Power outage what do I do!!!!
- EMERGENCY
- Thread starter UkiahTheTurtle
- Start date
- Tagged users None
xxkenny90xx
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2019
- Messages
- 4,654
- Reaction score
- 6,045
Do you have a generator or a power inverter in your car?
Evan28395950
Valuable Member
Do you have a generator or any battery powered pumps/airstones
Brewski262
Active Member
Assuming you do not ha e a generator or battery back up.. Do you have a battery powered air stone? Do you have corals too or just fish?
mdb_talon
2500 Club Member
Fish should be fine for quite awhile i would not panic if no coral. Battery powered airpump can keep them going indefinetely. Hopefully temp is reasonable wherever you are. In any case i would not get too worried unless it still not on tomortow
mdb_talon
2500 Club Member
Coral is a bigger concern, but again i would not panic. It is less stressful than being shipped in a plastic bag across the country to go without power several hours. Again if it is not back by morning then i may panic
How big is your tank? The more volume, the longer it takes to lose your temp. It’s nice to have a battery powered air stone, but years ago in your situation I’d just turn up the heat in my place and swirl my arm around in the tank every so often to keep it oxygenated. I usually worry more about the food in my fridge than I do about my tank.
OP
OP
UkiahTheTurtle
Valuable Member
My tank is only 20gallons
It’s not so bad. You could wrap some towels around your tank and tape them together. It might help a bit. As mentioned, these critters get shipped around and survive for quite some time. You’re pretty good for about 16 hours if you can keep the water oxygenated and the temp doesn’t get below 70 IMO.
OP
OP
UkiahTheTurtle
Valuable Member
Okay but what if it goes on for longer
sim2142
Community Member
+1 battery powered air stone
-You can also scoop water from the tank with a large jug and slowly pour it from a high distance every so often. Long term you want both the bacteria in your liverock, surfaces and sump as well as corals getting oxygenated water so move the water around regularly as well as pouring.
-Warm water in a sealed plastic bottle for bumping temp up (hopefully you have a gas powered stove/barbecue)
-Frozen or cool water bottle from the fridge (assuming it’s still cold in the fridge) for pushing temp down.
-Make sure it’s not a biodegradable bottle (most aren’t) and also that it’s not too hot as heat can cause breakdown of the material or hurt fish. I usually remove the label and glue manually before putting it in
-Light generally isn’t a big priority unless the outage lasts for days
-You can also scoop water from the tank with a large jug and slowly pour it from a high distance every so often. Long term you want both the bacteria in your liverock, surfaces and sump as well as corals getting oxygenated water so move the water around regularly as well as pouring.
-Warm water in a sealed plastic bottle for bumping temp up (hopefully you have a gas powered stove/barbecue)
-Frozen or cool water bottle from the fridge (assuming it’s still cold in the fridge) for pushing temp down.
-Make sure it’s not a biodegradable bottle (most aren’t) and also that it’s not too hot as heat can cause breakdown of the material or hurt fish. I usually remove the label and glue manually before putting it in
-Light generally isn’t a big priority unless the outage lasts for days
Last edited:
Hopefully we don’t get to that point. How’s your place as far as heating goes? Any friends in the hobby in your area that might have battery powered air stones or even someone with a generator you could borrow? Is there a local fish store that you can get in touch with that might be able to help? Do you have to work tomorrow or have any other obligations that you have to leave the tank for an extended period of time?
You might be able to get an idea of when your power will be back from your provider. You can give them a call or check out their social media websites.
OP
OP
UkiahTheTurtle
Valuable Member
No friends with any equipment and no obligations
zalick
A cup of water and a dash of salt
Temp wise you should probably be fine for quite a few hours.
Oxygen is your bigger issue. As mentioned above, use a jug or something to kinda splash water in to get some oxygen exchange going. Or just kinda stir/agitate with a spoon. I have no idea how often you'd need to do that.... Maybe once an hour for a few minutes each time?
And definitely get a battery powered airstone for the next outtage. They kick on when power goes out. Can keep your tank alive for a LONG time. I've had one go for 24hrs.
Oxygen is your bigger issue. As mentioned above, use a jug or something to kinda splash water in to get some oxygen exchange going. Or just kinda stir/agitate with a spoon. I have no idea how often you'd need to do that.... Maybe once an hour for a few minutes each time?
And definitely get a battery powered airstone for the next outtage. They kick on when power goes out. Can keep your tank alive for a LONG time. I've had one go for 24hrs.
I’d just keep nursing it then. What Sim2142 mentions is very good advice. Warm water in a container can help keep that temp up. You can wave your hand over the top of corals to keep slime from accumulating on top. Gonna have to be patient and let it play out. You probably won’t be able to take much serious action until tomorrow anyways.
, i had one not too long ago and all that happened was a few hours of missed sleep and inconvenience.
Oregon Grown Reef
Valuable Member
As a couple people have mentioned, heat isn't going to be your big killer. If you don't have oxygen going into the tank, everything dies. A little stirring here and there won't be enough imo. What I did before I had a backup was siphon the water into a bucket and dump the bucket back in. This adds some circulation for the corals too. I did it every 30 minutes on my tank as o2 levels can drop quick.
A cheap and foolproof way to power the tank is by picking up a cheap DC converter.
www.harborfreight.com
I powered my 4 tanks during an outage yesterday for 4.5 hours on a single car battery. I have 2 cars, so I can swap them out. You only need the return pump/power head going. If DC, choose the lowest setting and point it towards the surface. If it's still not on tomorrow, I'd 100% pick one of these up. You're going to be in for a long night.
A cheap and foolproof way to power the tank is by picking up a cheap DC converter.
750 Watt Continuous/1500 Watt Peak Modified Sine Wave Power Inverter
Amazing deals on this 750 Watt / 1500 Watt Power Inverter at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
I powered my 4 tanks during an outage yesterday for 4.5 hours on a single car battery. I have 2 cars, so I can swap them out. You only need the return pump/power head going. If DC, choose the lowest setting and point it towards the surface. If it's still not on tomorrow, I'd 100% pick one of these up. You're going to be in for a long night.
