Ups For An Aquarium

[TheOriginalGrums]

Hi
I'm sure this topic should've been covered before, but my attempts to use the forum search function have not provided ANY results.

Anyway, I've got a 500l tank with two external cannister filters, and two external inline heaters.
So, in the event of a power cut, how long can you leave the filters powered down before they begin to suffer?
And if you have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) which cuts in in the event of a power outage, would it be useful to run the filters for short bursts which would make the UPS batteries last longer?
Ta for any thoughts.

 

[Akasha72]

I don't fully know how long you can leave the filters off for but I know I had a 5 hour power cut at the end of last year and only lost one of my fish - my filter is an internal though, unsure if that makes a difference. I did wrap the tank in blankets to try and keep the warmth in aswell

As for the UPS I have no idea but if I had the system I would run it just to keep the heater and filter going during a power cut.

 

[soundteaser]

I lost power for 24 hours during the winter. Luckily i didn't lose any fish, and my tank is quite heavily stocked. Must get a generator though.

 

[dbanner]

I had a power cut during October (so was cold lol) which lasted around 12 hours and I lost no fish. I was using an all pond solutions EF2000 external canister filter. The tank water temperature only dropped around 2 or 3 degrees c. My tank was a 250 litre quite heavily stocked

 

[CezzaXV]

The bacteria in your filter will die off at a rate of around 10-12% every 24% without water flow, so I dont think that's worth worrying about. I'd be more worried about the ammonia buildup in your tank during that time, which will depend on how heavily stocked your tank is, number of plants etc etc. You'd probably be better off just monitoring ammonia levels if the power goes out for a significant amount of time and doing a water change if necessary.