How to protect your fishes during/after power shortages?

[eeeeemo]

Hello.

Today at approx 5pm my house area had a blackout which i only found out when i reached home at 8pm.

My filter was down for 3hours. i turned the switches back on and the filters started. I do know that many aerobic bacteria died in the filter in that 3hours and are released back into the tank.

please advise me on what to do now!!

i am planning to do a water change tomorrow as i did not have a bucket of water on standby. just prepared it only.

also, my fishes are precious. what can i do now to prevent such a thing from happening if there is a power trip next time?

thank you in advance for your helpful advices.

jiayuan

[silane]

Get an uninterrupted power supply to drive filters and air powers.

3 hours is not a problem, will not kill the bacteria, having said this, I assume that your room is reasonably cool and not extremely hot which will not have much dissolved oxygen for your bacteria to last.

[CK Yeo]

UPS? They sell these things for computers. Not sure how long they last though.

ck

[silane]

yes.

The least capability one is 500VA. From this number, you can know how it can last if you have the total current that your equipment are using.

[CK Yeo]

Can teach how to calculate? Thanks in advance.

ck

[BlackShrimp]

do you guys really use these uninterrupted power supply?

is it really that necessary?

[silane]

Can teach how to calculate? Thanks in advance.

ck

Let me try, I have not practise since I left uni 15 years ago.

Say, your UPS is rated 500VA. Your total power rating of your equipment is 50W (like filter + powerhead).

Your backup time will be 500/50 = 10hrs. On the safe side, times the calculated time by 0.8. Your more realistic backup time is 8hrs.

That's pretty long hour, did I get the calculation wrong??

On a note, some device will not work properly on modified sinwave which a UPS produces or powerhead/filter will produce some noise but working.

[eeeeemo]

hey silane! thanks for the help. how much do these units cost??
it was 3hrs and 15mins of 31degrees water.. sigh
it caused my zebra pleco eggs to fungus the next day.
they were deprived of oxygenated water for too long.

black shrimp. if you value your faunas alot, it is very neccessary...

[michaelmah]

what is the reasonable price for UPS?

[trident]

A 500VA UPS will cost from $150-250. Depending on Brand.
Those made in Taiwan or China will cost much less than those USA brand (e.g. APC Brand).
Just a reminder, these UPS runs on battery, if you leave it on all the time, the life span of the UPS (battery) is about 2 years. After that you got to replace the battery pack inside or buy a new UPS.

[BFG]

Guys, you need to get the one which produce true sine wave for use for the aquarium stuff. Most UPS are produced for server and pc and have a different type of sine wave. Using a different sine wave might shorten your filter motor. This is what I know.

[Savant]

Can anyone advise on the cost of such a setup?

Oh I just saw the answer in a post above.. :P

Looks like its worth getting considering the price of some of our fishes/shrimps...

[Shadow]

Never have problem with power blackout and I didn't use any additional equipment. Probably because I did not over load my tank. I preferred to see fish swimming around instead of cramp together without empty space to swim

[silane]

Can anyone advise on the cost of such a setup?

Oh I just saw the answer in a post above.. :P

Looks like its worth getting considering the price of some of our fishes/shrimps...

hey silane! thanks for the help. how much do these units cost??
it was 3hrs and 15mins of 31degrees water.. sigh
it caused my zebra pleco eggs to fungus the next day.
they were deprived of oxygenated water for too long.

black shrimp. if you value your faunas alot, it is very neccessary...

The setup is not expensive, just need a off the shelve UPS, for a 500VA, is near $100. A higher rating one will be more expensive and will last longer.

[michaelmah]

UPS may nesseccery for my cryatal red shrim or bee shrimp as the fan need to run to maintenance the tem at 25c all time.

My condominium always have few hour preventive maintenance electric service, and shut down for few hour.

[eeeeemo]

Never have problem with power blackout and I didn't use any additional equipment. Probably because I did not over load my tank. I preferred to see fish swimming around instead of cramp together without empty space to swim

hmmm i guess when you have eggs/young fries that need aeration, its not the adults that you're worrying. also, even when the tank is not overcrowded it can still kill the fishes.

imagine your power shorts out at 9am. you're at work. depending on your circuit system, if the power comes back on at 5pm. you're still at work.
meaning your filtration system has been deprived of oxygen for 8 hours. the bacteria in it has died and has built up toxic. when it comes back on. all the dead bacteria and toxic will shoot right back into your tank.... even if don't die, fishes/shrimps/breeding activity/younger fishes/young crs shrimplets will be affected.

it is as expensive as i thought.
will definitely get one soon.

thanks silane.

[eeeeemo]

Guys, you need to get the one which produce true sine wave for use for the aquarium stuff. Most UPS are produced for server and pc and have a different type of sine wave. Using a different sine wave might shorten your filter motor. This is what I know.

how to know if it produces true sine wave or not??

[Shadow]

It might be written on the manual or get osciloscope ?

[michaelmah]

UPS is a good idea.

[BFG]

how to know if it produces true sine wave or not??

Can ask the sales representative. Or look at the product information portion on the box or brochure. If you are not sure, don't buy 1st but remember what model of the product is. You could google it on the internet and find out whether the model has the requirement you're looking for. Take your time to survey.