Power outage what do I do!!!!

Oregon Grown Reef · Feb 15, 2021

Also, I purchased these awhile back. They saved my tanks yesterday because it went out at 6:30am. I wouldn't have known if I didn't have these. I have one in my bedroom and one by the tanks. Power Failure Alarm

Good luck.

Evan28395950 · Feb 15, 2021

Update?

OrionN · Feb 15, 2021

UkiahTheTurtle said:
Okay so just a second ago I lost power what do I do because I don’t know when the power will go back on. What do I do to help my fish?!

The priorities are: aeration, minimal circulation, then temperature, then light.
You need to provide aeration to all compartment, meaning the DT and sump if you have any significant rock or sand in the sump. If only a bare sump then you don't have to worry about it.

So however you can, put a battery air pump in the DT as a minimum. This will keep your tank alive for 24 hrs minimum. Keep it warm a well as you can. Small PH to improve circulation of you can.

Anything more than that, you need power sources. Generatore, or keep car running then use a transformer to convert 12V DC to 120V AC to run your equipment, Generator, what have you.

Don't waste power on light unless power are out for days. If this is the case you cannot save your tank unless you have power sources.

Good luck

littlebeard · Feb 15, 2021

I had someone watch my tank that wasn't reliable. Gfi flipped (long story) , and no power for 16 hours. Fish died hammer corals lived. Key is oxygen. At minimum always keep a battery powered air stone handy. Bait shops or sporting good stores also carry these.

amazongb · Feb 15, 2021

One of my local LFS deals with power outages by opening his front door (lessen C02 and add additional O2), then takes a pitcher and scoops a water from each tank and pours from about 2' above the tank to move water around. He does this about every 30 minutes to each tank, hasn't lost any livestock yet.. As others have said, in the future you can use an inverter and a car battery to power a power head for quite a few hours.

PicassoClown04 · Feb 15, 2021

Don’t freak out! We have a lot of power outages in Houston during hurricane season

. A lot of the above info is really really good. Every 1-2 hours stir the tank with a wooden spoon to keep everything moving and do the pouring water thing mentioned earlier. Run out to a bass pro shop/ academy (or similar) and get a battery powered air pump plus batteries, pop that sucker in and even the coral should be okay for at least 3 days.

I went to Florida and kept 20 zoanthid polyps plus fish and inverts I collected alive for a week in a styrofoam cooler with just a battery powered air pump.

I see you’re in Oregon, I assume temperature is a concern since it’s February and you’re without power. If you have any quilts/comforters wrap the tank immediately and put a solid lid on. So if you have a mesh lid right now, cover it with a blanket or cardboard or something like that. Keeping heat in is very very important for long-term power outages. You want to try to keep it between 70-79 degrees. If you can run out and get fire wood, build a fire outside and start heating water for keeping the tank warm (and make some s’mores while you’re at it!). Get some hot hands (oxygen activated heat packs) if you can, Walgreens/CVS carries them and I think Walmart does as well. Thin sheet over the entire tank, heat packs, then thicker comforter over that. Remember hot water rises so try to place the heat packs towards the middle/bottom.

Doing all of that, you should be good for a couple hours at least. Overnight would be very difficult if you can’t get a battery air pump since you’ll have to manually re-oxygenate the water every couple hours. Best of luck, I hope all your fishies are okay and that a lot of your coral makes it as well!