It's been 15 hours with out any power. Temperature in tank dropped from 82 to 71 so far. How long can o's be with out filtration and oxygen?

if prior to blackout, your water is in perfect condition, your ocar will be fine
within 36 hours base on my experience but all beneficial bacteria will be gone
in 6 to 8 hours. you will start new cycle again after that.... and requires
large water change when power is back.

in my case, i use an elevated drum full of tank water, and allow it to drift
back to the tank slowly creating aeration due to gravity... my fishes survive
three days without power.

As far as the temperature, should I warm up some water to increase my temperature?

O lowest lethat temp for O's is 13,9oC, thats 57oF, so they'll survive the cold.
On the other hand when you do waterchanges and use warmer water do not exceed the 2o difference with theoriginal tankwater.
That may hurt you fish!

And keep an eye out when the tank levels back out that colder temps can trigger ICK. So just watch for it!

NickiSue wrote:


Wise words, i forgot to mention that

I've seen inexpensive battery-operated air pumps:

www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/p...3693&pcatid=3693

not sure if your LFS sells something like that or not - but maybe worth checking into

there are also units that provide backup battery power:

www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/p...8120&pcatid=8120

I've never used any of these (we have a backup generator for our house) - but it seemed like a good idea when I saw them

In the US sporting goods stores carry battery operated pumps also places that sell bait and tackle usually have them. One other thing you might consider is a outlet power converter that plugs into you car cig.lighter.We bought one for camping that powers 4 normal outlets like the ones in your house.You just have to check the power usage of the things you are plugging in it.These are at most stores that sell computers.I have used both at different times on my tank;for some reason our power goes out a lot.

Power is back up. Did a 70-80% water change. Fish are doing good they seam to be back to their normal selfs. Thanks guys for your help and info. Got them some crickets and hikari pellets for being troopers.

Glad to hear everything is alright... I would check your water readings over the next few days to make sure you didn't lose your bacteria.

It may require a few more water changes.

During my water change I added some stress zyme for some benafical bacteria and some water conditioner for their coat. Lol man I'm laying down saying to myself- it's all going to be fine and the steps to make this fast water chane. And then once I heard my filters go on, I got up so fast to start changing the water that I got light headed. Damm the stress lol I think I got ick from this.

LOL... People Ick I can't help with. I am sure it will be fine!