# how long can p's survive



## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

when the power goes out i have to reprime my filters to get em goin again there

the hang on back kind. how long can my p's live in a 100 gal tank with no

filtration and will anything happen to my heaters i have a 300 watt cheapy and a

250 watt ebo jager.


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## HighOctane (Jan 2, 2003)

Hmmm, I think in this case the size of the piranha matters. Piranha 5 inches plus I believe can survive an EXTREAMLY long time without filtration. They are made to go months in the dry season with minimal water and very bad water conditions so a few hours without filtration isn't going to effect them the slightest. I wouldn't be surprised if they lasted more than a month without any type of filtration. 
As for smaller piranha in the 1 - 4 inch range I belive that they aren't quite tough enough to handle the extream changes in the water so their survival without filtration might be around 2 or 3 weeks. This of course is pretty extream and I hope no fish keep keeps their fish for months on end without adaquate filtration, but in your case a simple power outage shouldn't affect your piranha at all. I may be wrong and if I am PLEASE someone say so. As for you heaters, they should be fine, and will resume heating the tank as soon as power is restored.


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## mechanic_joe (Dec 4, 2003)

A couple of months ago my power went out for about twelve hours, and I was very suprised, my fish tanks only lost about 5'F and all of my filters eventually primed themselves as I was at work. I also had an incident a few months ago of my ex blowing the fuse breaker in my basement and my 55 had no power for over a day, and the water only dropped to 66F and the fish were all fine. Ps are a hardy fish, like High Octane said though, especially above 5-6 inches.

Joe


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

HighOctane said:


> I hope no fish keep keeps their fish for months on end without adaquate filtration, but in your case a simple power outage shouldn't affect your piranha at all.


Theres a huge comparison on the hardy Ps in the wild compared to tank raised/housed Ps. Ps in the Amazon can withstand the dry seasons that come around yearly, but they've adapted to that since birth.. while home aquarium Ps have been long spoiled with care from owners. Its all about survival of the fittess in the wild, while its hope to keep them alive in our tanks.

In my opinion, Ps can survive without filteration for as long time to an extent. But if your question has to do with, "if power runs out, would filteration be the most important thing to keep them alive". Then no. Ps are usually known to live in murky waters, but oxygen mixture in the tank is the most important regardless of how hardy they are.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

If you think about it p's when shipped sit in a box for up to 3 days. Don't sweat it.


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## Papagorgio (Mar 30, 2004)

When I first got my baby bastard's 14 of them in all, and all about 1 inch my heater failed in a 55 gallon tank. The temperature dropped to 59 degrees. They lived as the temp dropped for days and probably lived in 60 degrees for a couple of days. I know this was horrible husbandry but it happened.


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## Davo (Jan 29, 2004)

I have this problem as well. However it is more with the oxygon than with filteration.

If the power goes out for a long period my p's go really weired and come close to death!!!!

To avoid this i manually start circulating the water. (let the water go out whilst filling fresh water)

As i live in a tropical country the temp really doe not matter!!


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## airtorey15 (Jun 15, 2003)

I have heard stories of p's survivng days without power, i guess it depends on tank size, p size, and number of p's.


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## andymel (Oct 27, 2003)

Don't worry about filtration so much. It is the areation that will be the problem if the power goes. Get a battery powered air pump for such disasters.


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

get a generator







. thats what i did. cost me about 300 dollars but ill have it for life and that way if my power does go out, my tanks will still be able to run, and none of them will die


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## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

SOMEONE SWITCHED THE HEATERS OFF IN MY TANK BY ACCIDENT AND I DIDNT NOTICE FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS ! THE WATER DROPPED TO 52' BUT THEY SURVIVED.I THINK THEY ARE QUITE TOUGH CREATURES.


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## erikcooper (Feb 18, 2004)

Jesus some of you people have cold rooms...

Even in the tank I got some goldfish growing out in, before putting them in outdoor pond, the temp. is only like 65-67 degrees. That is constant with no heater.


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