An aquarium is a beautiful addition to any home. We love our fish and worry about them as much as anyone does with a dog or cat. Evacuation with aquatic pets is not really practical. So they get left behind. And we know they will probably be without power. Don’t fear; we can help you keep your fish alive for days, even weeks.

This takes planning and preparation and some time. Plan on an hour or so to prepare the tank.

When watches are posted, stop feeding. What? Yes, do not feed your fish when watches are posted. This allows them to purge their digestive tracts for a couple of days before power loss. The reason for this is if they have no food in them, the have no waste to come out. No waste, no ammonia, so the lack of a filter will not affect them as much. It is not the lack of oxygen that kills fish, but the increase in the ammonia from the fish themselves that kills them. Most healthy fish can go more that seven days with no food. The majority of fish kept in home aquariums can go two weeks without food. Some, such as goldfish can survive a month or longer! So don’t worry about food, if you have no power, no filter, and then no light. With no light, they tend to swim less, use fewer calories and can go longer without food. We did this in September 1989 in both our stores. One store went five days without power and 95% of our fish losses were in tanks that had rood debris in them. The other store went twelve days, no roof damage, and less that 10% of our fish died. Remember, we are a retail store, so our tanks were packed with fish, and still our losses were very small.

The other things to do are, to do a partial water change. Thirty percent is best, fresh or saltwater. That way everything is in great shape before power loss.

Now comes the hard part. You must remove any sick or weak fish. If you have an extra tank, move them into it, if not, they need to be euthanized. It’s a hard thing to do, but if they are weak or sick, they will probably die anyway. If left in the tank, their tank mates will eat them and cause the ammonia level to go high, killing everyone.

Do not add any new fish during this time period. You will not be able to make any tank corrections or treat with any medications. Do not put any type of weekend or automatic feeder on or in your tank. Trust me on this; I have been thru several extended power outages.

The final steps are more “house” related. Make sure your power strip is off the floor. You may get water on your floor, but dry out before you get home. The power strip may look OK but have salt and moisture inside of it, so mount it off the floor.

Cover your tank with a plastic bag. This does two things. The primary reason is to prevent contamination from any falling ceiling materials, the other helps to keep the tank dark, so the fish “rest” more.

The final note is about battery backups for an air pump. We carry a couple of types, automatic and manual. They help some with oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, but you still cannot feed your fish. It is not necessary to have one, but if it makes you feel better, have one on hand, just follow the other recommendations too.

Good Luck and be safe!