Shutting power off on a tank?

parkinsn · #1 10-28-2009, 05:47 PM

I am having a new service put on my house on friday and they will be shutting off power for the day.

What is critical for keeping things alive? I am hoping to either have a generator or power from my next door neighbor. Right now im thinking 1 heater, return pump, 2 x MP40W, will that do?

Thanks for any help

globaldesigns · #2 10-28-2009, 06:26 PM

If you can get power from the neighbour or a generator then you will have the ability to keep everything running. IMO, I would try to keep it in full operation, as then there won't be any shock to the tank.

If you don't have that option and have limited power, like a battery backup, I would keep movement of the water column, so you need to keep some powerheads going... The heater and return pump will zap a battery, so that isn't an option. With what you stated, I would keep the 2X MP40W going, worst case just one.

MikeP · #3 10-28-2009, 07:12 PM

Heat and return pump would be my two top picks. If you can run one powerhead and some low wattage lights like a couple T5's as well that would be best IMO. If you need a generator I have a light duty one (880w) that I bought "just in case" but have never used. Let me know if you want to borrow it.

kien · #4 10-28-2009, 07:35 PM

When I had to move my 90 gallon in order to upgrade to the 150 gallon I had all my fish and coral sitting in a tupperware tub with a couple of powerheads (koralia 4s, and a heater). That's all they had for a whole day and they were all fine. No light for a day isn't a big deal because that's just like a stormy cloudy day. So I would say heat and flow are the two key items. Don't really need the return pump if you just put the heater in the display tank near one of the powerheads.

Delphinus · #5 10-28-2009, 07:40 PM

You can safely sacrifice the lights, everyone will be fine for a day without lights. But keep everything else going on either the generator or a power cord over to the neighbour's house. The main killers in this kind of scenario, IMO, are: oxygen depletion (which can happen very quickly in low flow situations) and temperature shock.

parkinsn · #6 10-28-2009, 08:50 PM

Thanks for the info so far. Im not worried about lighting, i have done balckouts on my tank before, i know thats not an issue. Temp wont be that big a beal its a 168g diplay so it will take a while to drop to dangerous levels, and i could always drop a heater in the display. Mike i might take you up on that. My buddy thats an electrition might have a gen set that i can use, thanks for the offer i will let you know.

belzebuth · #7 10-28-2009, 11:42 PM

I had similar upgrade done at home 2 weeks ago. My heaters were unplugged for 6 hours. The 155 gal temp dropped by 5 degres.