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Ading522

Members
So with the upcoming thunderstorms, it can't be helped that there might be some power outages.. I am afraid that a power outage may kill my tank occupants.. how do you guys prepare for this? do you have generators? do you run battery powered backups? what are your equipment and hardware for this kind of "disaster" ?
 

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Personally, I have a generator that I can use if I need one. Lots of folks use battery powered air pumps.

There was a thread about emergency preparations when the hurricane came through last year. Search it out of the forum, as it has lots of good information. Frank Cowherd also has some instructions on his website (the link will be in the thread).
 

Jmoore

Members
I didn't feed my fish yesterday or today because of power outages.... But if I do have an outage I just hook up my air pumps to a little battery pack I got from costco


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Becca

Members
Depends on what you have and how overcrowded your tanks are. We are usually OK for a few days so long as we have water and can do water changes, as needed. We do have a battery operated air pump, though they can be hard to find. You could always use something like that to run sponge filters and at least maintain surface movement.

One of the pluses of canister filters is that they do (sort of) continue to have some flow when the water is off because the intake is lower than the output, like a siphon. It is really low -flow and doesn't create any surface current, but it's something in terms of filtration.
 

Ading522

Members
thanks guys! checking them out now.. worried that my tanks will be crippled if ever we have one.. @ Becca, do you mean to say that canister filters still have a little flow even if the power is off? will i need to worry about them leaking?
 
I have three PowerPacs for my tanks. They can run filters and sponge filters or airstones (not heaters) for a while, perhaps several days if I don't use them continuously.
 

DBLN8

Members
I have a generator now but before I would use battery powered air pumps. You can get them at Bass Pro Shops they use them for bait tanks on boats.
 

daninmd

Members
i have 1 or 2 battery powered air stones that i keep in my tank stands. if i lose power i will usually power those up at first. If the power is staying off, then i will fill up the generator and run the full setup on each tank for 2-3 hours, followed by it being off for another 6-8 hours. it kind of coincides with the rest of the house power supply - i.e. refrigerator.
 
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