Power outage - effects on tank chemistry

[astreck827]

I recently experienced about an 8 hour power outage. I do not have an automatic battery backup (which is changing very soon), but I was close to home when it happened and I was able to stop and get a power inverter to run my return pump on low for about 6 of the 8 hours. When everything came back on, my pH was low which I expected. My other usual parameters that I test were in line (SG, alk, Ca, Mg, PO4, NO3) but is there anything else I should be keeping an eye on? This was my first major power outage. Thanks!

 

[LAReefer4Life]

I don't believe so. Just the temperature and PH are affected by power outage.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

O2 will certainly drop, but few people monitor it.

 

[Clownfishy]

I had a 24 hour outage and managed to keep my pumps running during all the time as they are on battery backup. It was during a very cold spell and I was putting hot water bottles against the tank but lost about 5 degrees centigrade during the outage. My ph dropped very low as well. Within a few days, after the power was restored, all my lps started to show signs of STN. Over a period of several weeks, I lost pretty much all of my lps. I put this down to a bacterial infection caused by the extreme conditions during the 24 hours power outage although, there is clearly no proof of the cause.
Therefore, keep a close eye on your corals just in case. By the way, I brought a generator after the event.....talk about lock the stable door after the horse has bolted!

 

[astreck827]

By the way, I brought a generator after the event.....talk about lock the stable door after the horse has bolted!

Yeah… I ran up the street and bought a generator after about 6 hours and as I was filling it with gas the power came back on lol.
And fortunately I only dropped about 2 degrees Fahrenheit so not super worried about temperature.