y2jdaze Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 I'm sure this question has been answerred before but i can't remember where... My power went out during a violent hail storm and it stayed off for 3 hours. this means that my filter was off for 3 hours... what i'm asking is: is this safe for my fish...? will the bacteria die and cause problems? (as a precaution i took them out when the power went off and jarred them) when is it safe to put them back in? is there a certain amount of time where it's safe to leave them in a tank that is filtered 24/7 but then the power goes off? when the power comes back on and the filter starts up again... do i need to do anything? i'd really appreciate some answers, just so i know how safe power outages are for my fishies that do have a filter (especially since i'm considering getting more filters! 10 fishies = lots of water changes) ~Stacey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumper Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 I will let the more knowledgeable people get into more detailed explanations. But to what i know it depends where is your filter located. if its an inside tank filter, i believe some bacteria will die, yet it shouldnt create too big of a problem. If its an external filter (top mounted/canister/etc) because thereis no flow of water into the filter, i assume it depends on how much water gets holdinside it. less water = more bacteria death now.. how long does it take for the bacteria to start dying of, i have got no idea. On my 1ft tanks i have a little sponge filter inside, up to now i only had to seriouly empty one out, durign that process i just put the sponge in the old water, cleaned the tank, put 20% of the old water back in there and refit the filter. everything seemed fine (only had one fish in there) so if the outage is a short outage i believe you should be fine. if its a long outage i would worry more about temperature drop in my case hope i helped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Anything over 1/2 hour is not good. According to people more knowledgeable about bacterial processes than me, its after this time that the good bacteria starts being replaced with anaerobic bacteria and turning the filter back on at that point sends it all out into the tank. Battle plan: Have some battery powered air pumps ready ($12). Have one for the tank itself and one for either putting in the filter (if its a HOB style) or in a bucket with the filter medium (if its a canister). If its air-driven, simply hook up the battery pump to the filter directly. Turn the filter off at the wall. You will know when the power comes on and can go fix it. If you haven't cleaned your filter for a while, rinse the filter medium in tank water before you turn it back on as all the gunge won't help it wind back up to full boilogical filtration capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 That's right, turn off the cannister filters!! Don't allow the filter to come back on before cleaning it after a big power out. Bad! Bad! Bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Ive had the occasional blackout, my suburb is located near a sub-station and thus seems to experience more power outages, a month ago the power went out for around 3 hours, i had to go to school but when i came home everything was ok, no fish deaths... i have mostly internal filters except for one HOB which sometimes doesnt refill after power is switched back on (does anyone else experience this?). Theres not much that can be done unfortunately, there are products on the market that fish keepers have utilised such as generators and UPS, which can be quite pricey. if your water temp is quite stable you could work out a water-change routine through airline tubing, so theres at least some circulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howlsn Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 except for one HOB which sometimes doesnt refill after power is switched back on (does anyone else experience this?) I have a hang-ons that are the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erren Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Basically the bacteria will turn toxic or bad for your fish. Its not so much of the lacked of oxygen that kill the fish other than betta during power failure but more towards what happened after the power on (Bad bacteria). Power failure for canister filter = disaster! . I just can't imagine myself cleaning the canister filter. eeww the smell, the poos . I do however cleaned my canister filter every 3 mths PS: A jar of clean water for betta should be OK for betta but not so sure for other fish and obviously filter cleaning during power failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2jdaze Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 i have a small sponge filter that is inside the tank so will i need to clean it and if so, how? will i need to buy a new one? would it be better to give the tank a thorough clean and just cycle it again? My 2 boys will be fine jarred for a while... actually they both have lots of bubbles in their jars so they obviously don't hate it lol i've only got bettas and my other 8 bettas are happy without filters (but a lot of water changes lol) i don't have to worry about temperature at all it's been so hot here it's harder to keep it down! the lowest it's been is around 26 overnight, during the day it's around 30 at the moment... so it's pretty stable temperature wise in all my tanks. but if someone could get back to me on what i have to do to re-establish my tank so i can put my boys back in i'd be appreciative oh one more question... since i do have a sponge filter how often do i have to clean it?? and HOW do i clean it... and will i need to re-cycle the tank if i clean it? ~Stacey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishchick Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 the beneficial bacteria start to die after 20mins. If you have a fully submerged filter turn it off and clean it in water drawn from the tank. keep the filter damp until the power comes back on, then re-install the filter. There should be enough bacteria in the water column, on the walls and gravel etc to re-seed the filter (plus there should still be some left on the filter) If you can, do a 25% water change if the tank is heavily stocked and/or the power failure was long. monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels for the next week. a wet/dry filter is more resilient - however, the submerged section will die off and toxic waste will be pumped back into the tank when the power returns. Canister filters should be cleaned after 30mins of no water flow. They are airtight and suffocate real quick. (and peeewwwhhh, do they ever stink!) clean your sponge filter when you notice the sides are pulling in or you can see particles in the water column. most people are too clean with filters. use water from the tank to wash the sponge. if possible, have 2 filters or sponges in each tank. that way you can clean one and not upset the balance. it takes up to 8 weeks for a filter to become fully established. some of my canister filters have not been cleaned for 10 months (last storm season) HTH J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie Posted December 3, 2006 Report Share Posted December 3, 2006 Thank you everyone for your informative posts, learnt alot from this thread :-) Angie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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