How long will my tank be okay without power?

[phatbob]

All the electrical outlets and switches are being replaced in my apartment tomorrow. I'm assuming they'll just kill power to the whole apartment while they work on it. I figure about 8 hours max without power (hopefully less). Will the tank be ok? It's a 29 gallon with just 2 fish (royal gramma and a perc) and a bunch of softies and LPS corals. It's supposed to be a warm day tomorrow, so I don't think the temp will be a big issue. I'm worried more about circulation.

I do have a battery backup for my computer. This will run my computer for about 25 minutes. Does anyone know how long this would run a simple air pump, or powerhead?

 

[Behrmon]

A battery powered air pump would help, less than $10 at a LFS normally.

 

[Moe_K]

A battery powered air pump would help, less than $10 at a LFS normally.

I'm with Kevin.
Get the PennPlax backup air pump. Oxygen is really the big worry in an outage, then temperature. I'll post a pic of the unit many of us use. Add 2 D size batteries, plug it into the wall, turn it on, and you're golden. Whenever the AC power goes off, the batteries kick in, and get some air into the tank. AC power comes back on? The pump turns off again automatically.

 

[JayM]

You should get about 4 or more hours out of a UPS350 running a low wattage (tunze) power head. Like Kevin and Moe, I would also opt for the battery powered airstone to keep your o2 level up. It runs on 2 D batteries, and kicks on once the power is cut......it has worked well for me in past outages

Is there any way you could string an extension cord from another apartment or an outside outlet to keep your circulation on?

 

[phatbob]

I've been meaning to buy a battery operated pump for a while now. I guess this would be a great time to do it. Think I'll go out and look for one as soon as I'm out of work today. Only make sense, considering how much time, effort, and $$ we put into our tanks. If I can't find one, I'll use my computer's backup, and get as much life out of that as I can.

 

[NateHanson]

No tank should be without one of those backup air pumps. I've been suprised at how quickly people have lost fish in the past after the power goes out. Oxygen levels can really drop fast it seems.

 

[phatbob]

Picked one up this evening. Should be all set for tomorrow.

 

[phatbob]

Power is back. Was only out for about 5 hours in all. Went home on my lunch hour to check on things (ah, the benefits of a 10 minute commute ). The battery pump was still humming away, and everyone was happy. Definitely provides some peace of mind to have one of these.

 

[NateHanson]

Great. I think someone tested how long those airpumps go for on a single set of batteries, and I don't remember the exact number of hours when the person gave up the experiment, but I think it was 25 or 30 hours, if memory serves.