Expensive Mistake

[SRA4031]

I just added a blue tang, bi-color blennie, clown fish, scallop, and Linka Star at once. Not running a sump, but I am running a Ehiem. My fish turned pale, lost coloration, and died. Found out it was due to O2 levels. Although I do have power heads, Eheim canister filter, and do weekly water changes, I did not have anything replacing O2.

Lost a lot of fish cause of this, so I thought I would pass it along.

[SexiShrimp]

Sorry for your loss. How did you add O2 to your tank??
:(

[aquaman67]

Wow, sorry to hear that.

Are you running a skimmer?

Even the junky ones will at least oxygenate the water...

[SRA4031]

Nope, but I will do something in the near future sump wise. I do have a skimmer on my Eheim, but have not been using it unless the surface was dirty. I know now I would have atleast had some oxygenation.

I did not realize that I could use up all the O2 that quickly, espicially with weekly water changes.

Donations accepted

[doodoobrown]

it looks kinda crappy now but i use an old hot filter without any media. it gives me a little more flow and adds o2. just an idea until you have a sump set up. its my temp

[fishdoc11]

Sorry to hear that Jason.
Chris

[SRA4031]

Thanks. Guess I need to get a hang on the back filter right now. I tell you, the more I learn about Eheim I can see why it is not as widely sold.

[fishdoc11]

You might want to think about getting a HOT/HOB skimmer. A Remora or Remora pro with one of the pump upgrades would be a great choice for your tank at a reasonable price.
Chris

[doodoobrown]

you can get a cheap hot at walmart for about 10 bucks. doesnt need to be anything fancy since your not filtering the water with it

[reewik]

When you get an overflow box and a sump going that should make a huge difference with the O2 levels. A protien skimmer also helps that.

I almost had a terrible time as well. My neighbors house was struck by lightning Sunday night. My power was out in half of the house when I returned home from out of town. No powerheads on no nothing. I went out to the box and reset some of the breakers and all is well so far. My Xenia is on its way to the grave but everything else looks ok. Yes Jason next time you get a key. If there is anything missing I will steal your Dog!

[fishdoc11]

Sorry to hear that Eric. Hope everything is ok. I am ordering 3 of those battery powered pumps today that come on when the power goes out(finally taking aquamans advice). Pm me if you want me to add one to the order. they are only $11.
Chris

[aquaman67]

Hey Chris,

You'll want to run to Wal-Mart and get some air line tubing and some check valves (if you are keeping the pumps under your tank). Those pumps only come with 12 inches of tubing. I don't know why they even bother. Also pick up some D batteries. I keep extra batteries in the fridge too.

Not to insult your intelligence but make sure you test the pumps by unplugging them to make sure they come on. There is an on/off switch and if it's off, the pump won't come on when the power goes out. When you first install them you can use the switch to kill the bubbles until you get it situated, just remember to turn it back on...not like I know this by experience or anything...

[bswedenburg]

I had the same thing happen. power went out at 5pm and didn't come on until 1:30am! :( i had gone out that afternoon during a teriyaki run for lunch, and picked up a 1000VA UPS from APC at office depot, blind luck. it had only a few hours to charge, so i let it run until 9pm when i got worried that i would run out of power. so i shut it all down, set a timer for 1 hour, and went to bed. got up each hour on the hour to open both valves, as i have my show tank plumbed thru the wall into my garage where my sump/refugium/skimmer is set up. so at 1:30 am i'm in the garage heating salt water over my backpacking stove, since the power was out so was my heater. so...not wanting to do this again, i researched UPS's on the net, and came up with a 306 Ah, 12vdc battery and a device called a Powerverter. it essentially acts like a UPS with a custom battery stack you can make as large as you like, and has a three stage sophisticated 20A charger, and a 1ms failover switch. i figure with my 43w system pump and 200 w heater i have several days of power now, and the 1000VA computer UPS in now hooked up to my PH's and my aqualifter, so the overflow won't break siphon, and will keep the water moving in the tank. next task, buy another battery to raise power capapcity to 8-10 days. total cost will be about $500, but it's cheap piece of mind for me, now i can go camping without worrying all the time....

[aquaman67]

bswedenburg

How about some more info on the site you found. It sounds interesting...

[bswedenburg]

do a search for " Tripplite PowerVerter". powerverters are actually three devices in one:

1: a 3 -stage charger - bulk, equalize and float charger.
2. a 1 ms failover automatic switch.
3: an advanced inverter, to convert the 12 VDC to 120 VAC.

the model i got was one of thier smaller ones the APS 612. it has 600 watts continous inverter capapcity with surge up to 1000W, more than enough for my system pump a Gen-X 2400l/h (~635 gph), and my heater. i figured i'd leave the skimmer and 250WDE halide lamps out of the emergency setup. i can always hook up a small generator for a really extended power outage.
i got one on-line for less than $275. the battery is actually a true deep cycle, purchased locally at a battery store here, and cost me ~ $185. it's a big sucker 142 lbs, 306aH capacity. because of the way batteries work, the lower the load, the longer the battery will last (to a point) add some 4 ga. battery cables and viola!: massive capacity = no worries, or at least no worries about power drop outs. piece of mind is priceless. i can post some pics later tonight when i get home if anyone wants to see the setup.

[aquaman67]

Sure! Let's see it!

[mickey57]

I live in Fl., lightning causes most of my power loss.With all the money I have tied up in my tanks ,I am looking for something to keep them going for at least 6 hours.Pumps is all I think I will need for that amount of time.I have 6 mag 12s.What do you suggest???:D

[bswedenburg]

the beauty is that you can make the battery stack as big as you want. you can even buy those 2 volt 1150 aH mondo huge cells, if you wanted to, and parallel them, but you'd need a forklift to move them into place. the powerverters come in several different sizes and different voltages. since my max wattage is 243, and that only when the heater cycled on, nominal being 43w, i went with the 12 volt battery system, and will be adding a second battery this week to add capacity. they make powerverters in several "sizes" or capacities, and different voltages for the battery stacks, 12v, 24v, 36v and 48v. which one you would use depends on how much capacity you need. the more capacity, the greater the advantage to going to a 24v or higher voltage system, due to losses in the cables at high amperage. essentially what you do is add up all the devices you'd want to run in an emergency, multliply by the conversion factors/power factors, and then decide what voltage system you want to go with. check out thier website: www.tripplite.com. be sure you are looking at the extended run APS systems and not the emergency shutdown UPS ones for the computers.

[bswedenburg]

just looked up the Mag 12 pumps, i have a mag three on my skimmer. wow. 110 watts each, so you'd be looking at several options. with 660 watts load, you probably want to go with the APS 1012, for 1000 watts continous power, and a 24 volt model, or bigger. buy the batteries to match and hook them up in series or parallel to match. alternatively you could decide to reduce system throughput during a line power outage, and run three of the pumps, etc. it all depends on what you have going. but like you said...one power outage can wipe out your tank, and i think that we'll be seeing more and more such outages, brownout's extended black outs, etc. since you live in florida, you could even setup a solar powered backup unit, that wouldn't use line power to charge the stack! of course you would use different electronics and the APS type systems are designed to be used with line supply. the cost of setup is real cheap, compared to the cost, both monetary and emotional, to a tank lost due to power outage. good luck!

i'll post some picks tonight to this thread. it's pretty simple setup.

[rufio173]

very cool. I've been looking for one of these systems... I don't want a generator as you can't start it up if you aren't there.
How large and bulky is this system overall?

Peace,
John H.

[reewik]

Sorry to jump your thread Goldeneagle, but hey look at the great stuff we got out of that comment.

[mickey57]

I am going to break the cycle of how I do things.You know,waiting until what you fear happens then doing something about it.The peace of mind would be well worth it:D

[fishdoc11]

Aquaman,
I have plenty of that stuff sitting around from my freshwater days( I would still be in my freshwater days if I wasn't limited to 2 tanks but that's probably a good thing as I don't have time for what I have ). Also I plan on mounting them on the back of my canopy so they won't have to work as hard and to increase the air flow.
thanks, Chris
Thanks, Chris

[bswedenburg]

hi folks! it's pretty small really. the whole thing only takes up about eleven inches in that 48" wide gorilla rack. now i get
ee if i can recall how to attach pics....uh, my file size is way huge.
how do i post this pic?

[bswedenburg]

pic 1:


this shows how small the unit is. battery is much bigger.

never liked the sound of that phrase. hahaha

[bswedenburg]

pic 2:


hardly takes up any space at all. i have lots of room for another battery. in parallel, it should be good for minimum 5 days, yep, days...

[SRA4031]

No problem Eric, like you said, some good info passed along

[rcmike]

Thanks for the info! Those are a little expensive but if you loose a few corals that could be more expensive. I may have to look into it.

[bswedenburg]

I did it because of the power outage where i was in the garage at 1:30am heating saltwater over a whisperlite backpacking stove! i needed it for the peace of mind. now i can go camping, or whatever, without worrying about it....

besides, what is the expense compared to replacing a floor or carpet? also it is just as you said, livestock is expensive, and there is always the moral factor, of properly providing for them.

[aquaman67]

It's about the same price as a generator, but I like this better than a generator because it comes on even if you aren't home.

You could do the same thing with a generator, but the switch gear would be expensive...

[ed_peters]

Where did you find the 306aH capacity battery?

[SexiShrimp]

hey all, I've been reading all your posts and it has me worried that one day when I won't be around the power will go out and my tank will crash. What is the simplest, cheapest thing I can rig up to make sure my tank is 'safe' when/if the power should go out and I am not there??
Just air bubbles??
:)
Thanks

[bswedenburg]

Ed,
i got it from a local battery store. they sell all sorts of batteries including the really big ones most often used for local telco power backup. it's really a douglas battery out of NC. it's about 142 lbs, and the size of three regular car type batteries set side to side.
you'll surely want to find a local distributor as you won't like the freight charges...these things after all are full of lead. any store that sells RV stuff should know where to get them locally. good luck.

ps: 306aH really isn't that big. i'm getting another one to double my capacity. they cost ~ $180 here.

pss: DO NOT use a car battery or a Marine "deep cycle" battery. they are not true deep cycle batteries, as the internal design & construction is very different for each use. getting the correct battery for the application will go a long way to providing longevity in the solution, and ultimately bring the cost down in the long run.

sexishrimp: you'll want to provide an appropriate environment. that means circulation and heating/cooling...very dependent upon your own setup. but i would advise against trying to shortcut it too much. after i install the 2nd battery, i'll have ~ $650 into the system. cheap piece of mind i think. a lot of people will spend $1000 on wheels and tires for thier cars....so ~ $650 really isn't that much. (unless of course you don't have it....but still i would caution about trying to be too cheap!) hope this helps.

[aquaman67]

Hey Sexi,

This is the cheapest thing I've found, $11.

One of the big problems when the power goes out other than heat is oxygen.

THis little pump cuts on by itself when the power goes out. It's the one Chris is talking about earlier in this thread. You'll need all the things I mentioned to him, if you don't have them already...

http://petsolutions.com/product.asp?pn=30129045

[SexiShrimp]

Thanks! That is exactly what I was looking for!!!
REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!
I'll buy 2, one for each end of my tank.....I have a 55 gal.
I can't afford $500, 0r $100 for that matter...but I can afford $25...for now. The heat won't be a prob because most of the power outages happen in summer (for me anyway). Knowing I have air in my tank (and it'll provide some flow too), will keep me at peace!
:):):):):):)