What if the lights go out?

[Aneamals]

What can I use to keep the fish alive during a power outage when I'm not at home? What if it goes out for various hours, I'm not at home for those hours, and don't even know about the power outage? I need, at least, the hob filter running continuously for beneficial bacteria and oxygen (it's very hot where I live and I need extra oxygen). I might also need the heater running because, if it's raining a lot, the temperature goes down rapidly. What technology is out there?

EDIT: I meant "What if the power goes out?", not only the lights!

 

[Angelmom2]

Get a generator that automatically turns on when the power goes out. Your whole house can be powered by some of the better generators out there.


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[treemanone2003]

Do you mean if you lose power ? Because I turn my lights out every night and they're still alive. I'm presuming you mean a power loss and for that you'd need a generator. It would need to be integrated into your current electrical system and should only be done by a licensed electrician.


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[Aneamals]

Do you mean if you lose power ? Because I turn my lights out every night and they're still alive. I'm presuming you mean a power loss and for that you'd need a generator. It would need to be integrated into your current electrical system and should only be done by a licensed electrician.


Sent from my iPhone that doesn't like me. Or you.

Ahaha yes, I mean't when I lose power. I just always call it "lights going out", and somehow expect everyone to know what I mean. Sorry about that. XD And wow ok, I knew about generators but didn't know they could be integrated into my electrical system. Good to know.

 

[evil Nick]

Could get a decent back UPC power supply

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[aqua_holic]

The fish will be just fine waiting for the power to come back on, assuming it's not a prolonged outage of days. So will the bacteria. It is important though, to make sure the water level is kept high in the tank or the water can siphon out of the filter body leaving the media exposed. This also ensures that the filter will restart properly once the power returns.

 

[Brookster123]

You can get a battery powered air pump, temp would be the biggest obstacle to maintain, floating warm bottles or pouring hot water in the tank is always an option.

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[aqua_holic]

It's not an option for those with electric water heaters

 

[Brookster123]

It's not an option for those with electric water heaters

Boil water? I guess if you don't have gas you'll be out on the porch with a camping stove bahhhhahahahah
I just bought a generator
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[aqua_holic]

I think there's far more risk in shocking the fish with fluctuations by trying to maintain the temp than there is in letting the temp fall. I would say that the overwhelming majority of people don't now anything about thermodynamics and would have no idea how much water, or how hot the water needs to be, in order to accomplish their goal.

 

[fish wrangler]

I would be more worried about hot water opposed to cold water. The OP lives in Puerto Rico, dont think heat will be an issue

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[Coyne]

They make power supplies that have a battery backup. They're mainly used for computers, but I suppose it could be used on an aquarium set up. Not sure how long the battery would last though.
Alternatively, they make air pumps with a battery back up as well. This would at least ensure that the water stays oxygenated.


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[Aneamals]

You can get a battery powered air pump, temp would be the biggest obstacle to maintain, floating warm bottles or pouring hot water in the tank is always an option.

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I do have some emergency battery-operated air pumps. But if I'm not at home, I can't set it up.

 

[Aneamals]

I would be more worried about hot water opposed to cold water. The OP lives in Puerto Rico, dont think heat will be an issue

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Yes, I do live in Puerto Rico, and it's very hot here, when it's not raining. 84-88*F in the tanks during regular hot days. About 78-80*F in the tanks when it's raining.

 

[Coyne]

You can get a pump with a battery backup. It plugs into an outlet like normal, but when it detects that there is no power it switches to the battery automatically.


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[evil Nick]

Yes, I do live in Puerto Rico, and it's very hot here, when it's not raining. 84-88*F in the tanks during regular hot days. About 78-80*F in the tanks when it's raining.

Jeez, just move to PR to avoid Ich
Which part of PR, my GF has a timeshare there, been there many times. Love it

 

[MICEY]

I lost power for a full week last year with no heat < house got down in the 50f but had no problems with my fish, there is plenty of oxygen in the water in the tank to keep the fish and bacteria ok and a hob has a lot of surface area to keep oxygen in the water
heat is the biggest problem but it will take a long time to drop in a larger tank
If the water gets cold I would watch for ich for a week or so after , fish natrurally have temperature changes

 

[mrvincent]

Seriously, I won't invest a penny in a UPS or generator for freshwater tanks. I already got a 24h power outage in the winter at -25C° outside due to the neighbourg home burning in fire, both my 20g reef and my 29g planted tank water went to 13C°, no corals or fishs or inverts in both tanks died from that outage.

Here my neighborgs trololo;

(Took for a cheap blackberry phone)

My planted tank is a community tropical fishs... My neons and cardinalis didn't got any whitespot... If your fishs are healty (free of diseases like ich), they can tolerate cold water for short time. Once the power come back, don't put hot water to the tank, wait for it to raise with the heater.


The only thing that's cost efficient for poweroutage, is a battery powered air pump for surface agitation for heavy bioload tanks. That's it.

 

[fish wrangler]

If you are worried about filtration with a power outage you could get a sponge filter that is powered with the battery air pump. Two birds woth one stone, some filtration and surface agitation

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[Aneamals]

Jeez, just move to PR to avoid Ich
Which part of PR, my GF has a timeshare there, been there many times. Love it

Canovanas and it's neighbors are saunas, but Cabo Rojo and around it are lava.