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Power outages

PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 2:53 pm
by Kingbird44
So I just got a memo from our apartment owner that there's going to be a planned power outage while they're working on underground wires. And it's going to be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. one day next week!

Any ideas on how the heck to deal with this? My 29 gal with turtle and fish has a Fluval 306.

And my 10 gal that has been cycling for 6 weeks with a sponge filter...is that just toast if I don't bring it somewhere else? Guess it's good I didn't add shrimp to it yet? :?

Is it crazy to rent a generator or something?

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:05 pm
by steve
I'd unplug anything that doesn't have a switch (filters, heaters). 12 hr period is not bad, maybe you can schedule a filter cleaning. Turtle will be fine, fish too.

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:09 pm
by litefoot
What I do for Hurricanes is a 12volt air pump hooked up to a old car battery. I always keep a very cheap battery around for that. Had cheap ones in past but I now use one from a fishing store , type for bait wells, much stronger and keeps water in good shape. Works for me up to a week with old car battery running 24/7. For one day all will be fine !

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:24 pm
by Kingbird44
I do actually have access to some 12v lead acid sealed golf cart batteries.

I was most worried about the filter media dying, and maybe oxygen for the fish? The air temperature shouldn't be an issue, it's been in the 70's or 80's.

Should I just unplug it all and leave it alone then? Haha I guess I overreacted, 12 hours seemed like a long time for a planned outage!

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:43 pm
by litefoot
To be on the safe side I unplug all and leave it alone for one day. Not overreacted , Good Parent to Sedge ! That shrimp tank may be cycled now , been taking readings to know for sure , up's and downs should be over ?

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:52 pm
by Kingbird44
Ok, thanks for the peace of mind :)

Yeah, that tank is a PITA...I explained on that thread.

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:25 pm
by litefoot
Still a problem with the ammonia... small amount of water is hard to cycle. In the old days we densely planted the aquarium to what we called "silent cycling" . That takes advantage of plants ability to absorb nitrogen and ammonia. This will speed the process and soften ammonia spikes. Did you get any water lettuce or still have those two plants ?

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:13 am
by Kingbird44
I didn't get any more plants yet, but the ones I have are doing pretty well. Tested 0 for ammonia last night- I dosed it up with more ammonia to be sure, so we will see (it tested 0 once before, then still had a really hard time getting back to 0 after I added more ammonia)

Even my turtle tank had some ammonia in it after a big water change a week ago- now it seems pretty much gone. So part of it is just the tap water. I'm just worried about the RCS dying with even a little bit of ammonia. The few ghosties I put in there a week or two ago didn't make it past a molt successfully.

Shouldn't we be having this conversation on the other thread though, so anyone else following won't be confused? :)

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:46 am
by litefoot
Just was looking for quick answer and you are the original posted. Not like we high jacked someone's else's post.

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 4:59 pm
by Kingbird44
Hah forum social norms are confusing :p

So, I dosed it up to somewhere between 2 and 4 parts per million yesterday. Now today it is down to somewhere between 1 and 2. If what happened the last time is any indication it won't be down to zero for a number of days... But no nitrites. Is it just more ammonia than it can handle, despite being cycled? I don't get it!

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 5:45 pm
by litefoot
Being under "general care" topic and yours ok unless you want to move it I'll follow. If was Urgent care Yes without a doubt I say move it no matter who's post.

Being such a small amount of water and can not hold enough bacteria's to get ammonia down lets help it. In my goldfish tank I like overcrowding , I know....
I found this product and does wonders for me and them. https://www.amazon.com/EcoBio-Block-Sto ... B003SOTWLI

Maybe you can find some small ones for the tank. Other brands ? I use (1) medium for a 150 gallon tank a year. Even the small be to big for that tank , maybe if you can't find very small ones you could break the small size up into smaller pieces but no harm using more. If not just plain volcanic rock helps hold bacteria in tank longer. Also when you do water changes go slow until you find the balance to keep bacteria alive and going. Wont be the same percentages as in the turtle tank.

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 8:26 am
by Kingbird44
All went well with the power outage. Except one of the Serpaes lost it's tail- guess Sedge got hungry.

Added some water lettuce and a lava rock to the little tank a couple days ago. Will see if that helps...

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 12:18 pm
by rambologic
What's interesting to me, Kingbird, is that the small tank that I set up is already cycled. I have fish and shrimp in there. I added LECA (those clay balls) in as substrate, and so far I love it. I think putting in cycled media from the turtle tank in the smaller tank's filter really helped it. When I had the tank empty, with just the anubias and amazon sword plant, I would "feed" them every other day with some fish food, to "feed" the beneficial bacteria, as well as putting some nutrients in the water. Did that for a week and a half, Tested the water, all parameters are good. Shrimp and fish have been in there for 3 days. Got 9 ghost shrimp (guy selling RCS sold out) and some glow light tetras and rasboras. Weird that your tank isn't good by now.

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 9:44 am
by Kingbird44
Yeah, I don't get it either. It might be that it's actually fine and I'm expecting too much because the ammonia can get the zero, it just can't handle much when I dose it back up.

I think part of it probably is the ammonia in our water here. Also, when I first set up the tank and seeded it with filter material from my turtle tank, the temperature was kind of low, as I only had that crappy flat heater. It was still in maybe the mid or low 70s though I don't know if that was low enough to kill the bacteria...

Re: Power outages

PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 12:48 am
by rambologic
Wouldn't imagine so, as my tank is around 75 degrees and all levels are at zero or very low. Could very much be the local water though! Do you use a water conditioner before putting water in the tank?