How long can tank last without power?

Epic Aquaculture · Sep 17, 2018

Sorry to hear this as it's likely that the tank is in very bad shape if not totally crashed. I lost my tank to Irma last year...

ScottandAlisa · Sep 17, 2018

Brautumn said:
What area do you live in? We are in New Bern and we got power last night in our subdivision late last night. They have about 75% of the power back on in our area. Other areas are still under water.

I live in Lake Waccamaw, just outside of Wilmington. Flooding continues to rise there and National guard evacuated those that hadn’t left yesterday so I don’t expect power to be on anytime soon. Use to live in Havelock, sad to see all the videos/pics of that area. Hope you were safe during the storm and your house faired ok...

As of now powers been off at the house for a couple days now... honestly not expecting anything to be alive when we get back. Guess Ill just clean things up and start over again. Just hoping the water doesnt rise enough to reach our house as we’re on higher ground than most surrounding the lake.

ScottandAlisa · Sep 17, 2018

Burrito said:
curious about number 4, why would it matter? not challenging but first i've heard and like to learn.

OP, sorry man, glad your family is safe, hope the tank fairs well

Im curious about this too. Is this in regards to surface area for gas exchange?

MnFish1 · Sep 17, 2018

Burrito said:
curious about number 4, why would it matter? not challenging but first i've heard and like to learn.

OP, sorry man, glad your family is safe, hope the tank fairs well

The narrower and taller a tank the less gas exchange throughout the tank when there is no flow. Picture the difference between a tank 3 feet high and 1 x 1 feet length and width compared to a tank 3x3 x 1 feet high. The co2 out and o2 in With 0 flow will be much better I. The shorter tank

MnFish1 · Sep 17, 2018

ScottandAlisa said:
I live in Lake Waccamaw, just outside of Wilmington. Flooding continues to rise there and National guard evacuated those that hadn’t left yesterday so I don’t expect power to be on anytime soon. Use to live in Havelock, sad to see all the videos/pics of that area. Hope you were safe during the storm and your house faired ok...

As of now powers been off at the house for a couple days now... honestly not expecting anything to be alive when we get back. Guess Ill just clean things up and start over again. Just hoping the water doesnt rise enough to reach our house as we’re on higher ground than most surrounding the lake.

Check your homeowners policy. Though aquarium livestock is not usually covered it might be. Not that that’s a huge consolation. But many policies cover electric loss from freezers etc

jayala12 · Sep 17, 2018

I went through hurricane Harvey and lost power for 8 days. I lost my anemone only. I bought a bubble box u use for keeping live bait and it worked pretty well just to keep some aeration. That was on the 4th day. I hope all is well and if not atleast u have ur health and family. God bless

MnFish1 · Sep 17, 2018

ScottandAlisa said:
Im curious about this too. Is this in regards to surface area for gas exchange?

Yes and depth

Rjukan · Sep 17, 2018

OP, I'm hoping you find minimal damage when you return home.

*edit, question was answered in the time it took me to reply

cmcimino · Sep 17, 2018

Wilmington resident here. I left town to go to Raleigh, but my neighbor was kind enough to run my generator for me while I am gone. My gas is almost out but I am on the way back tomorrow with more gas, if I can make it. Hoping my temperature didn’t get too high, but everything else has been operational. I’ve had an air pump running 24/7 on a battery back up. Praying that everything is okay, and for all of those in areas hit by the storm.

TheTwistedHippy · Sep 18, 2018

I was working out of town when a snail blocked my overflow pipe and caused to tank to overflow and trip the power. I got back 3 days later and everything survived, even though the water was really cold

PhreeByrd · Sep 18, 2018

This is tough. I feel for you folks out east.
There probably is no way to predict the status of a system without power. Only one thing is pretty predictable:
The daytime interior temperature of your house is likely to be 8-12 degrees F above the ambient outdoor temperature. Your aquarium temperature will probably also reach that same indoor temperature. If that puts your expected tank temperature into the low-mid 90's, then I would have to expect some losses.

I hope your losses are minimal, and I'm glad for those who evacuated safely.

Dburr1014 · Sep 18, 2018

Life is pretty resilient. I have have livestock go to 68 degrees and live. This is fish and corals.
The biggest thing you have to fight is o2 exchange.
Can the neighbor go to your house and check it out? Maybe stir the water a bit? Assuming it's it okay.

ScottandAlisa · Sep 18, 2018

Dburr1014 said:
Life is pretty resilient. I have have livestock go to 68 degrees and live. This is fish and corals.
The biggest thing you have to fight is o2 exchange.
Can the neighbor go to your house and check it out? Maybe stir the water a bit? Assuming it's it okay.

Sadly no, new neighbors just moved in and we hadn’t gotten there phone numbers. Even if we had they probably have evacuated the area....

We are going back today though. Expecting the worst but hoping for the best as they say. Seems like its a tank to tank basis as to how long things survive as all responses here have been pretty varied.

In case stuff is alive when we get there Im bringing 5g of water for an immediate water change and maybe a battery powered air-stone if I can find one at a walmart. Any other recommendations?

Dburr1014 · Sep 18, 2018

Sounds like you are doing what you can.
Good luck, safe travels.

ChrisW · Sep 18, 2018

Good luck bruv sorry to hear about your loss but at least you can restart it at some point. Hope your fam is safe thats the important part

KrisReef · Sep 18, 2018

ScottandAlisa said:
Sadly no, new neighbors just moved in and we hadn’t gotten there phone numbers. Even if we had they probably have evacuated the area....

We are going back today though. Expecting the worst but hoping for the best as they say. Seems like its a tank to tank basis as to how long things survive as all responses here have been pretty varied.

In case stuff is alive when we get there Im bringing 5g of water for an immediate water change and maybe a battery powered air-stone if I can find one at a walmart. Any other recommendations?

occasionally stirring the water to increase O2 exchange could help keep stuff alive until the power is restored.
I’ve borrowed a juice picture to dip and pour water to disrupt the surface and to put some surge in the tank.
Do NOT Feed anything until the power is back!

Still praying for your home & the reef.

Brautumn · Sep 19, 2018

ScottandAlisa said:
Sadly no, new neighbors just moved in and we hadn’t gotten there phone numbers. Even if we had they probably have evacuated the area....

We are going back today though. Expecting the worst but hoping for the best as they say. Seems like its a tank to tank basis as to how long things survive as all responses here have been pretty varied.

In case stuff is alive when we get there Im bringing 5g of water for an immediate water change and maybe a battery powered air-stone if I can find one at a walmart. Any other recommendations?

I am not sure if you are on your way back or not but you can check the DOT for road closures. There are still areas that are flooded/heavily damaged the closer to the coast you go. We got our power back here very late Sunday night and wasn't expecting it until Monday. We had a generator running almost the whole time and the temp got up to 84.5 and we were floating ice to keep it at bay. The fish didn't look stressed at all. There was cloud cover but humid. There working hard to get the power going. It's sad to see the damage all around. Safe travels!

ScottandAlisa · Sep 19, 2018

Great news! Everything in the tank is alive and accounted for. Duncan and GSP look like they may even have grown!
Apparently we are on the same electrical grid as the police and fire station here so the power was on when we got here, who knows how long its been on.
Our 4 hour drive ended up being about 9 hours because of damaged/flooded roads but we’re safe and sound. The lake we live on is extremely high right now and many other houses are flooded. Tomorrow morning we will be bringing water, baby wipes, and bread to the fire station for anyone who needs it. For now Ill just sit back, relax and enjoy watching the tank! Thank you for everyones thoughts and prayers!