turn my tank off?

[dudeofrude]

I'm having some electrical work done on my house tomorrow and am going to be without power, just wondering how long (roughly) the tank can be turned off without harming the fish?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

The tank can stay off a long time for the fish, but the bacteria might be another matter. If your filters stop, ensure all the media in them stays wet.

 

[dudeofrude]

I don't wanna sound stupid but my filter is underwater so will the media not stay constantly wet?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Undergravel or canister filters should be fine. Ones that hang on the back would begin to dry out.

 

[dudeofrude]

Ok that's what I thought, so would you say the tank would be ok up to 2 hours with no filter or heat?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

As long as your door isn't open letting the cold in, etc. Room temp should be fine. The water can't get colder than your house. My fish lasted 30 hours in buckets with no heat in the cab of a truck. To help, you could turn up the heating before the work is done. If the tank is small then oxygenation could become an issue if they are longer than a few hours.

Another option is either to hook something up to your car to supply power, or to get a battery backup unit. You can usually find them in computer stores. They'll keep your filters running in power cuts or brown outs.

 

[dudeofrude]

Well that's some peace if mind. I'll look into a backup power source as it dies worry me if we have a power cut or summin. Thanks very much for the help Tim

 

[Greenmaster]

But basically with only a couple hours you will be fine. Salt water is a little bit more unstable but even for them a couple of hours is generally okay.

 

[ChelseaLake]

We had a major blizzard where I live a couple of weeks ago, and the newscast said we would likely be without power. So I planned ahead, fed my fish in advance, lit a heater in my room (to get some residual heat in there), and checked to make sure all of my wiring would be okay. Our power only ended up being out for 12 hours (and at night), and the next morning, as anxious as I was, my fish were perfectly fine. All of my setups were in working order, and so far, nothing ill has come from it.

 

[dudeofrude]

Well thanks for all the advice guys, all went smoothly and only had the tank off for an hour in the end. Thanks again

 

[DreD]

If you ever get worried about the oxygen it never hurts to make some little splashes where the fishes aren't swimming

 

[Tim Wheatley]