HELP: How long can my tank go without power?

[litsoh]

I’m running a 125 gallon fowlr with 5 anthias, 2 cardinals, 2 tangs, 2 butterflies, and a wrasse and our power went out with no known timetable on when it would be restored. I had it running on a battery generator but that failed on us. How long could the tank go without power/how often would I have to agitate the water surface for oxygen exchange?

 

[UncommonSense]

I’m running a 125 gallon fowlr with 5 anthias, 2 cardinals, 2 tangs, 2 butterflies, and a wrasse and our power went out with no known timetable on when it would be restored. I had it running on a battery generator but that failed on us. How long could the tank go without power/how often would I have to agitate the water surface for oxygen exchange?

I’ve always had luck with the once every 15mins agitation regiment…

consider using something like a large net to stir the water up; it can mix a surprising amount of air into water if you only submerge the net portion partially!

If you live within range of a big box pet store, some sell battery powered air pumps which would definitely work for an overnight outage!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Wishing you the best, fellow FOWLR keeper!!

 

[litsoh]

I’m running a 125 gallon fowlr with 5 anthias, 2 cardinals, 2 tangs, 2 butterflies, and a wrasse and our power went out with no known timetable on when it would be restored. I had it running on a battery generator but that failed on us. How long could the tank go without power/how often would I have to agitate the water surface for oxygen exchange?

I’ve always had luck with the once every 15mins agitation regiment…

consider using something like a large net to stir the water up; it can mix a surprising amount of air into water if you only submerge the net portion partially!

If you live within range of a big box pet store, some sell battery powered air pumps which would definitely work for an overnight outage!

I’ve been using a cup to create some water movement so far, but that’s definitely not viable in the long run. The big box store by me is out of power as well so that’s probably not an option

 

[UncommonSense]

I’ve been using a cup to create some water movement so far, but that’s definitely not viable in the long run. The big box store by me is out of power as well so that’s probably not an option

Hmm… do you have any spare 5g buckets you’re willing to sacrifice?

Drill a 1/8” hole in the bottom, place over tank, well supported, fill with tank water…

This should create a constant trickle of water from the bottom of the bucket into the tank, and get you some passive oxygen without relying only on swishing a net in the water!

Can you do same-day delivery via any services? I think Walmart might sell battery powered air pumps!

 

[JumboShrimp]

(Yes, maybe a Walmart far enough away from you that hasn't lost it's power; call and see if by the fishing gear they sell some sort of battery operated 'bubblers' to keep bait alive.)

 

[skey44]

Bait shops and Walmart sell battery operated bubblers for fishing that would work for this.

 

[skey44]

Petco near me has a penn plaxx in stock. Walmart has “Bubble Box”

 

[skey44]

But yes a few hours with manual aeration should work as long as temp is relatively stable. I’ve had tanks go up to 4 hours without power in the past with no loss of life.

 

[litsoh]

No aerators at the walmarts here, fingers crossed the power will be restored soon

 

[mfinn]

Using a 1/2 gallon water bucket and dipping and splashing every 20 minutes to 30 minutes, and wrapping blankets around a tank, I've kept fish only tanks for 10-12 hours.
That one instance convinced me to get a generator.

 

[litsoh]

Using a 1/2 gallon water bucket and dipping and splashing every 20 minutes to 30 minutes, and wrapping blankets around a tank, I've kept fish only tanks for 10-12 hours.
That one instance convinced me to get a generator.

Thankfully after a few more hours the power was restored, but yeah I would agitate the water every 15-20 minutes just to be sure that they weren't being deprived of oxygen. The thing is I did have a battery generator that I kept on had specifically for this reason. It just decided to crap out on me when I actually needed it.

 

[Uncle99]

Thankfully after a few more hours the power was restored, but yeah I would agitate the water every 15-20 minutes just to be sure that they weren't being deprived of oxygen. The thing is I did have a battery generator that I kept on had specifically for this reason. It just decided to crap out on me when I actually needed it.

Buy a second one, and extra batteries for redundancy. They are cheap. Refresh batteries every 6 months.

Great save! Well done.

But it will happen again.

 

[litsoh]

Buy a second one, and extra batteries for redundancy. They are cheap. Refresh batteries every 6 months.

Great save! Well done.

But it will happen again.

Oh I have no doubt it will. The storm hasn't passed us yet. May have to bite the bullet and get a gas powered generator soon

 

[Uncle99]

Oh I have no doubt it will. The storm hasn't passed us yet. May have to bite the bullet and get a gas powered generator soon

Can’t beat that!
Good if you experience frequent outages that last beyond a few hours.
I get hit maybe once a year and they last maybe 6 hours.
The worst in a decade only lasted 2 ish days.
The grid here is in super shape so lucky on that end.

 

[mfinn]

Thankfully after a few more hours the power was restored, but yeah I would agitate the water every 15-20 minutes just to be sure that they weren't being deprived of oxygen. The thing is I did have a battery generator that I kept on had specifically for this reason. It just decided to crap out on me when I actually needed it.

I had a couple of the ETM batteries that I had for 2-3 years and when I went to use them they were crap. Didn't really do much.
I was trying to move away from the finicky generator I had at the time.
Never again.

 

[Largeangels]

I have a bunch of battery powered air pumps that come when power is out on all my tanks, also a UPS running a few pumps, then generator. We lost power last night at 9:30. Got the generator on an hour later. Power came back at noon and low was 26 overnight so definitely needed the generator.

 

[Rjramos]

Get yourself 4 battery powered aerators. One on each front corner , 2 in the middle front. If low temp isn’t a factor , you should be good for 1 week. At the end of the week, perform a 25% water change.

 

[JP Reef]

You can get nice rechargeable air pumps on Amazon. They are nice too in that you can set them to not run continuously saving power. They cycle on and off every few minutes. I use 2 of them in my 150g tank.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B098...d_r=9a5808c2-e2c9-4007-87e9-0533410e0b22&th=1