How to prevent chaos in power outage?

[abw0004]

Hello all,
Something that I have been wondering about is how to create a safeguard against power outages? I live in Atlanta where major power outages are being forewarned with the ice storm coming in so I am naturally worried about the power going out, thus shutting off my aquarium. Is there anything that can be done? What do you do to prevent the fish from dying, if anything?

 

[Rare]

Living in the capital of hurricanes aka Florida, we have become familiar with some of these situation of being without power.

A home standby propane generator will be ideal. You will have full power in your home when power goes out.

Next up, a portable generator. Depending on the size of your aquarium a generator can run your filter or air pump and few others things in your house. If portable generator are not in your list.

A battery backup for a few hrs like what many use on computer like an APC brand is your next best bet. You can use it to run a small air pump or a powerhead and hope power comes back up before it's drained.

Next up is a battery operated air pump. They use 2-DD battery and will last about 1.5 days. Again depending on the size of your aquarium will dictated how many you battery operated air pumps you need.

 

[DragonFish71]

To prevent/slow down heat loss in your tank, wrap it in blankets. That helps tremendously. Your fish and plants (if you have any) will be fine without lights. Feed heavy then do a good cleaning and water change before the storm hits your area to make sure you don't have a build up of excess food and poo in the gravel that way you won't have a huge ammonia spike while the filter is off. While your power is out, don't worry about feeding. They can go without until the power is back on unless it's going to take weeks.

 

[abw0004]

Okay thanks for the advice. This is just a precaution but I wanted to be prepared. Thank you guys!

 

[Rare]

Power Outages - EP 4: Testing, Monitors & Controllers - Bulk Reef Supply

 

[jlk]

To prevent/slow down heat loss in your tank, wrap it in blankets. That helps tremendously. Your fish and plants (if you have any) will be fine without lights. Feed heavy then do a good cleaning and water change before the storm hits your area to make sure you don't have a build up of excess food and poo in the gravel that way you won't have a huge ammonia spike while the filter is off. While your power is out, don't worry about feeding. They can go without until the power is back on unless it's going to take weeks.

Excellent advice! Water changes across the board prior to the storm. If the power does go out, skip feeding unless you have fry.

Portable generators are wonderful and are the most cost efficient option if you face power outages frequently. Our power was out for five days last week thanks to an ice storm but as power outages happen quite bit where we live now, we invested in small generator a couple of years ago. It will not heat your home while running everything, but it's sufficient to cycle through things to keep everything going until the power returns.

Less expensive option is a power inverter that uses your vehicles battery power (@$20-30 at chain store). They plug into your power plug and provide one to three outlets to plug things into. Make sure you start your vehicle frequently to keep the battery from dying.

Another option is a battery powered aerator. Fishing section of any chain store or sporting goods store. With heavy duty (commercial grade) batteries, these will aerate your tank for 48+hrs.

A simple option for aeration is to scoop out water and pour it back in once an hour or so. Also make sure your filter media stays wet (move it into the tank) if the filters are not running.

Wrapping the tanks (foil then towels/blankets) will help minimize heat loss a bit but if your facing an extended period without power, you will be a bit limited in options to keep the water warm. Good luck and please ask any questions!

 

[abw0004]

I bought a battery powered airstone and I will use it tonight along with wrapping my tank in blankets

 

[Rare]

I do plenty of fishing & these are the ones i have- 6 in total. Just make sure to take out the battery/batteries when not using.

 

[abw0004]

Yeah tonight is the night we are supposed to lose power so I have set up the airstone and put it in the tank. I will leave it on tonight just in case

 

[Rare]

Good deal and good luck!

 

[wildroseofky]

I saw another post about power outage and one of the posters said you could put a little "Ice Melt" into plastic water bottles and add water. The chemical reaction produces heat. Perhaps research a little on that just in case.