Electricity Being Cut Off

[gayno]

Hey guys,

Our electricity is being cut off next week between midnight and 8:30am.

Just wondering if there's anything I need to do anything for my tank, what makes it worse is that I'm away on holiday at the proposed time, so my parents will be looking after the tank.

As much advice as possible would be appreciated.

Adam

 

[Tolak]

Things to be concerned with are tank temperature & keeping the nitrifying bacteria alive. A larger tank should hold the temperature reasonably well for that amount of time, you could wrap a blanket around a smaller one to retain heat.

If you pull out the filter media & float it in the tank, than put it back in the filter once the power is on you should be fine. You may want to show your parents how to do this, as well as how to restart the filter if needed.

 

[gayno]

Thanks for the advice Tolak.

My main worry was the bacteria dying off. However, I have overcome the problem with a rather simple solution. I am going to borrow a UPS from work and wire the right connector onto my extension lead, that way when the power goes off, the tank and filter will keep running!

Adam

 

[KrayzieVanh]

Thanks for the advice Tolak.

My main worry was the bacteria dying off. However, I have overcome the problem with a rather simple solution. I am going to borrow a UPS from work and wire the right connector onto my extension lead, that way when the power goes off, the tank and filter will keep running!

Adam

How long will that UPS keep a charge? I thought UPS only held power for a few minutes, giving you enough time to properly shut down equipment.

I would suggest a battery powered air pump.

 

[andywg]

So long as the filter media isn't exposed in the air (such as a bio-wheel or a wet dry) then I wouldn't worry at all about such a short period.

 

[CFC]

Eight and half hours is a long time for a tank to be without aeration and water circulation and depending on the species kept and their size could be more than enough time for a total tank wipe out.

Personally i would hire a generator from the local plant/tool hire shop (all areas have at least one) for the night and run my tank and any other essential equipment off of it for the time period that the electric is off.

 

[velcrohead]

Eight and half hours is a long time for a tank to be without aeration and water circulation and depending on the species kept and their size could be more than enough time for a total tank wipe out.

Personally i would hire a generator from the local plant/tool hire shop (all areas have at least one) for the night and run my tank and any other essential equipment off of it for the time period that the electric is off.

I have 2 of these and never even gave a thought about using them in a power cut, Good tip there.

 

[gayno]

How long will that UPS keep a charge? I thought UPS only held power for a few minutes, giving you enough time to properly shut down equipment.

The modern ones will last about 15 mins with 4 servers shutting down. You forget that each server consumes around 300W during shut down/high processor activity, so thats nearly 1200W of power needed.

A heater and filter consume a very small percentage of that, so that battery will last much longer.

Thanks for your input and concern guys.

CFC, the warning is for 8.5 hours, they give that to cover their backs should something get held up. Providing their maintenence goes to plan it should only be off for a couple of hours.