filter got turned off all night (oh no!)

[lovleeko]

I woke this morning to find my filter got turned off. I guess it was last night when a breaker flipped. It was really late and I didn't even think about the fact that one of my tanks was plugged into an outlet hooked up to it.

Anyway, I am pretty sure that my botanical ram was gasping. He didn't seem stressed out about it. I'm not really sure what kind of reaction to expect in that kind of situation. How much harm do you think this could have had? It was about ten to twelve when it got turned off and about 8 this morning when it got turned back on. So a max of ten hours with out it. I threw all kinds of bubble stones in there to try to help replenish the oxy. faster. I fell bad :(

[Sharon]

The filter media would still have been wet, so although you would have lost some of the bacteria, it's not all gone. Were the heaters still working? I'd just keep a close eye on the readings, in case you get a small spike, but it should be OK. If you do get a spike in Ammonia or Nitrites, do small water changes...

[Lady Hobbs]

Stuff happens. Those filters that won't just start again after a power bump is darned annoying. I have some like that too. Makes you afraid to go away for 3 days.

[Wild Turkey]

Agreed with the above posters.

[Northernguy]

What kind of filter do you use?
My aqua-clears don't need to be primed after a blackout!

[leggomypleco]

Its a good chance that you have to cycle your tank all over. If you have other filters you can take part of the median and add it to the filter that was turned off.

[Wild Turkey]

As long as the media stayed wet the majority of the bacteria is still alive, you will not need to re-establish the cycle and even if this did cause a mini-cycle, switching out the media would make the situation worse, not better.

[leggomypleco]

But with the filter being off for so long the water that is left in the filter is now toxic and just turning the filter on after all that time could cause health problems and can even kill the fish.

[bushwhacker]

when i got up this morning i had to reset all the clocks so i know i lost power overnight how long noone knows but it hasnt hurt the fish

[leggomypleco]

Just be sure to test the water over the next couple of days and change water as needed.

[lovleeko]

good to know it may not have hurt the cycle. the filter does just start back up. We didn't notice the breaker flipped until this morning. But I know what made it flip. And It had to be between ten and twelve. My main concern was the fish. Did it hurt them? Do any damage I can't see? Etc. My ram seem to be gasping when I woke up. There are only corys the ram and a platy in there. The platy didn't seem to be gasping. The ram did. I assume the corys were not concerned given their ability to breath air.

[cocoa_pleco]

shouldnt have hurt them too much, unless its a overstocked tank they probably had enough oxygen, and theyre just a bit freaked by the sudden change of environment

[Wild Turkey]

But with the filter being off for so long the water that is left in the filter is now toxic and just turning the filter on after all that time could cause health problems and can even kill the fish.
Disagree. The bacteria is fine as long as it stayed wet, even if the power went out for 10 hours, which would be the maximum and 1second would be the minimum possible.

I dont know what you think would make the water in the filter toxic in less than a day of being stagnant. Maybe im missing something.

[leggomypleco]

vetmedicine.about.com/od/weatherrelated/a/aapoweroutage_2.htm - 25k

Check this out it tells you what to do when you lose power

[Northernguy]

I have lost power countless times for up to 12 hrs and I have never had a problem or even a mini cycle.I did test for it.Nothing a water change couldn't cure.
If you go for days ,I could understand losing your cycle but not over night.

[Sharon]

I worry about losing power with winter storms coming...I'm more concerned with the dropping temp in the tank...

[lovleeko]

My heater was off too. The temp was 73 when i woke. Then again, I'm in the deep south. On the gulfcoast. The kids here get out of school if it happens to snow a couple of flakes out. LOL Stuff you guys would probably laugh at. :) It gets down to 25 or so here sometimes and we dont know what to think about that. We spread the word to board up the windows. There some cold a comin! J/k about the boarding of the windows. LOL :)

[cocoa_pleco]

the water that was left in the filter is fine, only if it was left for days would it be bad

[Wild Turkey]

Heres the first sentence from the article.

"I am a relatively new fishkeeper, and still learning all that is involved with aquariums."

Furthermore, this is what the guy says about when the power goes out

"I unplugged all of my filters, lights, and heaters during the outage, since the filters can actually be harmful to your tank after they have been off for awhile. A complete cleansing and replacing of filter media before turning the filters back on is necessary for the health of your fish."

He doesnt site his source for that piece of info (if he has one) and doesnt even suggest testing the levels in the tank. (or filter)

Im sorry, but he is wrong and just killed his fish via re-cycling his tank.
Doing so when the levels are fine is irresponsible and the wrong thing to do.
Seriously i hate using "wrong" or "right" but tearing down the tank for no reason is wrong, especially without even testing the tank. That guy is a fool.


IMO Dismantling and cleaning the filter completely is a last resort for any problem. Because it, in itself is a huge problem if you have live fish.

[Northernguy]

I worry about losing power with winter storms coming...I'm more concerned with the dropping temp in the tank...
You can wrap a blanket around your tank at night ,even some styrafoam pieces placed around your tank at night will help keep the heat in.

[leggomypleco]

Thats why I stated in my last post to test the water over a few days to figure out what steps to take next.

[Wild Turkey]

Sharon is your hot water heater gas or electric? If its gas you can use warm water changes to maintain temp, carefully of course.
If its electric you can do the same but conserve water, you will only have one hot water tank's worth and you may upset some roomies/significant others by using it all. Ive done it before lol
Most peoples are around 50-100 gallons give or take quite a bit, its easy to check.

The way to conserve the most water is fill a bucket most of the way with cold and then run hot into it until you get the temp you need, rather than running hot and cold together or running all hot water and letting it cool some.

[Sharon]

The hot water tank is electric. I wouldn't have a problem if the power goes off for a few hours. Last year, my parents, who live 2 hours away had a 5day loss of power due to an ice storm that took down the lines, and a lot of poles. It freaked me out, although we didn't lose power here. I actually started researching generators. I've got eight tanks and it would be a terrible thing to lose everyone!

[Wild Turkey]

The hot water tank is electric. I wouldn't have a problem if the power goes off for a few hours. Last year, my parents, who live 2 hours away had a 5day loss of power due to an ice storm that took down the lines, and a lot of poles. It freaked me out, although we didn't lose power here. I actually started researching generators. I've got eight tanks and it would be a terrible thing to lose everyone!

Im not terrible knowledgeable on the subject but i think you are going to have a hard time finding a generator that will run all those tanks for very long. I am constantly worried about the same, the place where i live had a big outage 3 or 4 years ago that lasted a week.

[Sharon]

I did a little research and got confused...but I think I found that a 3000watt would be what I'd need...

[Northernguy]

If you are getting a generator for a power blackout a 3000 or better would do.You will need it for more than just your tanks.lol.You can even have an electrician wire it in to run part of your house.