Dealing with a power cut on your aquarium

Tropical fish are fascinating, beautiful and restful creatures. If you own a tropical fish aquarium then you need to know how to keep them safe at all times, and being prepared for load shedding or a power cut is vital.

Tropical fish don’t react well to drastic changes or drops in temperature, so use these tips to protect your fish.

If the power goes off

During a power cut, or if load shedding hits, the water will begin to fall towards room temperature. Most fish will be able to cope well with a gradual rise or fall in water temperature, although they may become sluggish and behave differently; they should make a full recovery. Changes like this happen all the time in nature, only delicate species may be badly affected.

The speed at which the water becomes cooler can be affected by:

- The surrounding air temperature
- The size of the tank
- The volume of water held inside the tank

How to protect your fish

- Be prepared. If you know about the power cut, always plan ahead and stock up on what you need. Use a cheap bubble-up filter that can be run off a battery-powered air pump.

- Insulate. Wrap the fish tank in blankets, and if possible fill hot water bottles with warm water and place them around the outside of the tank. Pay particular attention to the aquarium hood – this is where most heat is lost.

- Oxygenate. Without power the water will lose oxygen at a rate that depends on water volume, the quantity of fish within the aquarium and whether there are oxygenating plants in it. Using a bicycle pump is a cheaper method of moving water.

- Go easy on the food. The tanks filtration system won’t be working so try not to feed the fish during this time, or cut down how much food you give them to minimize waste.

Hopefully these tips help and keep your fish safe and sound during a power cut.

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