How to handle scheduled power outtage

[chris_todd]

BGE informed us today that they will be cutting the power on our street tomorrow at 9 am to replace some power lines. They anticipate the power being out for up to four hours.

Should I be worried about my fish tanks during this time, or is four hours short enough that the bio filters should be fine without water going through them? I'm not so worried about tank temps, the ambient temp tomorrow should be close to tank temp. In the one tank I have that is somewhat overstocked, I have a large battery UPS that should be able to keep aeration going during the outtage.

Anything else I should be concerned about?

 

[SubMariner]

Chris, your bio filters with your good bacteria should be fine. Mine have survived 24 hours so it's possible. What you should be worried about is the overstocked tanks. They will need a sponge filter kicking in there definitely, otherwise good luck.

 

[dogofwar]

A couple of battery air pumps can never hurt...

 

[SubMariner]

Oh I forgot, make sure you give them a water change before lights out.

 

[Charlutz]

4 hours should be fine. Don't feed your fish today.

 

[McFluffrichromis]

I agree with the stop feeding and at least an good air stone in the overstocked tank. My overstocked tank really starts to show signs of low oxygen when the power goes out for 4 hours or more.

 

[Leffler817]

All of the above. Plus; light a candle and say one 'Hail Mary' for each species, then put a nickel headsup on your windowsil, and lastly drink three beers. It lowers your anxiety.

 

[Tony]

Especially with that UPS going, you'll be fine.

 

[chris_todd]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Everything turned out just fine. Power was only out for three hours, and the monster UPS (designed to keep power hog dual proc Intel servers running for a few hours) easily kept an Eheim 2217 and a Koralia power head going on the overstocked 65g without even draining 10% of the battery - a good test for that setup. I unplugged the heater and the XP2 on that tank, but it turns out I probably didn't need to.

All the other tanks were fine, too.

Heck, we didn't even lose our FIOS Phone service - the little 7AH battery that is supposed to provide battery backup for the phone service seems to have done its job.

But I'm seriously going to get some of those battery powered air pumps. It would have given me an extra level of stress relief, and I didn't have enough advanced notice to get my hands on some ahead of time. I didn't need them this time, but I can see how they would be super useful in a pinch. Boy scout motto and all that...