Power cut lasted 3 hours - what should I do?

D

deputydawg88

New member
Hi All

I have just had a power cut lasting 3 hours and the LFS advised doing a water change to clear out the die off from bacteria due to a lack of circulation. Is this necessary?

If so, am I safe using a bucket I have been keeping outside that I just cleaned out to mix salt with RO/DI water in? I usually get saltwater from my LFS but I can't make it out there today so I was thinking about doing the WC tomorrow and mixing salt overnight in the bucket. There had been a bit of green algae in the bucket but nothing too dirty as I usually use it for the removal of water during a WC.
 
You could probably use that bucket after a lot of cleaning, but I wouldn't.

If you have a lowe's or home depot close by, just go pick up a new one. It's best to have a bucket you dedicate to just fresh salt-water.

Doing a water change is probably a good idea. You could just test your water, wait until tomorrow and test again. If everything comes back the same, don't worry about it. If you see a spike in anything, then do the water change.
 
You should however always have a couple of battery operated air pumps on hand for such an emergency. They give you a little water movement and keep the water oxygenated, both very important. You can pick them up for about $10 at Marine Depot.
 
A tank around 55 gallons should be able to go 8 hours without circulation with no problem---unless overstocked. That said, a very small tank may not have same ration of surface exposure to water volume for gas exchange. If you are in a pinch, take a gallon pitcher (or smaller) and dip and pour tank water to aerate, and if you have a 50 gallon tank, that's 50 one-gallon pours. Stand on a ladder for a largish tank. Gets more bubbles.
 
themagicman said:
I don't think you'll have any problems either, but having a battery powered air pump on hand wouldn't be such a bad idea either. (especially in the summer)

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/silent-air-battery-powdered-air-pump-sab10.html
Click to expand...

Definitely this. We had those storms come through on Monday and before they did I got mine ready. Took all of a minute to add the batteries. Luckily I didn't need it so I took the batteries out and stored everything for the "just in case" next time.
 
Thank you for the speedy replies and advice; my tank is 33 gallons. I am just about to test the water now, I had already done a water change yesterday.

The tank certainly isn't overstocked at all, just 4 red legged hermits, 2 Mexican turbo snails, 2 babylonia snails, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 LMB, 1 mandarin and a colony of yellow polyps. Everything is looking happy enough currently.

I will definitely be looking into either getting some battery operated air pumps or a back up power supply for the tank. The back up power supply is something I have considered since December 2015 (before I had a tank but was planning on getting one) when my area had some flooding and the power got knocked out for three days. Might be a little expensive but I imagine the expense of that would be far cheaper in the long run than if I have another power cut and everything dies because I was unprepared.
 
If you don't have a battery powered air pump you could get yourself a big gulp container or something similar and scoop out a cup of water and then pour it back in, scoop out a cup of water and then pour it back in. Doing this once every 20-30 minutes or so would definitely help too.
 
Sorry this may sound a silly question but is aerating the water to bring the pH down? I've just tested that and it's at approximately 8,4 pH.
 
:lol: Of course, sorry I wasn't thinking there.

None of the livestock seem to be struggling with regards to breathing. Water chemistry results:

Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 1.0-2.0 mg/l, pH 8.4 (usually 8.2).

I think for now I will watch how things develop and do another test first thing tomorrow morning and if I need to then I will do a water change tomorrow.
 
I wouldn't worry. Like was mentioned you should get a battery powered air pump to have for this situation. My PH's are connected to a UPS in case of a power outage, that will keep them going for a few hours.
 
I have 2 of these (one for each tank) CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD Intelligent LCD Series UPS 1500VA 900W AVR Mini-Tower -New Design and More Features

Amazon sells them for 129 bucks shipped.
 
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