Oh No! My Power Tripped Whilst I Was At Work!

[ccskitten]

Hi All

I got home from work yesteray and I could see that my tank lights were not on from my living room window. I rushed inside and everything was switched off. No airstone, filter or heater!!!!!

All my power from my tank is attached to a trip switch so if there is a fault everything turns off. The temperature of the tank was at 20 degrees and there were bits floating around my tank where the filter hadn't been working. The timer on my lights said midnight!!! I know it couldn't have tripped at midnight as I sat and ate my breakfast at 8am infront of the tank and I know it was all working then. I'm wondering if the timer was faulty and caused the trip though.

There was one other thing that it could have been. I'm not sure if it was caused by the power being off or if it was what caused the trip. The tube running to my airstone had water in it. Do you think this had dripped down to my pump and caused the trip? I have adjusted this now so that the tube goes all the way down to the floor and then back up to the shelf in my cabinet to try and avoid this again.

Anyway, everything could have potentially been off for about 8 hours. Do you think this is going to cause any major problems? Is there anything I can do to help my tank re-cycle?

I have tested the water and I got

amonia - 0
nitrate - 0
nitrite - 0

I think my test kit is not working though as I have never had a reading for any of these. It is an Nutrafin Aquarium Mini Master test Kit . I did however a water change the night before so the tank was very clean, not that it would make a difference if the filter had been off for a number of hours.

I am going to purchase an API kit at the weekend.

Any advise or reassurance would be more than appreciated.

Kindest regards

Cindy

 

[andywg]

8 hours is fine. The temp has barely dropped out of where tropicals can happilly be kept for life and the bacteria in the filter do not die off particularly quickly.

I once left the return pump from my sump off for a week after a water change (so 7 days with no filtration) and experienced no problems.

 

[ccskitten]

Thank you andy. That is very reassuring. I am going to get a new timer for my lights and keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't happen again.

Is it unusual for a liquid water test kit to be faulty?

 

[minxfishy]

You should be fine, we had a 6 hr (ish) powercut the other night, knew nothing about it til the morning, by which time everything had turned itself back on, fish were fine, filters fine, no mini cycles.

 

[Schmill]

Also you should invest in a check-valve for your airline. They cost a few pence, and it's basically a one-way valve for the airline. It allows teh air to flow, but in the event the pump switches off it will stop the water syphoning back along the tube and into the airpump (as you have found). If your airpump is sited below the level of the tank then they are a must.

Also from what you have said is it a plugin type breaker that protects your tank? If so there are two versions, (which I didn't realise until recently), one type (that you seem to have) will latch, ie. if there is a fault or a powercut it switches off and stays that way, these are usful for things like lawnmowers etc where if you cut the cable you want it to stay off!
There is also a type that DOESN'T latch, that will only switch off whilst there is a fault. If you get a powercut, and then the power comes back on the breaker will also come back on. Not sure where you are based but in the UK I got mine from B&Q. As I say there are 2 types and I believe it is the smaller cheaper one that you want, but read tha back of the pack to be sure

 

[ccskitten]

Thanks Schmill. I will certainly take a trip to B&Q for one of those and will pop into Pets at home on my way home for a valve. Great advice. Thank you

 

[buckiejim2]

Hi Cindy

Dont worry about having to recycle the tank. It should be ok without having to recycle. Just take care feeding for a few days ie feed a little less than normal for a while just in case the bacteria is down. Try to find out what caused the trip and prevent it happening again. Always ensure that the pump is above the water line to avoid back syphoning in the event of power failures. BJ

Hi All

I got home from work yesteray and I could see that my tank lights were not on from my living room window. I rushed inside and everything was switched off. No airstone, filter or heater!!!!!

All my power from my tank is attached to a trip switch so if there is a fault everything turns off. The temperature of the tank was at 20 degrees and there were bits floating around my tank where the filter hadn't been working. The timer on my lights said midnight!!! I know it couldn't have tripped at midnight as I sat and ate my breakfast at 8am infront of the tank and I know it was all working then. I'm wondering if the timer was faulty and caused the trip though.

There was one other thing that it could have been. I'm not sure if it was caused by the power being off or if it was what caused the trip. The tube running to my airstone had water in it. Do you think this had dripped down to my pump and caused the trip? I have adjusted this now so that the tube goes all the way down to the floor and then back up to the shelf in my cabinet to try and avoid this again.

Anyway, everything could have potentially been off for about 8 hours. Do you think this is going to cause any major problems? Is there anything I can do to help my tank re-cycle?

I have tested the water and I got

amonia - 0
nitrate - 0
nitrite - 0

I think my test kit is not working though as I have never had a reading for any of these. It is an Nutrafin Aquarium Mini Master test Kit . I did however a water change the night before so the tank was very clean, not that it would make a difference if the filter had been off for a number of hours.

I am going to purchase an API kit at the weekend.

Any advise or reassurance would be more than appreciated.

Kindest regards

Cindy