The dreaded discussion

[michelleraia]

I hate to think about this and I know it doesn't like to talked about BUT I like to be prepared and I am
not. How do we properly prepare as much as possible in advance for power outages and major tank leaks. Help me out! I sure there are certain things I need to get in advance to be prepared in case this happens. My tank is a 215 gallon and my only other tank is a 10 gallon.

[topout24]

Good topic! Ill be looking forward to the experienced answers!

[Timber317]

Depends on length of power outage. 6 to 8 hours is no problem for freshwater fish. Probably different for saltwater fish. During hurricane Ike I was without power for 11 days. I ran a generator the entire time 24/7 through this. I combined all my fish from 3 tanks to 1 tank and did not lose a single fish.

[troy tucker]

Power outages are easy to over come. I have air pumps for bait bucket. They work great on a sponge filter. Like timber, I have a generator but have never had to use it.
Now a tank brake or evon a small leak can be real bad. I have lots of tanks. If my big tank broke. Fish would be spread out in the other 4, if it is one of the smaller one. (smallest I have setup is 40g) the fish would be moved to one of the others tell it was fixed.
If you don't have other tanks. You can use a big rubbermade toet as a temp. I'm sure other ideas are out there too.
Hope no one ever has to use any of these Ideas.

[Coop]

As for power outages, I have had a few that lasted about 8 hrs. Never hurt anything. I have an apc battery backup on my 90 fw tank for the air pump only. Filtration shouldn't be an issue if it isn't running that long. Anything lasting a few days I would run a generator and run it in a work/rest cycle of maybe 2 hrs on and 4 hrs off. My sw tank I have unplugged overnight while I slept and have had no issues with anything. But again on something that lasts days I would put on generator and run work/rest cycle.

Tank leaks...well I have a bunch of Rubbermaid totes and 5 gal buckets so I'm sure I can salvage water from the tank and put fish in until I can get a new tank. I would just put stress meds in to help fish deal with it but I don't think it would be any different than as if being transported. Just make sure to add as much rock or whatever to give them places to hide and feel safe.

Im not sure how many people do this but this is what i did for power outages to feed the house. I made a cable that has the 220 plug for the generator and on the other end I put a 220 plug that will plug into my dryer 220 outlet. Then I turn off all the breakers in the breaker box except the dryer plug. Then start generator and back feed the elec through the dryer plug to breaker box. Then just flip on the breakers for the rooms you need. So basically I only feed my kitchen, liv rm, and bedroom. But I also unplug anything not needed from the wall outlet. Just the essentials I keep plugged in. I ran tv, satellite, frig, fans, lights off a 5500w generator. Works great.

[Hangman]

If you really want to be prepared for a power outage, then you should think about getting an automatic whole house generator. We have one that runs off the natural gas of the house and detects when the power is out and turns on automatically. Works great during hurricane season as well since it can run everything, including the A/C.

If you don't want to go this route, and don't have a portable generator or battery air pumps, its still very simple. To make sure the water is oxygenated, just take a pitcher and fill it with tank water and pour it back into the tank and repeat about 10 times. You can do this about once every hour and it should be enough to oxygenate the take, depending on your tank size. This also helps with cooling the tank as well..

[hungvanvo]

Power outage. The answer are depend on how long the power back on.
For the power out for less than a day than the generator is the best ( If you have in hand and it cost $300 to for 5500Watt) or use battery pump with sponge filter with bio filter ( I did one on the DIY forum) It is cheaper and very effective when you use ammonia remover media( battery pump around $10 to $12.00 and Sponge filter cost $8.00)
For the power out for few days and we have to evacuate for hurricane and then you need a back up power run by solar panel. I have done one back up power ( DIY Forum) without the solar panel and I tested ( past 3 weeks) with 5 tanks and I use only one big air pump with 5 output and I use the sponge filter on each tank and it is stop some where day 5. so I think it is good enough for the evacuate . I love to have one automatic whole house generator run by natural gas but it cost $3000 or more include the install and permit.
Tank leaking or for something emergency, I have 5 of 55gal barrel and put in there heater, air pump and filter and that what I am ready for some happen. ( nock on the wood)