Power outage
- Thread starter tgditz
- Start date
Bifferwine
I am a girl
They will be fine for at least several hours. Some people here have had power out for a day or more and their tanks were fine.
The two most important things are temperature and flow. Try to keep the tank's temperature normal. If you have to, wrap it in blankets or comforters to slow the loss of heat. Keep your house as warm as possible (i.e. don't keep going in and out the door).
With flow, you want to keep the water moving. Even if you have to manually stir it with a wooden spoon or something every 10 or 15 minutes.
Without flow, the tank will still be fine for several hours. Don't worry about lighting -- it can go for days without lighting.
Many people with reef tanks invest in a small generator in case of a power outage. Just to run the heater and powerheads. You can also get battery operated powerheads, an inverter that hooks to your car battery to power things, or a computer battery back up system to run a few small items.
How long has yours been out?
The two most important things are temperature and flow. Try to keep the tank's temperature normal. If you have to, wrap it in blankets or comforters to slow the loss of heat. Keep your house as warm as possible (i.e. don't keep going in and out the door).
With flow, you want to keep the water moving. Even if you have to manually stir it with a wooden spoon or something every 10 or 15 minutes.
Without flow, the tank will still be fine for several hours. Don't worry about lighting -- it can go for days without lighting.
Many people with reef tanks invest in a small generator in case of a power outage. Just to run the heater and powerheads. You can also get battery operated powerheads, an inverter that hooks to your car battery to power things, or a computer battery back up system to run a few small items.
How long has yours been out?
Breadman03
Reefing newb
You can also take a small bowl to scoop water out and pour it carefully into the water to create surface agitation and some tank circulation. I used a spoon to stir my tank, but I also had plenty of room so that I didn't have to worry about hitting anything.
Breadman03
Reefing newb
Look I to a "computer UPS". It looks like a powerstrip with a big box underneath.
APC Back-UPS ES 750 UPS - 450 Watt - Lead acid
Note that I'm not necessarily recommending that unit, but just giving an example. If I used one, I would only plug in a powerhead that would agitate the surface and enough powerheads to keep some circulation throughout the tank. In your 29, I think one powerhead would provide plenty of juice.
You might also look into getting an inverter for your car so that you could recharge the UPS or just run an extension cord to the UPS.
APC Back-UPS ES 750 UPS - 450 Watt - Lead acid
Note that I'm not necessarily recommending that unit, but just giving an example. If I used one, I would only plug in a powerhead that would agitate the surface and enough powerheads to keep some circulation throughout the tank. In your 29, I think one powerhead would provide plenty of juice.
You might also look into getting an inverter for your car so that you could recharge the UPS or just run an extension cord to the UPS.
