Emergency Preparedness and Aquariums

It’s hurricane season in the south eastern US again. For some that means potential evacuations. For others it just brings the possibility of a few days without power. Either way, we want to consider our pets. Animals like dogs are easy to move in case of an evacuation. Fish are not. You need to have a plan with them.

I’m going to divide emergencies into two types to simplify this a bit: sudden emergencies and predicted emergencies. Sudden emergencies would be things that you don’t have a day or even a few hours’ warning. Predicted emergencies could potentially give you up to a week to prepare. But first let’s go over a fishkeeper’s emergency kit.

Hurricane Irene that hit the eastern US in August 2011 (kakela @ flickr)

Things to have around

Battery-powered air pump and sponge filter: these can be rigged up when the power goes out to provide both mechanical and biological (if the sponge filter was already in the tank) filtration for your tank. Pumps can also be used to provide aeration if fish suddenly need to be moved. Always make sure you have an extra set of batteries or two.

Blankets or extra towels: in case of a winter power outage, these can be used to maintain a warmer temperature in your tanks. The air temperature may fall but an insulating layer around your tank will help keep the water from getting too cold. If you live in an area that can get very cold in the winter, having an extra space blanket and duck tap to secure it to your tank is a great idea.

Flash lights: let’s face it, emergencies can happen in the dark, too. It’s no fun to fumble with cords and batteries when you can't see. A head light comes in handy here, too. Always make sure you have an extra set of batteries.

Medicines: while I don’t recommend stuffing your cabinet more thoroughly than your local vet clinic, having things like aquarium salt, General Cure, and Maracyn I & II around is a great idea. After a disaster there is a chance your fish could get sick. Depending on the severity of the disaster, you might not be able to get to the store for a while. These medications or a combination of them can treat most common tropical illnesses.

Sudden Emergencies

These would be things like tornadoes, earthquakes, mudslides, house fires, and some volcanic eruptions. Disasters that you didn’t get warning of. Often times in these situations, we simply don’t have time to think about our fish or other pets before our safety comes into question. First rule of thumb is save yourself. If you aren’t alive when it’s over who will take care of your fish if you protected them first?

Certain areas of the world are more prone to some of these immediate disasters, and there are things you can do to help lessen damages when they happen. If you live in an earthquake zone, consider stabilizing your stands to the wall (the studs not the drywall) or nailing stands to the ground. If you are in an area where tornadoes are prevalent, consider putting most of your tanks in the basement or other central area of the house. The best thing you can do for these types of emergencies is preventative preparedness.

Predicted Emergencies

These are situations like hurricanes, blizzards, most tsunamis, some severe thunderstorms, and some wildfires. In some case you might just have a few hours warning, but in others you could potentially have days to prepare. When you have a warning, your fish have the best chance of survival if you make the necessary preparations.

You typically have some warning with a thunderstorm (rejected reality @ flickr)

First: Stop feeding

Healthy fish can go up to a week without eating. Depending on the fish, they can be pushed to two weeks with no food without suffering major ill effects. This is actually rather natural to the fish. Often times they will go weeks without a meal especially in the dry season. Not feeding your fish will reduce the amount of physical waste and ammonia that is in the tank. It will also reduce the need for water changes. If you are unable to attend to water changes for an extended period of time, this will help keep your tank from becoming too polluted.

Second: Perform a large water change

Depending on the severity of the approaching disaster, you may not get to do another water change for a while. Doing a large water change before it strikes will ensure that your fish are in cleaner water when they go through other stressors like falling water temperature and rising ammonia. Fill up some extra jugs and barrels with water especially if you are on a well system and are expecting a few weeks without power. If you are in a city where the water pressure and quality will remain intact, this is not as important.  

Third: Clean your filters (with tank water not tap water)

This is especially important if you don’t clean your filters often. Once the power goes out and water stops running through the filters, the organic waste that is trapped in there will quickly decay, and the water will become toxic. You won’t want this in the tank with the fish when the power returns. Leave the filter media in the filters until the power goes out.

If you have to evacuate and leave your fish behind, unplug the filters and put the filter media in the main tank. Running a battery-powered air stone through the filter media will help give the beneficial bacteria enough oxygen to survive the power outage.

Fourth: Double check your emergency equipment

Because these types of emergencies don’t come along very often, locate your emergency equipment and make sure it is in good working order. Turn on the battery-powered pumps and flashlights. Double check your batteries. Make sure the medicines haven’t expired. Put your equipment in an easily accessible place, so you won’t be scrambling for it when the electricity does turn off.

Natural disasters are hard enough on families without having to worry about pets. Please remember, your safety is of the utmost importance. You are the only person who will take care of your fish as you want. In case your family doesn’t have an emergency plan for themselves, you can take a look at the US Federal Emergency Management Agency’s guide for family preparedness called Are you ready? An in-depth guide to citizen preparedness. Be safe and happy fishkeeping!

What to do with your aquariums in a power outage

So this morning I woke up to the sound of the filters in my goldfish tank turning off. I muttered a few four-letter words and got out of bed early. The beeping of my fire alarm let me know the power had indeed gone out. No big deal for me; just a minor annoyance in the day. But I’ve dealt with power outages before. For those of you who haven’t, here are a few tips to get you through them with your fish and sanity intact.  

(http://ashique47.deviantart.com)

First thing: Don’t panic.

 

It’s usually not as bad as it seems. Trust me. Fish are amazingly resilient, and unless you are keeping and breeding a very rare and sensitive species, you’ll probably come out just fine. Take a breath and reach for a flashlight.

Second: Assess the situation

 

Why did the power go out?  You don’t have the find the exact cause, but often the weather will give you a hint. If it’s snowing or icing, that’s probably your cause right there, and conserving heat will be your main focus. If you hear thunder, the storm probably caused it. While you are doing this, think about your safety first and foremost. Never do anything to endanger yourself. If you’re gone, who will take care of your family and fish?

Third: React

 

The two things you need to take care of are conserving heat and saving the beneficial bacteria in the filter. When your house temperature will drop take care of the heat first. Wrap your tanks in blankets or towels and secure them with string, tap, or clothespins. This will help keep the heat in. It may sound and look funny, but think of how a warm blanket on your lap keeps the heat contained.

                                   

Taking care of your good bacteria is more difficult and gets harder the longer your power is out. The beneficial bacteria live on your filter media (filter cartridge) and will be fine just sitting in your filter for about three hours. If your filters have a nasty habit of draining when they are turned off (like mine today) just take a few scoops of tank water and fill the filter. This will also prevent your filter from running dry if the power returns and you aren’t there to fill it. It’s a good idea to do this once an hour to keep feeding your good bacteria.

Once your power outage has gone beyond 3 hours, leaving the filter media in your filter is going to cause the bacteria to die and the tank to have a mini cycle when the power comes back on. At this point you are going to want to put the filter media inside the tank. This is a double-edged sword because both the bacteria and your fish need oxygen to survive. Here is where the need for a battery-powered air pump comes into play. There are some sold specifically for aquariums, but you can also find ones made for bait-buckets at an outdoors store. You can either just insert a bubble wand into your tank or set the system up with a sponge filter. This isn’t something to make when you power goes out, but something to have ready before hand. I will go into further details about it in the next section.

If your power outage persists for a few days and you have access to clean water, doing a water change on the tank earlier than normal is a good idea. To be safe, ad a double dose of your de-chlorinator. If you cannot access clean water, don’t just take water from outside as you have no clue what organisms are growing it in. The risk of infecting your fish is too great. Always remember, think of yourself first.

While the power is out, don’t feed your fish. Again, they are hardy, and a healthy fish can easily go a week without eating. Keeping waste down is a priority during times like this. This may mean removal of plants. Without a good light source to photosynthesize, plants actually compete with the fish for oxygen and start to die, releasing ammonia into the water. If you just have a few plants, remove them and place them in a clean (never been used with chemicals) bucket with tank water near the window. With a heavily planted tank, you are best just leaving the plants where they are as removing them would do more harm than good.

Since I also have a pond to worry about, I thought I would add a few more notes for people with ponds. The single most important thing you need to worry about is water movement. It’s what keeps the pond oxygenated in the summer and prevents freezing in the winter. A large battery-powered air pump is going to be best for this. If the power goes out in a storm, the rain action on the surface should be sufficient for a few hours, but after the storm if the power isn’t restored soon, you could be in trouble. For lightly stocked ponds the danger is going to be much less than heavily stocked ponds.

Fourth: Be prepared for this to happen again

 

If you weren’t ready at all during your first outage, don’t worry. Now is the time to think about gathering supplies for the next one. If you live in an area where long power failures are common, you should consider getting a backup generator for your tanks and house in general. You won’t have access to the internet or any guides on your computer, so it’s best to write this stuff down.

Three most important things are blankets for warmth, battery-powered bubbler for oxygen, and flashlights (headlamps are my favorite). We usually rely on the tank light to observe our fish, but without electricity this is impossible. You will need to keep an eye on them to check for indicators of stress. Always keep extra batteries on hand to operate these electronics. You should always have a good supply of dechlorinator, too.

Another important piece of equipment I keep around is a home-made sponge filter. It serves the purpose of both oxygenating the tank and preserving the good bacteria. I followed this man’s tutorial, and made two filters, one for each of my tanks that uses a power filter. All told it took me about an hour per filter. The supplies were readily available at local chain pet stores and only cost me about $10. A worthy investment in my eyes. In the event of a power outage lasting longer than 3 hours I would set these sponge filters up in my tanks using the media from my filters. The catch about them is, they were difficult to make, and I don’t believe making them during a power outage would be a good idea. So get them made beforehand and put them with your emergency tank supplies. It’s a great idea to keep them all in the same place.

If you are aware of an approaching storm that will probably knock out your power, there are certain things you can do before an outage to help minimize damage. Perform a large water change and stop feeding the fish. Again, these are steps taken to reduce the waste in the aquarium. If you have tropical aquariums, acquiring a few heat packs or thermal blankets isn’t a bad idea, either. Set up everything including the battery-operated pumps, so you won’t be fumbling in the dark when the power does go out. If you have the space, fill old but clean milk jugs and buckets with treated water in case you need to make a water change.

Now I hope you have a better grasp of how to handle a power outage. Just remember: don’t panic and carry a towel. They come in handy for keeping tropical tanks warm and cleaning up those pesky water spills! ;)

Works referenced 

 

 "Emergencies and your betta: how to prepare." BettaFish.com. Updated 3 March 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.

"TANK EMERGENCY What to do during a power outage." theGAB.org. Updated 16 August 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2012.