When the power goes out...

[_Jessica_]

Had some baaad thunderstorms, complete with microbursts, on Wednesday night. My power went out at midnight...I felt like hurling with the anxiety of having my tanks crash. They restored power at 4pm the next day... thank god I only lost a BN pleco (I've done water changes with amquel since then).

Any tips on what to do when the power goes out? Are there any such things as like...a battery powered plug? I just want to be able to keep my heaters and a filter on each tank working. Since I've gotten seriously into fish I haven't really had any power outages, or thought about what I should do to be prepared. I was going to do some small water changes while the power was out, but there was no heated water...I was at such a loss. What do you guys do?

 

[libayn]

under setup and filtration is a sticky on the topic

 

[vamptrev]

my power is out right now lol

i have my generator hooked up

 

[dr_sudz]

battery operated sponge filters.. they have air pumps that are able to run when the power shuts down.

 

[-Sinatra-]

My buddy bought me a generator lol. I also have a battery powered airpump.

 

[myklein2]

Best thing you can do is get a generator. Without one, wrap your tank with a blanket which will help insulate it to keep the water temp up.

 

[polish]

I had no power during winter for 3.5 days two winters ago after an ice storm. The house and tank temperatures dropped into the low 50's...

Didn't lose any fish.

I was doing hot water changes daily since the gas hot water heater works without power. The tanks temp would still drop to low 50's overnight though.

Fish are tougher than we give them credit for.

Fish at the time were Cichlids, Catfish, Loaches, etc...

 

[Oddball]

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48578

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13433

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248231

 

[boldtogether]

For breif power outages I use a Battery back-up (UPS) often used for computers. This will easily run one canister, HOB or air pump to at least keep water cicrculating. For longer power outages were you know it will be several hours or days, buy a gas or diesel powered generator. A small investment with a potential big payoff.

 

[Allan01230]

I use a small battery powered air pump bought from a bait shop to keep minnows alive. The last outage from 2 years ago lasted 2 days and I lost no fish at all on my 50 gallon.