# Can the power be off for 13 hours without hurting my fish



## Guest (Feb 13, 2011)

My building is turning off the power for 13 hours. I have 6 fish tanks and 2 hermit crab tanks, all maintained at 80 degrees. My apartment is one room and one wall is windows so it is cold and the heat is electric so will be off too. I am worried it is going to get too cold. Any suggestions?


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Put a towel over top of your tank to reduce heat loss. I'd get a battery air pump though so they don't starve of oxygen just in case.


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## Pamelajo (Feb 9, 2011)

You could also wrap blankets around the tank or tape cardboard to them to hold in the heat.


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## christhefish (Nov 8, 2010)

put sheets of styrofoam on all sides of the tank and then throw a towel or blanket over that to keep the heat in 
if you have a battery operated air pump that will help with keeping it oxygenated or if you have or get a pressure sprayer you can pump it up with air only and put a valve on the end to create a slow even flow of bubbles then you can just pump it back up when it empties
if your tanks have only a few fish in them then they may be okay with out any added oxygen


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## kelly528 (Apr 21, 2010)

Unplug the filter when the power goes out and put the inserts in the tank where they can get more oxygen. A filter left to stagnate for more than a few hours will become anoxic, spewing all sorts of bad chemicals into your tank once the power kicks back in.


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## catgoldfish (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow that's a long time to be without power. Not only your fish tank but what about your fridge and freezer.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

christhefish said:


> put sheets of styrofoam on all sides of the tank and then throw a towel or blanket over that to keep the heat in
> if you have a battery operated air pump that will help with keeping it oxygenated or if you have or get a pressure sprayer you can pump it up with air only and put a valve on the end to create a slow even flow of bubbles then you can just pump it back up when it empties
> if your tanks have only a few fish in them then they may be okay with out any added oxygen


Yes, my concern will be oxygen. Almost lost a tank of over 30 discus. Turned off filter to feed and felt asleep for 9 hours 

The spray bottle is an excellent idea. No need for battery or a generator. Will keep one or a few around.


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

If you have a patio rent a generator to supply power for the pumps, filters, and lights.

As others have mentioned wrap the tanks to keep the heat in.

Can you put all the fish in one tank so you can get by with a battery backup/UPS for the filter and air.
A large UPS (1,000 watt) will keep the filters an air pump running for several hours.

If you get some clean plastic bottles and can fill them up with hot water you can use them to help maintain the temperature in the aquarium by putting them in the tank.


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2011)

i am stressed out !!! i will look into getting a spray bottle or battery packs ... i had to hire an electrician to wire my place so i think a generator is beyond me ... the big tank is puffers so i can not put anything with them ... three soon to be four tanks of bettas, they can't go together, but they can breathe air, so i don't have to worry about them as much ??? and the tank of dwarf aquatic frogs, they breathe air too, so they should be okay ??? i can't even believe it is legal for the building to turn the power off for that long ... i only have condiments in the fridge, so no worries there and the coffee shop guy is going to keep my frozen bloodworms frozen :O) the coffee shop next door is also going to take my hermit crabs so i just have to worry about my finny friends ...


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

generator = fill with fuel, start it up, and plug your thingies into it via extension cords


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## Nicklfire (Apr 21, 2010)

you guys really think that all that is necessary for 13 hours? 

Here is what happened to me the other day. I walked into my office and noticed that my output of my filter on my 25 gallon tank unhooked somehow.. and disconnected and the water started spitting onto the floor... Long story short.. i walked into my office only to find about 3" of water left in my tank. The filter was broken, the heater was off, there was no filtration or water circulation..

I came to the conclusion. (because i couldnt find any water on the ground (about 20 gallons) is that this happened about 2-4 days prior. 

Needless to say i didnt lose 1 fish, AND i noticed that there were MORE fry in my aquarium then the previous time i checked them.

That's my story lol. 

Personally (depending) on the livestock you have... 12 hours isnt really long. I do recommend the easy things such as covering the tank to keep as much heat in as you can..


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

hoolagal said:


> i am stressed out !!! i will look into getting a spray bottle or battery packs ... i had to hire an electrician to wire my place so i think a generator is beyond me ... the big tank is puffers so i can not put anything with them ... three soon to be four tanks of bettas, they can't go together, but they can breathe air, so i don't have to worry about them as much ??? and the tank of dwarf aquatic frogs, they breathe air too, so they should be okay ??? i can't even believe it is legal for the building to turn the power off for that long ... i only have condiments in the fridge, so no worries there and the coffee shop guy is going to keep my frozen bloodworms frozen :O) the coffee shop next door is also going to take my hermit crabs so i just have to worry about my finny friends ...


If you are really worry. Go to an aquarium store and buy a couple of battery operator air pumps. May be $10 each.

Depend how big your tank is, stirring the surface of the water will also add oxygen to the water.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure there is a bylaw preventing the use of a generator over night in that area. 
It is rather strange for them to be able to turn the power off that long, but what can ya do

And I have to agree with Shawn....my apartment is always cold as ice. I turn off the filtration to my 10 gallon everyday so my betta doesn't have to chase his food down amongst the 6 tetras and 10 zebra danios & small rainbow shark. I always forget to turn it back on til the next day sometime lol and haven't lost a fish to it yet. 
I'd personally recommend the same thing , just covering the tanks the best you can , could always put some heat packs around them to help save the heat, altho it's probably too late to get any. Might hang some blankets over the windows to keep what heat in that you can. Best of luck with whatever ya do.


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## christhefish (Nov 8, 2010)

Nicklfire said:


> you guys really think that all that is necessary for 13 hours?
> 
> Here is what happened to me the other day. I walked into my office and noticed that my output of my filter on my 25 gallon tank unhooked somehow.. and disconnected and the water started spitting onto the floor... Long story short.. i walked into my office only to find about 3" of water left in my tank. The filter was broken, the heater was off, there was no filtration or water circulation..
> 
> ...


if they were my fish i would agree with you but when it comes to other peoples fish i like to keep things safe


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## fan4guppy (Jan 31, 2011)

In the case of short power outages in regards to any electrical demands there is what is known as UPS ( no not the courier company lol) but Uninterruptable Power Supplies that can be used for short term needs for electrical demands.

They are normally used for computer systems etc. however they can be used for aquarium usage for electricity

The battery load can vary from unit to unit. The one I have has got 3 hours of play on my computer system....the battery usage some have short duration of time while others have longer battery life. I do believe there is one that is on the market for 12 hours.

Uninterruptible power supply - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## kelly528 (Apr 21, 2010)

christhefish said:


> if they were my fish i would agree with you but when it comes to other peoples fish i like to keep things safe


Yep it really depends on the fish. If I take too long to refill my tank during water changes, my biggest goldfish (6" long, shares a 50g tank with 2 smaller goldies and a BNP) starts gasping. Not surprising, as goldfish require a lot of oxygen.


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2011)

well it is being shut off friday, feb 18 so i have this week to get some plan in place ... really it is my puffer tank (30 gallons) and my shrimp tank (15 gallons) ... i think the others will just breathe air ... i will look into the battery pack and the UPS sounds like a good investment ... thanks for everyones suggestions ...


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## big_bubba_B (Apr 25, 2010)

your fish stay in bags for longer then that , when they get imported . the battery air pump is good , but all in all if not freezig in ur house wouldnt worry and as for food if u dont open your fridge or freezer food wont start to though for atleast 24hrs


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

the fish are in insulated Styrofoam containers when shipped.
glass will loose heat much faster.

Although the whole room will need to cool down as well.

Last year (Dec 2009) during the cold weather my sunroom/fish room could only maintain 50 F.

This year with 11 tanks in there it stays at 75 F or higher

My tanks are heating my 65ft. mobile home<G>


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## Grete_J (Oct 5, 2010)

kelly528 said:


> Yep it really depends on the fish. If I take too long to refill my tank during water changes, my biggest goldfish (6" long, shares a 50g tank with 2 smaller goldies and a BNP) starts gasping. Not surprising, as goldfish require a lot of oxygen.


How long does it take to fill your tank? Theoretically there should be enough oxygen in an appropriate sized tank (w/out overstocking) for fish to go at least half a day. Like mikeike said, they go far longer in sealed bags without surface oxygen giving back for longer periods of time

As for you place Cheryl, it's concrete which insulates. If you crank the heat prior to the electricity being shut off, I see no reason why you would hav a problem with heat loss for a half day.


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## Death's Sting (Apr 21, 2010)

Its not the fish at present time I would worry about. Its the fact that most of your Nitrifying bacteria will die off in 13 hours without a source of oxygen. If anything I would throw all filter media in a bucket with a bit of ammonia and a battery operated air stone or power head. The fish will be just fine!


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2011)

i will do that with my 30 gallon tank, move the filter media, but my shrimp tank only has sponge filters, can i just leave those in for that long ??? and the suggestion to crank the heat, i am going to crank it on wednesday ... i am hoping it will be like the bahamas in here :O)


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## kelly528 (Apr 21, 2010)

Grete_J said:


> How long does it take to fill your tank? Theoretically there should be enough oxygen in an appropriate sized tank (w/out overstocking) for fish to go at least half a day. Like mikeike said, they go far longer in sealed bags without surface oxygen giving back for longer periods of time


About 20 minutes, if I leave it for an hour while I screw around with planting and whatnot the goldfish aren't too happy.

Goldfish of my guy's size aren't shipped often and when they are, I understand that the shippers usually bag the fish with with pure oxygen.

That being said, it could be true that they can survive a day or so in a shipping box after they begin to gasp.


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