Zayne Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 just got a note that our power will be cut for 6 hours while a power pole is replaced, i have 6 tropical tanks,, what would be the best way to keep the tanks warm, oxygen? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 don't worry about it, they will be fine. the larger the tanks the less the temp will drop. i doubt it will drop much, certainly no where near as much as doing a 25% water change with the hose. the only concern i would have is oxygenation, lightly stocked tanks will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 what size are the tanks? at least it's summer. My 21 L tank was without power for a full working day , temp did drop but inhabitants coped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zayne Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Tropicals 1200 x 400 x 600 1200 x 450 x 450 500 x 210 x 280 900 x 380 x 500 900 x 400 x 320 600 x 300 x 300 coldwater 600 x 300 x 300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 My room is currently 29C. Surely your room temp will stay reasonable for a 6 hour period at this time of year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 just got a note that our power will be cut for 6hours while a power pole is replaced, i have 6 tropical tanks,, what would be the best way to keep the tanks warm, oxygen? thanks Disconnect the filters when the power goes out, go out to dinner and a movie, come back after 6 hours, give the filters a rinse once the power is back on and plug them back in. That's all you should need. They'll be fine for just 6 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zayne Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 i also have sets of brine shrimp hatching any way to save these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Disconnect the filters when the power goes out, go out to dinner and a movie, come back after 6 hours, give the filters a rinse once the power is back on and plug them back in. That's all you should need. They'll be fine for just 6 hours. Out of curiosity, why is it necessary to rinse the filters? I would just say let the power get cut and turn back on once everything goes back to normal. If it's only for 6 hours I doubt if the fish will suffer too much from that.. Water changes and house moving are probably much more stressful than a power cut but most fish survive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 You will be fine with a 6 hour power cut your only worry will be aeration/water disturbance in heavily stocked tanks.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Out of curiosity, why is it necessary to rinse the filters? I would just say let the power get cut and turn back on once everything goes back to normal. If it's only for 6 hours I doubt if the fish will suffer too much from that.. Water changes and house moving are probably much more stressful than a power cut but most fish survive. Because after a while the bacteria inside the filter use up all the oxygen, it goes anaerobic and they start to die off polluting the water in the filter. So either drain a bucket or two of water out through the filter to get rid of the nasty water or give it a quick rinse. I find it easiest to carry the filter to the sink, dump the water and quickly rinse everything then put it back. More time consuming trying to unhook filter hoses from the tank end to siphon water out. I've had a tank full of tetras, about 40-50 wiped out after a 3-4 hour power outages where I didn't do this. So now if the power's not back on in an hour I unplug the cannisters on all my tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Its interesting you have had issues with that Ira I have heard of it happening but thought it was another of those "myths", I have regularly had filters disconnected for 10-12 hours and just hooked them up and away they went with heavy stocking etc with no issues.. I even unplugged my FX5 on my african tank and forgot about it for 3 days just did a 50% water change and turned it back on and had no issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zayne Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 oh no my poor fish in Tuesday 6 hours without power and on Saturday moving house!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Its interesting you have had issues with that Ira I have heard of it happening but thought it was another of those "myths", I have regularly had filters disconnected for 10-12 hours and just hooked them up and away they went with heavy stocking etc with no issues.. I even unplugged my FX5 on my african tank and forgot about it for 3 days just did a 50% water change and turned it back on and had no issues. I've had 12+ hours without issues too. But then a few times deaths after much shorter periods. In none of the instances did the tank get more than a little cool and no evidence of being low on oxygen. Might be some other factor I'm missing, don't know. So I've decided it's worth 5 minutes turning off and water changing the filters to be sure. Since then, never a death after a power outage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie841 Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 i also have sets of brine shrimp hatching any way to save these? Blow on the end of the pipe for 6 hours :happy2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Because after a while the bacteria inside the filter use up all the oxygen, it goes anaerobic and they start to die off polluting the water in the filter. So either drain a bucket or two of water out through the filter to get rid of the nasty water or give it a quick rinse. I find it easiest to carry the filter to the sink, dump the water and quickly rinse everything then put it back. More time consuming trying to unhook filter hoses from the tank end to siphon water out. I've had a tank full of tetras, about 40-50 wiped out after a 3-4 hour power outages where I didn't do this. So now if the power's not back on in an hour I unplug the cannisters on all my tanks. Fair enough, but I think if you really want to rinse the filter media don't use straight tap water.. Existing tank water would be much safer.. Temperature difference could potentially crash the bacteria culture as well.. Damn bacteria, more sensitive than the fish they support! :an!gry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Fair enough, but I think if you really want to rinse the filter media don't use straight tap water.. Existing tank water would be much safer.. Temperature difference could potentially crash the bacteria culture as well.. Damn bacteria, more sensitive than the fish they support! :an!gry Yeah, I always forget to mention not using tapwater because I've never used anything but tap water. My tapwater is rainwater. Fortunately the bacteria breeds faster than guppies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishplants Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Zayne, I had power out on my tanks, sized 220 litres to 30 litres, for over 12 hours on the day of the earthquake (September 4). Every tank contained discus and there was also a mix of Cardinals, Hatchets, several types of loaches, whiptails etc. I covered the tanks with duvets, towels, blankets etc (didn't know how long we might be without power), and the temp only dropped 1.5 degrees in the big tanks and 3 degrees in the little tank (which contained 14 baby/juvenile discus - refugees from a smashed tank). Once the power came on I just removed the temporary insulation, and left everything as is. Did consider flushing the filters but we had sewage (sp?) in our water so couldn't risk reducing the water levels in the tanks any further than the earthquake had. Apart from the discus being extremely skittish, all inhabitants were fine - well, except for the one young discus that spent too long in the back of the wardrobe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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