternately I did see a battery operated pump at my walmart perhaps yours does too... failing that get a balloon zip tie it to some airline tubing with a valve tightened down and slowly let it up until you get enough bubbling air. You could even put a t valve in with a capped off side so you can close the fish side open the intake side and fill it back up with air from your lungs...

 

HI AP,
Sorry you're having dramas. Hope you've also shut off any CO2 you might have going

Realistically, IMO, you should be ok. Even though you've lost a tetra, I think that's coincidental.

As a make shift, do you have spare air line? Can you rig up a drip, or a couple of drips? Keep the drip above the tank so that the drops hit the surface, this will cause a ripple effect in the tank, helping to keep the surface agitated, aiding oxygenation. Just keep an eye on water levels so the tank doesn't overflow

PS - do you have a car charger for your phone

 

Didn't this happen last year also? Dang AP you'll never pick my lottery numbers your pro.... You'll be ok

 

Power outages suck, but you say your tank is heavly planted.
You should ok over a short because of your plants. Plants consume Co2 and produce oxygen. I believe the UK company The green machine, who specialise in planted tanks, don't use any air pumps or surface agaitation. The plants produce all the oxygen required

 

HI AP,
Sorry you're having dramas. Hope you've also shut off any CO2 you might have going

Realistically, IMO, you should be ok. Even though you've lost a tetra, I think that's coincidental.

As a make shift, do you have spare air line? Can you rig up a drip, or a couple of drips? Keep the drip above the tank so that the drops hit the surface, this will cause a ripple effect in the tank, helping to keep the surface agitated, aiding oxygenation. Just keep an eye on water levels so the tank doesn't overflow

PS - do you have a car charger for your phone

Power is back on

Believe or not, I don't. I don't use my phone when I drive. I either leave my phone home or it is in the trunk when I'm driving. I've learned my lesson while driving and talking/texting....never again.

Didn't this happen last year also? Dang AP you'll never pick my lottery numbers your pro.... You'll be ok

Nope. I don't think so. It hasn't been a stellar year for my tank this year.

I will be ordering tomorrow my battery operated air pump.

 

HI AP,

Glad that your power is back on. I keep these battery powered air pumps on my tanks at all times (link below). Lucy mentioned them above, they plug into a 110 outlet and when the power goes out, they automatically come on:


(currently on sale!)
I have one on each tank and then I have spares that I can add to my Wet/Dry filters for really long power outages. The beneficial bacteria need oxygen too.

A cheaper version below but these are battery powered only and they have to be manually turned on:



I'm glad you didn't lose any more fish.

Ken

 

Our power goes out all the time. The last time was for 5 hours. My fish have never had a problem but I do like the idea of these pumps and am going to see about getting one.

 

Yup, learned my lesson. I just went ahead and ordered them.

 

AP, depending on where your tanks are located, you can use one pump for several tanks. Just add a gang valve and enough airline tubing to reach all the tanks.

One year we lost power it was like a maze of airline tubing.
I had 11 tanks and 2 air pumps at the time.