How did my fish survive this? What to do in a power outage?

[RealityRoy]

So check this out...I have a newish (4 months) 28 gallon freshwater tank with 6 tiger barbs and 4 albino corey catfish in it. I've been adding fish slowly, and have been neurotically diligent with my water testing, water changes, etc.

And then a big storm comes through and knocks out power for 4 days! The aquarium is in the basement with no windows, and the thing was in pitch black dark for 4 full days with no heat, no oxygen, no nada.

I didn't have the heart to look in with a flashlight, and instead concentrated on taking care of the kids (I know, my priorities are screwed up). When the power did come on, lo and behold every single fish was alive and hungry despite the tank's 68 degrees (usually at 78).

The water was cloudy, but everyone seemed as robust as ever. (I've started more frequent water changes to clear out the water, but don't want to push my luck.)

A bunch of questions: Has anyone else experienced this? Was I just lucky? Did I just have the right combo of fish? Was I just lucky that my tank wasn't fully stocked with fish? Was I lucky that I didn't have any live plants? Is there a power-outage survival list? I've been thinking about hot water bottles, battery-powered air stones, water changes in the dark, etc...anyone have a definitive list (short of getting a generator)?

I'm still stunned...I told my wife "if they're all still alive I'm going to go out and buy them a 150 gallon tank!"...I guess it's time to go shopping!

Roy (my fish can kick your fish's tails!)

[Dave66]

Not surprising, Roy. In the dark the fish were calm, and as the temp dropped slowly to 68, they were fine for that amount of time. You weren't lucky; you do good maintenance on the tank. Not surprising that they were alive when the lights came back on.
Get battery backups designed for computers. Just plug the heater and the filter into to it. It'll kick on when the power fails.

Dave

[alerzl33t]

I have heard of stories where people have had their filter off for a week and the fish were fine. Honestly, that tank is under-stocked so waste did not really build up.
Good to hear,
Cheers