Winter is Coming

[Zodiak246]

Winter is coming and I sometimes get power outages where I live. Should I get a power station or ups for my tanks incase power does go out? What can other things will help to keep the fish safe and healthy?

[lefty o]

if you get long power outages, ie more than a few hours then a battery backup of sorts is not a bad idea. if power does go out, you can always wrap the tanks in towels or blankets to help slow the heat loss.

[RockMongler]

Get a battery powered air pump and/or a usb powered airpump.  Keeping air going will keep the tank habitable even if the power filtration has to stop for a while.  It will ensure oxygenation.  

Additionally, one thing I did during the big Texas freeze a while back, was wrap my tanks in sleeping bags.  That kept the tank insulated, and kept it warmer than the air temperature in my home.  I didn't have a single loss even with power being out for over 48 hours and the temperature inside getting to ~45F, but I did not have any specifically tropical species.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/2/2022 at 11:11 PM, zodiak245 said:

Winter is coming and I sometimes get power outages where I live. Should I get a power station or ups for my tanks incase power does go out? What can other things will help to keep the fish safe and healthy?

Try the Co-Op battery air pump, otherwise I have seen a couple of large batteries meant for recharging electric cars for sale…

[Patrick_G]

I think it depends on what type of tanks you have. Planted tanks with low stocking levels don’t need nearly as much filtration as a heavily stocked grow-out tank or breeding tank. My heavily planted tanks can go for at least a day, probably longer with no light or filtration. My Guppy grow-out would definitely need filtration, luckily it uses air driven filters so I can use a pump with a battery backup. I also own an inexpensive power station just in case we have an extended outage. 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

I have UPS more for cleaning the power wave a bit and giving me hours of internet and its connected cell signal for safety up here. They aren't big enough to provide power delivery long term for me. 

For tanks I have the portable powerstations jackery 1500 and jackery 200. Heaters can drain a battery fast the draw is not small.  I use lots of live plants and one high volume airpump as my primary air and filtration that pump can be plugged into a powerstation and run like normal for a while that way.  I use coop air pumps running sponge or box filters in some tanks as my in tank automatic emergency air flow and filtration they automatically kick over to battery power and run air for me even if im not home. 

My primary heat retention strategy is still the old school method because it works for me : 72hour heat packs activated and taped by edges to the tank front, and tape as my  space balalets over the top to make a "heat bubble". That can be refreshed as meeded with new packs and monitored using a wifi temperature probe in the water and under the blanket.