Power outage prep

[Aqua315]

So I live on the east coast and Hurricane Irene is heading straight for us. In the event I loose power, what can I do to help my tank. I don't have a generator so that means I'd loose the filter, heater and air pump. I'm not worried about the heater this time of the year but how long can my fish survive with no filter or air pump? Is there anything I can do if the power is out for an extended period of time? I figure I had better ask all these questions now because if the power does go out, I won't have computer access.

 

[Lowryder]

PWC's will be your friend. Fish don't need an airstone because the filter oxygenates the water. So just agitate the water every now and again. Just test, test and test some more. When you numbers start to get high the pwc

 

[Gubernaculum86]

Do u have time to run out and get a battery powered pump for the airstone? Or what about a computer battery backup pack, that could give u some time for a filter or an airstone?

 

[jetajockey]

Go to the walmart fishing section and spend $5 on a battery powered aerator, they work great for this purpose.

 

[Sparky74]

You could make a simple sponge filter with the battery aerator as well. Not that it's going to filter much, but it's better than nothing. Just search DIY sponge filter.

Good luck

 

[eco23]

Go to the walmart fishing section and spend $5 on a battery powered aerator, they work great for this purpose.

Exactly what I did today. Just by chance I picked up two $12 aerators yesterday at Walmart preparing for the hurricane this weekend. Out of the blue we had a horrendous storm today that knocked out power for 10 hours. I hooked one of the units up to my 46 gallon and it provided a surprisingly good amount of surface movement and agitation. Lucky my neighbor had a generator going, so I eventually plugged in the filter (as well as fridge and sump pump in the basement)...but I'd have been comfortable leaving just the battery powered aerator going.

Here's what I got-
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Frabill-Portable-Aerator/16494427

It's also nice cause it's got a clip on the back which hangs right on the side of the tank.

If it'd been a longer outage, I would have pulled out the biomedia from my canister, set it in the tank and run the second unit under it to oxygenate the bacteria.

 

[ilostnemo]

you can use hydrogen peroxide too

 

[eco23]

you can use hydrogen peroxide too

Can you expand on that?

 

[ilostnemo]

Hydrogen Peroxide For Dissolved Oxygen - by Dr. Erik Johnson Hydrogen peroxide can be used to increase the dissolved oxygen in the system. H202 + H20 ----------> H20 + 02 Simply use 1/2 cup per hundred gallons. I prefer, however, to apply peroxide in a typical spray bottle, squirting it forcefully under the surface of the water into tanks and vats in trouble, I use 60 squirts per 100 gallons. What you will see is the fish will leave the surface, and swim about as if there was no dissolved oxygen deficit. The time for this to occur is approximately one hour. The benefits are seen for a full 4 hours. The hydrogen peroxide to use is drugstore 3% peroxide. It's great in emergencies. If applied directly to the fish, or applied directly to their water in an undiluted form, gill damage could result, so apply it away from the fish.

 

[eco23]

Hydrogen Peroxide For Dissolved Oxygen - by Dr. Erik Johnson Hydrogen peroxide can be used to increase the dissolved oxygen in the system. H202 + H20 ----------> H20 + 02 Simply use 1/2 cup per hundred gallons. I prefer, however, to apply peroxide in a typical spray bottle, squirting it forcefully under the surface of the water into tanks and vats in trouble, I use 60 squirts per 100 gallons. What you will see is the fish will leave the surface, and swim about as if there was no dissolved oxygen deficit. The time for this to occur is approximately one hour. The benefits are seen for a full 4 hours. The hydrogen peroxide to use is drugstore 3% peroxide. It's great in emergencies. If applied directly to the fish, or applied directly to their water in an undiluted form, gill damage could result, so apply it away from the fish.

Hmm...I've heard of some sort of slow dissolving h2o2 tablets for transport, but never considered that method. Makes sense, but I'd personally be concerned about the dosage. I know for h2o2 treatment of algae it is a significantly lower amount added much slower. 60 squirts from a spray bottle seems super excessive to me...but I've never researched it personally.

I'd have to do some math, but heres a different write up about it. I'd have to break out the calculator and figure out what an average squirt bottle would add...and since I don't feel like doing math right now...I'll leave it for later, lol. For all I know, the level could be dead on.
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Hydrogen_peroxide

As a side note, I saw an interesting write up about h2o2 effects on nitrification with a newly established tank...that'll be worth a more thorough read when I'm more awake