In the event of a power cut!!!

Ok so this is an idea thats been playing around in my head since ive started fish keeping.

What are the tricks, the procedures, the know hows in the event of a power cut. Im talking no house heating, filter gone, aerator gone.

How do you keep your fish alive?

Id love to hear your ideas and experiences and general knowledge!

I know a lad with a fairly large marine setup that has a couple of backup UPS units setup
Good for 2-3 hrs running until the power comes back on again

Thankfully power cuts don't last as long as they did a few years ago,but the last time I had one I just covered the tank with a duvet to keep heat in, as it happened on a particularly cold night. I wouldn't panic over the filter or aeration being off for a couple of hours and I would do a water change once the power was restored.
if the power was going to be off for a longer length of time. I would look to a retailer in another area with a spare tank to hold the fish. I don't keep Marines but I would imagine a power outage to be a major headache for Salties

Since i have had Marines, i have being luck enough as not to have a power cut yet.

But when i was keeping fresh water i did and what i done to over come it was i added a battery power air pump to the tank and the to keep them Temp up i added hot water to water bottles and left them in the tank to keep on top of that and then if needs be i would keep changing the hot water in the bottles when it goes cold.

Sean

For anyone who is old enough to ever hear of the very long power cuts we had in the UK in the 70s, it was a bit of a nightmare even when we were told when the power cuts would happen.

If there is a scheduled power-out then there are a few prep things to do in advance: a good partial water change, and don't feed the day before.
The filters should be given a good cleaning (ie remove all excess gung from media and piping etc).

Also a good time to have the emergency kit of zeolites to remove ammonia etc.

If the power-cuts are not scheduled then obviously you have no prep time.

The temperature on large tanks will take a long time to cool down....but the rate of cooling and final temp will also depend upon the room temp.
Square tanks, by the way, will cool slower than an equivalent volume tank oblong tank.

Insulating material (expanded polystyrene, duvets, blankets etc) should be used if the external temp is low and either the tank is small or the power will be off for a long time.

the temp will drop, but so long as it is slow, many fish will cope with the lowered temp for a while.

Now, filtration/aeration is the big problem. But really a tank should be stocked to the level of not having a filter (for cases of power-cuts). But, I doubt many follow that rule

Again, ammonia adsorbing zeolite can help here.

Battery powered air-pumps?.....do not need to be used constinuously, but would be a problem if you have loads of tanks.
I used bicycle types in the 70s.....not fun, but we had very long power-cuts over weeks and weeks on end.!!

Keep your fingers crossed, and then you have the next problem to deal with......after the power comes back on...????

You may not know how long the power will be off, but maybe it is best to prepare the power filters as soon as the power goes off.

Un-plug all power filters (especially externals) as soon as you notice the power goes off. Now, if the power comes back on within a few hours then simply plug them in again.

But if the power is off for a considerable time, then the biological layers may have started to die (some die pretty quick).
What you do not want is a load of dead bacteria and their toxins being released back into the tank when the power comes back-on again.

Clean the filters and all pipes. Add some filter start bacteria after power-up.

Do a good partial water change and do not feed fish for a day after the power comes back on.
Double check for any dead fish as they will soon kill the others.

Of course, a portable generator is an option....in which case, non of the above need apply.

ian

i have a backup UPS unit setup. everything is plugged into the unit, it has six plug slots, so if the power did ever go off the battery would kick in, lasts a couple of hours, power hasnt cut before thankfully but its a good precaution

How much is it to set up one of these units. What do they look like as my tanks are in my room

i have the sockets under my tank connected to a socket at the back of my house
when i get a power cut i can plug in my generator and switch over to it for power
it very handy as i can plug in my fridge aswell

Gilly wrote:

How much is it to set up one of these units. What do they look like as my tanks are in my room

www.eircomictdirect.ie/back-400va-230v-s...-bs1363-p-13174.html

wlash wrote:

Gilly wrote:

How much is it to set up one of these units. What do they look like as my tanks are in my room

www.eircomictdirect.ie/back-400va-230v-s...-bs1363-p-13174.html

Thats the bizzzz have to get one of them

heres a handy vid re what to do regarding power outage

jeff wrote:

wlash wrote:

Gilly wrote:

How much is it to set up one of these units. What do they look like as my tanks are in my room

www.eircomictdirect.ie/back-400va-230v-s...-bs1363-p-13174.html

Thats the bizzzz have to get one of them

+1

Should the tank be pluged out when there is lightning storm ?

Lidl have a Petrol Generator for €199 on sale at the moment. Not sure if its that good but looks to have a output of 2600watts and 2800watts for a short time if needed. Im tempted in picking one up my self. About 3 years ago we had no power on christmas day for about 6hours or more.

Its something that you could buy and never need, but one never knows.

Not sure if anyone else does it. But i plug all my fish plugs into surge protectors.