Power Failures and your Freshwater Tropical Fish

Power failures and your Freshwater Tropical Fish

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What to do in the event of a Power Failure

The first thing to do is don't panic!
I live in a rural mountain area where we have power failures quite frequently... and I've never had a problem with any of my freshwater aquariums.

Short Period Power Failures
If you suspect that the power outage will be an hour or less you don't really need to do anything to protect your freshwater aquariums.

When the power comes back on check.. to make sure that your power heads and mechanical filters are running, and reset the timer for your lights if you have one.

Extended Power Failures
Extended power failures can become a problem if they last for more than 8 hours. I was once without power for over 48 hours. Fortunately I have a couple of generators and I patched one of them to my tanks.

If you suspect that the power outage may last for several hours the first thing you should do during cold weather is to wrap your freshwater aquariums with blankets. This will help to conserve heat.

If the aquarium temperature is dropping you can heat hot water via alternative means. Pour the hot water into anything with a screw on lid and float them in the tank.

Without electricity there's not much you can do about the waters oxygen content.

If you have a backup generator... run a patch cord from the ground fault interrupt to the generator. This will keep the aquarium running smoothly until the power comes back on.

When the power comes back on check.. to make sure that your power heads and mechanical filters are running, and reset the timer for your lights if you have one.