There we were going about our daily routine and BLAMMO all power drops on most of the west end of my city. WTH!! then I hear sirens galore, apparently someone smacked into a major power source and took out a big grid. The news isn't on for another hour or so so I can't be sure what happened.

Anyway poor fishie never went to the top for air, I think he was literally frozen in terror he was having tremors and almost looked like a seizure. He was barely breathing and not moving at ALL.

Luckily I am a smart girl and have a Uninterpretable power supply for the computers. Right away I shut it off and unhooked everything and moved it by the tank. It only gives me 10 minutes of run time but basically every 10 minutes I gave him 2 minutes of air.... then shut off the reserves. It got us through the 3 hours.

Tonight I am GOING to get a battery operated air supply, there really IS no excuse. I felt so SCARED and HELPLESS watching him suffer.

So anyone who DOES NOT have a battery operated backup air supply, please... get one. Save your fish the panic.



I hope he will be ok, he is calm now and looks normal... hopefully there won't be any nasty side effects.

I hope your little one is doing well!

And thanks for the post....we need something like that to get our a$$ in gear once in a while!!

He is sleeping, I will be able to better assess him in the morning come feeding time...

I hope someone learns from my error

Battery operated air supply. WOW is it hard to locate in my city. It took calling over 12 shops I can get to before I located one. All the stores claimed not to carry them. Big Al's is too far for me to get to because I am disabled, otherwise I think I would have tried there first.

I told them all how stupid it is NOT to carry them because when power fails fish can easily die!~
sheesh.

I am having a neighbor run down the street to pick it up for me tonight.

Fishie is still acting odd..... like he is in a trance. He floats around with this odd look, and bumps into stuff which startle him out of his trance. I am feeling so terrible. I don't know if he is ever going to be the same fishie again and it is my fault.

That's really strange that he is acting so badly. Can you test the water params? If you can, take the filter off the tank and float it so you can keep your bio-bugs alive.

Aww, Jayde I'm sorry to hear that. I had a really short power outage which seriously startled my fish. He did that same twitching thing you described. He recovered pretty well though.

Good luck with your little guy.

Sorry to hear about your fishie--hope he's ok!!

Now, forgive me for asking a silly question but why does a short (say 10-20 minutes) power outage upset fish so much? I've only had my tank running for a couple of months and no power outages yet. *knocks on wood* But aren't fish used to power being off during tank cleanings? I unplug my filters when I clean and turn off the tank lights. I don't have an air pump yet (it's on order).

I can see why a long outage would be a problem--no filtration/oxygenation of the tank. But what about a short one? What am I missing?

Also, I know they make battery powered air pumps for such outages, but what does one do about filtration during a long outage?


Sorry for all the questions but I guess with all the cycling and other newbie issues, this thought hadn't really crossed my mind yet--thanks for the post!!

Cant afford the test kits and its VERY hard for me to get a sample in what with being so ill.......... sorry but he was perfectly fine till the outage so I know its not due to peramiters....



I still am hoping he will return to normal soon but the outage was for HOURS. I was only able to give him air for about 5 minutes total in the entire outage.

It scared him silly....

My air and filter are NEVER turned off...... because it DOES scare him.
When I clean I clean with them on, with no problems.



I just keep hoping in a day or two he will snap out of this trance. I will be so upset if he dies. I can't even imagine it right now. My family thinks I am INSANE to be so upset over "a fish" but man he is like ANY OTHER PET. He has my heart. And right now it is breaking.

ty for the kind replies....... I do have the battery operated air supply now . Too bad I learned the lesson too late. I will post back in a few days and let you know if he is better, worse, same, etc.

So glad I found this site.

I've never had a problem with my fish because of a power outage. The fish never acted wierd or anything. Maybe there is another problem?

Before i knew about koko's i used to turn the filters off every night because they were so loud. Never had any problems and the pump/filters were off for 12hrs or more everyday.

I think it has to do with the fact that there is no warning. I know this sounds silly, but when I clean the tank and turn everything off - its like he knows I am doing it. First everything goes off and then I come in with the big water jugs to take the water out. Then I put more water in.

I think with the power outage, there is just no warning at all - no warning that its going off and no warning when it comes back on.

Jayde - have you tried giving your little guy a treat of some sort - his favorite food or something. Just to try to get him to realize that things are normal again?

I haven't tried a treat no.... I suppose I could give him a pea or 2 this evening ?
I never thought of that....

I sooo know what you mean!! My fish got stuck in a decorative rock and I was totally freaking out!! Of course my husband was out of town and I was doing everything I could to free her (with my 3 1/2 and 2 yr old watching). I just couldn't bear the thought of just sitting there and watching her die in that rock. So I went next door (pretty darn near hysterical by this point) and got my neighbors. Luckily they have 2 little girls and have gone thru "extreme measures" for their guinnea pigs. They were more than happy to help and were able to break the rock around her and then I could pull her out.

Now Dorothy wasn't quite herself for a couple of days but eventually she perked back up. Believe me, I totally agree with you that our fishies aren't "just fish". We've had Dorothy for 3 years (longer than my son has been around!) and I guess I didn't realize just how attached to her I'd become until that happened. Over the months or years you get to know them and their personalities and they become part of the family--just like any other pet.

So hang in there. We are all pulling for you and your fishie!!

Ohhhh how scary! I can't imagine how you felt. I am so glad your fish recovered!

It reminds me that I need to replace one of my fishies ornaments, he is getting a bit big for it. Replacement will be on the list of to do things when my "ride" comes back to town in 2 weeks. I dunno what to put in its place but something with bigger holes lol

I just did a water change (30 %) and he is happily playing... maybe the water change will be the saving grace?

fantainfan - I remember reading about that on the boards. I would have been a hysterical mess too!

Jayde - glad to hear the water change helped. I hope he keeps perking up.

Yeah!! So glad to hear your fish is doing better. Whew, what a relief!

So far today he seems more his normal self... swimmin and hunting for food...
he still does the dazed floating but not as often yesterday. Hoping today is more of an improvement.

thanks to you all for keeping me sane. It's scary how much and how fast one grows to love their fishies.

That is really good news Jayde!

I know what you mean, I had my two fish for two weeks and then they got sick and one of them unfortunately didn't make it. I was bawling like I lost my best friend! Even my hubby was crying!! All that after having a fish for 2 weeks! They sure do know how to steal our hearts!!

As a stop gap measure you can take a pitcher, dip out water, and pour it back into the tank so it breaks the water surface. Hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle can also be used to increase oxygen saturation . It lasts for about 4 hours. 6 squirts per 10 gallons of water. and don't spray the fish directly.

I found a battery operated air pump at Walmart in the fishing section.

yea, I tried "stirring" his water but he was so terrified that it just made him worse. Any movement anywhere near his tank had him insanely terrified. :|

I do now have a battery operated pump. Thanks