Hey guys its been awhile since i contributed anything and thats mainly been a matter of a lack of good subject matter but with The end of hurricane season approaching and winter weeks away, we here in New Jersey have some wild weather to be on the look out for, and with tons of money invested in our tanks a power outage could spell disaster! but have no fear because there are some tricks out there to protect your aquatic friends.
First disclaimer, this article is based on the idea that a storm has just knocked out your power for an extended period of time and you dont have a generator available.
Alright so the storms here and the powers off and your tanks sitting there in the dark quite and your praying that everyone makes it till the power comes back.
Are immediate concerns are lack of oxygenation, temperature, and toxic build up and in away these all go hand in hand. You see oxygenated water is healthy water, not only because are fish need it to breath but because the bacteria our natural eco systems use to break down waste also require it to be able to do there job.
so as the oxygen begins to decrease in the water the toxic levels of things like ammonia and nitrate start to increase. To add another layer of bad to the equation we keep are tanks at around 78 degrees, which makes things worse because warmer water loses oxygen faster and breaks down organic waste into toxic bi-products quicker.
Just to add alittle chemistry to this subject in terms of our tanks the oxygen in the water is called Dissolved Oxygen. When it comes to dissolved oxygen temperature and salinity play a huge role, cold water can hold more DO then warm and fresh water more then salt. So warm salty water is at a huge disadvantage from the start.
In marine tanks a range of 5MG/L of dissolved oxygen is plenty, a range below 3MG/L is hypoxic (meaning low oxygen) and anything below 0.5MG/L is anoxic (meaning depleted or not life sustaining)
Here is a break down of disolved oxygen levels in seawater in relation to temperature
68 Degrees F = 7.6 MG/L DO
77 degrees F = 7.0 MG/L DO
80 degrees F + 6.4 MG/L DO
As you can see if we keep are tanks at 78 degrees normally then on a warm day with out power as the temperature goes up we start dropping are oxygen levels rather quickly every 2 degrees. With this example you may get an understanding of how important our power heads really are when it comes to mechanically oxygenating the water.
Salifert sells a Dissolved Oxygen Testing kit for like 16 dollars and though for our tanks they dont regularly serve a purpose in this case they would be a helpful tool
** fun fact they also play a helpful role in hospital tanks in which fish are being treated with oxygen depleting medications**
So how can we help this?
TIP 1
ICE ICE BABY
normally we dont want to mess with the temperature in our tanks especially not rapidly but in circumstances like this we need to take measures to save the tank. On a tank with out power we need to keep the water cool, i havent tested this yet but on hot summer days my tank water can sometimes warm up a few degrees when it does this i place ice in the display tank water to bring it back down, in theory if we lower are tanks temperature we will preserve the oxygen in the water longer.
TIP 2
Manual circulation
put alittle elbow grease into it, if you dont have a battery powered air pump the next best thing you can do is drain some water from the tank into a bucket, then added that water back to the tank quickly. By breaking the surface with a good turbulent pour you are helping re oxygenate the water.
TIP 3
Put the fish to sleep
Darken then tank, this will help the fish think it is time to sleep making them less active which will mean less oxygen consumption.
TIP 4
Monitor your water quality
Test things like Dissolved Oxygen, ammonia and nitrates. these levels will be the first to show indication of a crashing tank.
TIP 5
store water lots of water
Try to have a supply of pre made water set aside so if needed you can start doing small water changes as needed during the period of time the powers out.
TIP 6
DO NOT FEED
food leads to pollution. try to avoid feeding for as long as you can and if you have to feed small amounts only
First disclaimer, this article is based on the idea that a storm has just knocked out your power for an extended period of time and you dont have a generator available.
Alright so the storms here and the powers off and your tanks sitting there in the dark quite and your praying that everyone makes it till the power comes back.
Are immediate concerns are lack of oxygenation, temperature, and toxic build up and in away these all go hand in hand. You see oxygenated water is healthy water, not only because are fish need it to breath but because the bacteria our natural eco systems use to break down waste also require it to be able to do there job.
so as the oxygen begins to decrease in the water the toxic levels of things like ammonia and nitrate start to increase. To add another layer of bad to the equation we keep are tanks at around 78 degrees, which makes things worse because warmer water loses oxygen faster and breaks down organic waste into toxic bi-products quicker.
Just to add alittle chemistry to this subject in terms of our tanks the oxygen in the water is called Dissolved Oxygen. When it comes to dissolved oxygen temperature and salinity play a huge role, cold water can hold more DO then warm and fresh water more then salt. So warm salty water is at a huge disadvantage from the start.
In marine tanks a range of 5MG/L of dissolved oxygen is plenty, a range below 3MG/L is hypoxic (meaning low oxygen) and anything below 0.5MG/L is anoxic (meaning depleted or not life sustaining)
Here is a break down of disolved oxygen levels in seawater in relation to temperature
68 Degrees F = 7.6 MG/L DO
77 degrees F = 7.0 MG/L DO
80 degrees F + 6.4 MG/L DO
As you can see if we keep are tanks at 78 degrees normally then on a warm day with out power as the temperature goes up we start dropping are oxygen levels rather quickly every 2 degrees. With this example you may get an understanding of how important our power heads really are when it comes to mechanically oxygenating the water.
Salifert sells a Dissolved Oxygen Testing kit for like 16 dollars and though for our tanks they dont regularly serve a purpose in this case they would be a helpful tool
** fun fact they also play a helpful role in hospital tanks in which fish are being treated with oxygen depleting medications**
So how can we help this?
TIP 1
ICE ICE BABY
normally we dont want to mess with the temperature in our tanks especially not rapidly but in circumstances like this we need to take measures to save the tank. On a tank with out power we need to keep the water cool, i havent tested this yet but on hot summer days my tank water can sometimes warm up a few degrees when it does this i place ice in the display tank water to bring it back down, in theory if we lower are tanks temperature we will preserve the oxygen in the water longer.
TIP 2
Manual circulation
put alittle elbow grease into it, if you dont have a battery powered air pump the next best thing you can do is drain some water from the tank into a bucket, then added that water back to the tank quickly. By breaking the surface with a good turbulent pour you are helping re oxygenate the water.
TIP 3
Put the fish to sleep
Darken then tank, this will help the fish think it is time to sleep making them less active which will mean less oxygen consumption.
TIP 4
Monitor your water quality
Test things like Dissolved Oxygen, ammonia and nitrates. these levels will be the first to show indication of a crashing tank.
TIP 5
store water lots of water
Try to have a supply of pre made water set aside so if needed you can start doing small water changes as needed during the period of time the powers out.
TIP 6
DO NOT FEED
food leads to pollution. try to avoid feeding for as long as you can and if you have to feed small amounts only
