Here's the story... our house has a very old circuit breaker setup and the original manufacturer is no longer in business. The problem with this is that the circuit breaker box and some of the breakers themselves are going bad and it is not possible to find replacement parts. So bottom line is that we going to get our circuit breaker box and breakers completely replaced with all new stuff. This obviously entails the power being off for several hours or maybe even a day. I won't know the complete details until the electrician shows up. In any case, how worried should I be getting? The tank has only been up for just over 5 weeks, but is completely cycled and has been "stable" for the last few weeks. The main reason for this is due to buying TBS live rock... so my cycle was relatively quick.
How long can the tank stay stable without power?
- Thread starter Nickeleye
- Start date
I've read about tanks that have gone sour over night due to lack of water circulation. I've never experianced any of this because I'm rather new to sw keeping but it's just info I've read.
I could understand that... The one thing I think I have going for me is that the tank is only 5 weeks old so I don't have a ton of corals or fish or too many other "current sensitive" organisms in the tank right now.
Depending on the person doing the job if he knows that you need some power for you tank he should be able to change that circuit over first and then get the rest of them set up and put them in. This can also help with keeping your food cold. Anything over 1 hour at a time I would start to get worried about. You have to think about the tank temp, and the water circulation with you bio-filter (I guessing your live rock dose most of it).
A good electrician should be able to do it with only a few 30 minute power outages to your fridge and you fish tanks. Depending on the meter location and the placement of your new and old electrical box it might be about 45 minutes. Your tank should be fine in these short times of no power. You should let him know this form the start and you might need to talk to him about it before he comes to do the job.
**edit** With a new tank that’s way under stocked you should do fine as long as your temp doesn’t change too much for up to an hour at a time.
A good electrician should be able to do it with only a few 30 minute power outages to your fridge and you fish tanks. Depending on the meter location and the placement of your new and old electrical box it might be about 45 minutes. Your tank should be fine in these short times of no power. You should let him know this form the start and you might need to talk to him about it before he comes to do the job.
**edit** With a new tank that’s way under stocked you should do fine as long as your temp doesn’t change too much for up to an hour at a time.
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The power here in DC is a lot like the Developing World, it goes off a lot. What has worked very well for me during outages are little battery-driven baitbox air pumps. This time of year, the temperature isn't much of a problem, but I don't like the idea of the tank getting stratified and hypoxic in places. Those little pumps put out a good bit of air and keep the water moving.
The record was 3 days after Isabel came through last year. No losses in a densely stocked tank.
If I were you, I'd get two and run them at opposite ends. They're cheap, and you should be able to find them at a LFS or tackle shop.
The record was 3 days after Isabel came through last year. No losses in a densely stocked tank.
If I were you, I'd get two and run them at opposite ends. They're cheap, and you should be able to find them at a LFS or tackle shop.
As it turns out, after talking to the electrician today, the power should only be off for a half an hour or so. Probably at worst a couple hours without power. I don't have a massive bioload in the tank so I don't think the power being out for that short of time would be a big issue.
A couple hours shouldn't do much of anything. We lost power a few weeks ago from a tornado producing storm. Power was down for 4 hours and I lost nothing. Power came back up and the tank looked normal.
It doesn't sound like you'll have a problem , but this might be of some help in case of another emergency.
Don't know if this actually works, but I heard that you can agitate the surface to get air bubbles into the tank. When we had a tank explode at the store, we did this to all the tanks because the electricity was off for about 3 hours while we dried all the electrical outlets. We didn't lose anything, but that may have been a result of all the prayers I was praying.
Don't know if this actually works, but I heard that you can agitate the surface to get air bubbles into the tank. When we had a tank explode at the store, we did this to all the tanks because the electricity was off for about 3 hours while we dried all the electrical outlets. We didn't lose anything, but that may have been a result of all the prayers I was praying.