This can be a scary thing for anyone, especially if you are housing some expensive fish. Of course the best case scenario is you have a generator and you can run all your equipment with that. If this isn't an option for you here is what you do.
The first thing to address will be oxygenating the water. It is a good idea to invest in a battery operated air pump and keep it in your emergency kit with batteries and an air-stone. If you wait until the power goes out you may find they are all sold out. If your tank has an under gravel filter you can drop the air-stone into one of the filter tubes (you may have a power head attached to it). In a reef aquarium you will want it under a piece of live rock to take advantage of the beneficial bacteria living inside. If nothing else just let it hang in a corner but make sure the air hose goes at least 4 to 6 inches into the water and doesn't float back up to the surface. For most tanks this will be enough to keep the fish safe until the power comes back on.
The second important thing is going to be controlling temperature. You will need to have a thermometer to monitor if the temperature starts to go up or down. If it starts to go above 82 degrees Fahrenheit, you can float frozen water in plastic bottles, preferably around the bubbles from your air pump. Shrimp and other invertebrates will start to die if gets too hot. More often than not the issues that cause the outage happen in the winter months, so the temperature tends to go down; this is good because most fish will tolerate temperatures as low as 68 degrees for a couple days (some fish that won't: discus and cardinal tetra). If you anticipate the outage to last longer than a couple of days, you can try to insulate the tank from the outside with foil and blankets (be sure to unplug any equipment that could be a fire hazard if the electricity were to come back on). Or if the tank is small enough you can transfer the inhabitants, and some decorations for hiding, into a clean, insulated ice chest to keep them warm; be sure to use the air stone and never close the lid all the way. Fish are more vulnerable to rapid fluctuations than prolonged time outside of the safe zone; for this reason, it is a bad idea to pour hot or cold water into the tank to change the temperature. This might cause a sudden increase then decrease in temperature, which would really stress the fish.
Lastly it is important not to put any undue stress on the system so do not feed your fish while the power is out (2 day max.). Healthy fish can go a couple days without food. If the outage lasts longer than a couple days you can start feeding them every other day, very small amounts and you will need to start testing the water for ammonia and nitrates. Do partial water changes if the test results show any ammonia or nitrates above 40ppm. If the power is going to be off for prolonged periods of time (weeks or more) you will need to invest in an under-gravel filter or a sponge filter that you can run on a battery operated air-pump. If you already have a full tank of fish you will want to seed these new filters with bacteria from an old filter, or you can purchase live bacteria at your local fish store.
Hopefully this doesn't happen to you often and if it does you're prepared and it comes back on within a few hours. Happy fish-keeping!
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