Power outage

[Dipink]

I was wondering about general advice for power outages. I have a 48 gallon planted tank that is just getting started. I have a OASE 350 thermo cannister filter on it. I just read in another part of the forum about how short power outages are no problem (several hours). Could I shove just the sponge part of a sponge filter into one of the trays, and have a cycled filter to pull out and hook to an airstone for longer outages? I really don't like the look of sponge filters inside a planted tank, but like the idea of a pre-cycled filter for quarantine or emergencies.  I've also read about pulling out the bag of bio filter material from an internal cannister, and placing it over an airstream to keep oxygen flowing through the media. What set-ups do people have for power outages?

[Guppysnail]

I used to use penn play San 11 d battery air pumps that come on when power goes out hooked to sponges already in tank. Now I use coop nano pump hooked to a cell batterpack hooked to the sponge. It runs always now and continues to run and filter during power out. I love it. I also close the valve on canisters and pop the lid so it continues to be oxygenated. If the power is out  for an extended time I then connect to a large gas generator 

[PineSong]

Timely topic. I was at work today when I got a text from one of my offspring saying "one of ur fishtanks is making sum noise", leading to a Facetime in which I saw my (of course) Aquaclear HOB was running dry. 

Sigh.

Not a big deal because I also have a sponge filter in there, but made me realize I need to get prepared and serious about backup plans for real outages now that I have so many more tanks.

Co-op Nano air pumps attached to a battery pack? @Guppysnail Any chance you can show a pic of this? I would love any alternative to having a generator.

[Patrick_G]

@Dipink, I’ve read a bunch a info on beneficial bacteria survivability and it’s hard to get scientific answers. The article I read that made the most sense is that the nitrifying bb is quite durable and will go into a dormant stage for a long time before dying. There’s even one company that sells pre cycled sponge filters through the mail so the bb in that case are surviving at least a few days. I  have no idea how long they’ll survive in your canister, but I do love the idea of putting the coarse sponge from a Coop filter in one of the trays so you have an option during a power outage. And yes, the Coop air pumps run off of usb so any usb battery back up will work. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Patrick_G maybe this is where our little friend @redmare should go with research with BB and tanks. I know there's also been debates on this forum over whether bottled bacteria is bunk or not. So it can be a beginning to end lifecycle of BB in good condtions and bad.

[Patrick_G]

On 11/9/2021 at 5:21 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@Patrick_G maybe this is where our little friend @redmare should go with research with BB and tanks. I know there's also been debates on this forum over whether bottled bacteria is bunk or not. So it can be a beginning to end lifecycle of BB in good condtions and bad.

Oh boy, I think I missed that debate, I guess it’s a bit of a third rail issue in the hobby.