possible power outage

B

boo-boo

Brenda
Jul 11, 2006
56
0
0
51
Northern New Jersey
I'm in the northeast and some areas are having rolling power outages to save on energy. We haven't had one yet and I don't know that we will. But I thought I should ask this question in the event it happens and I can't get online.
What should I do if the power goes out thus, stopping the filter, light, air pumps, and heater?
Re; the heater...in the summer I would expect heat rising in the tanks (as some of us discussed in a previous thread of mine) but in the winter there would be an issue of the water getting too cold.
So what would my actions be in both a summer and a winter power outage?

ps; I have a 16 gal tank and will have a 90 gal tank running w/in a week.

Thanks
 
1. If the power outage lasts less than a couple of hours your filter should be fine. If the outage is longer make sure to test the water over the ext few days. This way if a you had a bacterial die off you can be right o top of a mini cycle. If a mini cycle starts just make sure to keep up with water changes.

2. If you are worried about aeration do a water change before the outage. If you have no clue when the outage will happen do a small water change every day. Also make sure to change the water during or after the outage. If you a totally panicked about aeration you can blow on the tank with a straw, but that should be unnecessary.

3. If you are having rolling power outages I'm guess it is warm where you are (like almost everywhere in the US). So do not worry about the heater. Even if it is cool in your house it will take a while for the tank to cool dramatically.

4. A few hours in the dark will not hurt your fish or ay plants you have.

Most likely a rolling outage will only last a few hours at most. If this is the case it will most likely have very little effect on your tank.
 
you might want to invest in a battery-powered air pump. you can get those for about $4-7 online. there's also a more expensive "backup pump" by Azoo ($70) that automatically charges itself when plugged in, then in the event of a power loss, starts running on its battery.

other than that, your filter and everything will be fine.
 
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