When it rains it poors...

[travis32]

I'll try to be more concise. I have a 25g QT tank, 55g reef tank.

1 X marine betta in QT tank.
1 X lawnmower blenny in QT.

Had a dieing grama covered in ich in the QT. QT is currently in full hyposalinity at 1.009 - 1.010sg (measured with refrac)

The ich was dieing and the grama was too. This morning I checked the QT. The ich was gone, Other two fish doing o.k. I make assumption that betta ate, dead or dieing grama..... (He doesn't seem very hungry tonight).

I get home from work, etc. tank looks o.k. power goes out @ 6:40 in whole house... Means QT and DT are both out of power.... I do nothing in response, hoping that it comes back in an hour or two.. After 2 hours of no power, I add 2 additional glasses of Fresh RO water (no salt) to the QT.

Power comes back on exactly at 10:00. 3.25 hours later. I check Ph of water with no pumps or air running. PH is below the lowest reading on the scale -- 7.8. I have to assume it had bottomed out at 7.5, maybe lower.

Pumps all come back on and pumping air back into the water (hopefully slowly raising the pH back to 7.8 at least). I dose prime for ammonia and am now going to bed, hoping that everything lives through the night.

The corals didn't look too happy with the power outtage either. But they're recovering now that the light is back on. (Do corals use oxygen too?)

I know I need to get battery backup air pumps or something for the QT.

In the meantime, I don't know what the effects are of oxygen usage, low ph, and no water circulation of 20 gallons of water in hyposalinity is. Will fish suffocate faster or slower or the same rate as regular sg?

[travis32]

No responses huh?

Well, Power went out at 4:30am and is still out at 7:30am.
Expected to be back at 8:05.. How much of this can my fish take? (only two fish, but still).

No oxygenation for two 4 hour intervals.... In complete darkness with no water movement?

And what's the effect on corals on water with no oxygenation? not to mention temp decreases.

Thoughts?

[brians4671]

Take into consideration fish are shipped in bags all the time sometimes more than a day before reaching it destination. GL

[travis32]

I thought of that, but isn't there a different science at work on the fish bags. Since the container is completely sealed air tight, there is a greater exchange / disolution of oxygen and water. Maybe people that work at pet stores can comment, but, if I remember right, the theory was that the seal needed to be air tight to remain healthy for long periods of time in those bags.

If bags were opened and fish kept in the bag for another couple of hours, the air exchange system was lost and they could suffocate if not placed in new water relatively quickly (around an hour or two). That's why online companies use larger shipping bags than local pet stores. It seals in more oxygen in the bag. Also, why bags aren't filled full of water, it's to allow the exchange of oxygen.

[Levito]

Corals absolutely need oxygen. If you're experiencing frequent power outages, you need a backup air supply for the water. There are battery-operated units available which also plug into the outlet. When they sense that there is no power, they start pumping air.

Here's a link to one for $10 from Foster & Smith. This one is battery powered only, however, and won't sense the power outage: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3692&cmpid=03csegb&ref=3312&subref=AA&CAWELAID=529141819
Apologies if RC doesn't allow the link.

[travis32]

Thanks, I was meaning to get something like that. It was on a todo list when power went out for the first time in 5 years... errg.

It should be back on now, now I need to make sure my siphon and sump started up... I'm hoping it did. or things could be really ugly when I get home at lunch time.

[sanchoy]

If you value your investment.. prepare yourself for outages. Water flow is one of the most important values during power outages. Either get a power sensing strip backup that will kick in once power is shut off (usually don't last long 30 mins) and for backup get a gas power generator.

I have my system setup so my electric power backup unit will kick in once power is shut off, however the unit will only supply power for 30-45 mins max. After that my controller will trigger that power has been cut off sending an alert to my iphone. Then i hurry home and power up the gas powered generator which will last as long as i supply gasoline. With over thousands already invested into the system another $200-300 invested into a backup plan is a must.

[Floowid]

As soon as the power has been out for over 4 hours I start to worry. I have made it through longer outages by manually stirring the water every couple hours.

[anbosu]

With no water moving, the oxygen in the tank slowly depletes. As the O2 levels decrease, so does your PH. I think corals need oxygen in the water in the sense that is helps maintain a stable PH level, but I don't think they actually need oxygen to live (I could easily be wrong here).

In smaller tanks this becomes an issue more quickly, but it can be a problem in any sized tank if the power is out long enough.

[travis32]

Well, I got word the power was restored within just at 4 hours. I went home for lunch checked the tanks the sump, siphon, filters, airpumps, skimmer, heater, everything started without a hitch, no floods, overflows, etc.

My betta was out swimming in the open water... He was trying to communicate with me, either for food, or to let me know something is wrong. Hopefully it was his food flashing signs.

Blenny was swimming around too.. I think I dodged a bullet, but, I agree, some amount of $$$ for a backup power plan is not a bad idea. even if it's just to get water circulating and/or airflow.

[gweston]

I use a pair of B11 pumps that run on 2x D batteries each. They theoretically run 6-8 hours. A set of 4 batteries is maybe around $6 or so. Each B11 is maybe $15. A rather cheap solution to help keep the tank alive during an outage. Its not perfect.. but it will help keep things alive during shorter power outages. You plug it in.. turn it on. The air pump will not run. When the power goes out, the air goes on automatically. All set.

For something more serious, get a 12v deep cycle battery (or two+ in series). Hook them up to a power inverter. This solution costs more, but when set up right you can get many hours of power. Enough to run power heads, etc.

The next step up. Get a small generator.

The benefit of the batteries is you have set them up to kick in automatically in an outage. The generator won't.. unless you spend bigger cash and get an automated 'house generator' system installed. A combination of the above is ideal.