I think I may have a big problem...

[Rocky998]

So I was looking at this back-up battery surge protector: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberp...m-black/6239405.p?skuId=6239405&ref=212&loc=1 but the runtime isnt enough for some of the power outages we have here once ir twice a year that can be around a few days all the way to a few weeks (luckily I havent been through weeks yet) but we get hurricanes sometimes which can be pretty rough. So now I have no idea on what to do and I cant spend hundreds of dollars on something else... This is a very unexpected predicament because I thought it had a higher runtime than 2 hours... Which does nothing... So I need to learn how to care for an aquarium in a power outage otherwise my soon to be: 6 cories, 7 lambchop Rasboras, 2 nerite snails, and 3 peacock gudgeons will die in like 9 hours.... Which is not good

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

So I was looking at this back-up battery surge protector: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberp...m-black/6239405.p?skuId=6239405&ref=212&loc=1 but the runtime isnt enough for some of the power outages we have here once ir twice a year that can be around a few days all the way to a few weeks (luckily I havent been through weeks yet) but we get hurricanes sometimes which can be pretty rough. So now I have no idea on what to do and I cant spend hundreds of dollars on something else... This is a very unexpected predicament because I thought it had a higher runtime than 2 hours... Which does nothing... So I need to learn how to care for an aquarium in a power outage otherwise my soon to be: 6 cories, 7 lambchop Rasboras, 2 nerite snails, and 3 peacock gudgeons will die in like 9 hours.... Which is not good

Let's assume that your tank isn't so heavily stocked that the slightest upset will unbalance the tank's nitrogen cycle and poison your fish with toxic ammonia.
This means that you should have enough surface area on your water to negate the need for aeration.
With a power outage, how do you heat water? I have a small camping stove, fuelled by methylated spirit, which is very handy for heating water. Assuming your ambient temperature is too cold for your fish, a small stove could warm water for the tank. Combined with water changes, to minimise the lack of powered filtration, you should be okay.

 

[Rocky998]

Let's assume that your tank isn't so heavily stocked that the slightest upset will unbalance the tank's nitrogen cycle and poison your fish with toxic ammonia.
This means that you should have enough surface area on your water to negate the need for aeration.
With a power outage, how do you heat water? I have a small camping stove, fuelled by methylated spirit, which is very handy for heating water. Assuming your ambient temperature is too cold for your fish, a small stove could warm water for the tank. Combined with water changes, to minimise the lack of powered filtration, you should be okay.

Ok... And what about the lights for the plants?

 

[Colin_T]

Get a car battery and keep it fully charged.
Get a power inverter from an auto shop or electronics store.
Connect the power inverter to the car battery.
Plug aquarium filter and air pump into power inverter.

A bigger car battery will run the items for longer.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Ok... And what about the lights for the plants?

Whilst I'd consider plants as being more expendable, you were talking about only a 9 hour power outage. Ambient light would be sufficient.

 

[itiwhetu]

Cover your tank completely with blankets and let everyone go to sleep for the nine hours they will be fine, don't worry about the plants it takes 3 days of darkness before they will start to suffer. The blankets will keep the heat in your tank.

 

[Rocky998]

Whilst I'd consider plants as being more expendable, you were talking about only a 9 hour power outage. Ambient light would be sufficient.

No, you got confused... I said 9hrs is the time it takes for the fish to die in a completely stocked aquarium.

 

[Rocky998]

Get a car battery and keep it fully charged.
Get a power inverter from an auto shop or electronics store.
Connect the power inverter to the car battery.
Plug aquarium filter and air pump into power inverter.

A bigger car battery will run the items for longer.

My mom said: "uhhh, no... Car batteries can explode" so yah cant do that...

 

[FF_Member146894]

My mom said: "uhhh, no... Car batteries can explode" so yah cant do that...

does that mean that they don't own a car for the same reason

 

[Rocky998]

does that mean that they don't own a car for the same reason

No, she just doesnt want it in the house...

 

[Colin_T]

My mom said: "uhhh, no... Car batteries can explode" so yah cant do that...

Modern car batteries don't explode under normal conditions.
If you are charging a car battery, they produce a small amount of Hydrogen gas and this can explode if you put a naked flame near the top of the battery while it is charging. But it never happens.

The auto shops have hundreds of car batteries on the shelves and they are charging them all the time. You don't see them blowing up.

A modern clean car battery is no dirtier than a plastic toy.

If you do get a car battery for running aquarium items during power failures, look for a deep cycle battery. These can be completely drained of power and it doesn't affect the battery. Whereas normal car batteries can have a shorter life if they are completely drained of power.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

No, she just doesnt want it in the house...

So you keep it outside, until needed.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

No, you got confused... I said 9hrs is the time it takes for the fish to die in a completely stocked aquarium.

So where did you pull 'like 9 hours' from? Experience?
Your post also suggests that you are yet to stock your tank. Again, an over-stocked tank is more fragile and harder to rescue when emergencies hit. An under-stocked tank would be easier to save.
All of the suggestions offered so far would see your fish safer for at least 24 hours, assuming you're not in the middle of a cold, cold winter.

 

[Brendanpat]

If you have regular power outages for up to weeks long as you said ,I would be thinking about a small diesel/petrol generator that you can get an electrician to put a connection point on to your house that will run all the sockets...

 

[Rocky998]

So where did you pull 'like 9 hours' from? Experience?

I've read from other sources that in a power outage it can take 9hrs for fish to start dying in a well stocked tank