With this upcoming hurricane, many people are speaking of power outages that could last days. I cannot get a generator. Should i just buy a battery air pump? Will the bacteria in my canister stay alive? I really do not want to cycle my tank again.
Power Outage
- Thread starter skenny
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
What type of canister do you have? I have a Fluval canister and one thing I'm planning on doing if the power goes out - is to just use that "Primer Pump" to essentially "manually pump the filter".
As long as you do that, the bacteria should stay alive.
As long as you do that, the bacteria should stay alive.
Hmmm, in that case - you have two options. Take the filter media out of the canister and:
1. If the material is in mesh bags, you could place them inside the aquarium.
2. If it is loose, you can put it into a bucket of tank water and stir it occasionally.
Another big point: If there is a risk that your water supply might stop or become dirtied - Do your tank water changes now so that the water is extra=clean before the storm.
1. If the material is in mesh bags, you could place them inside the aquarium.
2. If it is loose, you can put it into a bucket of tank water and stir it occasionally.
Another big point: If there is a risk that your water supply might stop or become dirtied - Do your tank water changes now so that the water is extra=clean before the storm.
The key is oxygen. A tank with enough oxygen can filter itself for a good amount of time without an actual filter. The problem is that both fish and bacteria die without O2. So as long as you have SOME way to "stir" the tank, and "stir" the filter media - your tank should be ok.
Do you have live plants? The more live plants you have (if you can get good light on the aquarium) - the less you have to stir.
If you have a UPS - I'm not sure if if it would be better for you to run your filter or your lights with it. (it would probably last longer on the filter)
If you have a UPS - I'm not sure if if it would be better for you to run your filter or your lights with it. (it would probably last longer on the filter)
Instead of an standard UPS, I have a car battery and a 800 watt inverter. I trickle charge the car battery to keep it maintained. If there's an outage, I hook up the battery and inverter. It will last much longer than a UPS which typically has just one or two small 8 amp hour batteries. It won't last several days though. That will take a generator, and the generator will require running once a month or so. You'd need something like Stabil to keep the gas from going bad, and some type of syphon to get fuel from a car if you don't want to have gasoline stored at your home.
If you had the space and money, an array of batteries charged via solar panels could make an alternative backup power source.
If you had the space and money, an array of batteries charged via solar panels could make an alternative backup power source.
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
A lot of threads about this recently 
...here's what I use, it works great. We had an outage for about 10 hours yesterday and I got to try it out.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Frabill-Portable-Aerator/16494427
...here's what I use, it works great. We had an outage for about 10 hours yesterday and I got to try it out. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Frabill-Portable-Aerator/16494427
Hey everyone.
Im In MD, about 150 miles from Ocean City, so we expect to get pounded.
Now that I know what to do as far as having no filter if the power does indeed go out, what about the heaters????? Whats a good way to keep the tanks warm enough? I have two tanks, a 29 gallon and a 36gl.
Im In MD, about 150 miles from Ocean City, so we expect to get pounded.
Now that I know what to do as far as having no filter if the power does indeed go out, what about the heaters????? Whats a good way to keep the tanks warm enough? I have two tanks, a 29 gallon and a 36gl.
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
Copachick said:
Here in VA it's going to be in the low 80's. Assuming you don't have AC running through a generator...the house is gonna be hot and I wouldn't worry about it. You can always wrap it in blankets if it cools down for some reason.
Similar threads
