Possible power outage ..

[kttsf]

The storm is coming soon and need some advices incase of an outage of electricity. Last time I lost a bunch of fish due to a day without electricity so I just want to prepare this time. Any suggestions and advices would be highly appreciated. Thanks

[GreshamH]

I find loss of power is far less devistating in the winter then summer. It's far easier to heat your room off grid then it is to cool it. Also, colder water has a higher O2 saturation point. Your worst enemy is stagnent water IMO. Battery operated air pumps pushing airlifts are a great for this. Corals do not have lungs thus they need water movement to help assist their breathing. They also don't have butt mouths which I find very unappealling about them

Of course the best solution is to have a unit like the battery backed up Vortech or a generator (Honda is the quietest).

[Robert4025]

I used a DC to AC invertor connected to my car battery to occasionally turn on my main circulation pump during long power outage, if my backup battery runs out. You can leave it running for hours if you don't mind letting your car idle for that long.

Also, if the inverter is going to be at least 15ft away from your pump, then you may want to make sure you get a decent wattage model so that enough current is push through the long distant. I used an 800W model and it was able to push my 75W pump 30ft away with no problem.

[hiepatitis]

You can buy an uninterruptable power source at Fry's. We have one at work hooked up to our laser tracker in case the power goes out. It lasts about an hour but it really depends on the power draw.

[kurplunk]

I hooked up a hose to a battery operated air matress pump once. Seemed to work fine. It made a lot of bubbles that created surface aggitation. A little chincy but desperate times call for desperate measures.

[jellygeee]

I am checking out the APC battery backup to solve this problem.
The one I'm checking out is the BE650G, cost about $60 in Circuit City. You can check out the run time chart in the link below:
http://apc.com/products/runtime_for_...m?upsfamily=21

Since I'm running a Hydor#4 pump at 12 watts, it's probably going to last me about over an hour. If the power outage is over a couple of hours, then your best bet will be a bigger power backup unit or an electric generator.

[Thales]

http://www.aquatichouse.com/Pumps_files/ppbatpump.asp

[GreshamH]

Originally posted by jellygeee
I am checking out the APC battery backup to solve this problem.
The one I'm checking out is the BE650G, cost about $60 in Circuit City. You can check out the run time chart in the link below:
http://apc.com/products/runtime_for_...m?upsfamily=21

Since I'm running a Hydor#4 pump at 12 watts, it's probably going to last me about over an hour. If the power outage is over a couple of hours, then your best bet will be a bigger power backup unit or an electric generator.

I do not have the time to reply to your post in full, but search for UPS here on RC to see my response to the use of modified sign (not suitable for use with pumps and heaters) wave UPS's like the low end consumer models all use. Or PM Bean Animal (Bill) and he'll fill you in if he has the time

[Thales]

Originally posted by kttsf
The storm is coming soon and need some advices incase of an outage of electricity. Last time I lost a bunch of fish due to a day without electricity so I just want to prepare this time. Any suggestions and advices would be highly appreciated. Thanks

I think with a storm coming in tonight you are kind of out of time to do something about it. The best time to do emergency planning is when there is no emergency. I hope your tank comes through he storm just fine this time.

[northbay-reefer]

I have one of my tunze hooked up to my UPS so water circulation is not the problem, the problem is keeping the tank water nice and warm, maybe a small 100 watt heater hook up to the UPS

[audio101]

I use battery operated airstone pumps, they work pretty good.

[Malster1]

POWERS been out since 2:30am for me and my tank are all sitting still. Poor fish and coral. Need to try to find a generator. PG&E stated it might not be back on until tomorrow. Hope the fish and coral can survive. Temp drop from 80 to 76 by this morning.

[NanoClown]

wow, i have a nano tank, so im probably going to call around and see if anyone has a battery backup air pump, that should be enough

[Apon]

Malster go get a battery run air pump.....as for the heat? you have a UPS with a heater? or power inverter? Good luck.

[kttsf]

Thanks everyone for your advices and suggestions.

Malster1,

A few months ago, my eletricity out for a day. My corals and anenomes were fine but my yellow, hippo, hawkfish, mandarin were all dead. The pair of marroon clown was ok. So make sure you stir the water or something. Last time, I just sat back and watch my tank..and the result was tragedy. Good luck!!!

Anyone knows where I can get or rent a generator?

[doliver]

I've been out for six hours so far -- the battery air pump is bubbling but my temp is down from 79 to 72. The estimate from PG&E is another 2-4 hours before power comes back. I hope they're right...

Is there any merit to boiling some ro/di and mixing that in to my display? I realize it's a small percentage against the 60+ gallons in there but at least it's heat. Or would the slight dip in salinity just make everyone more unhappy?

[Malster1]

Going to my mom's house to pick up a generator now. Hope everythings going to okay.

[Apon]

Malster - did you ever find that CPR rebow elbow for me? Good luck with the power.

Doliver - don't put hot water into your tank you may burn some stuff. If you put hot water in a bottle and float that in your tank that would be better.

Glad I got my vortec battery backup

[audio101]

Petco should have some battery operated air pumps left.

[corals b 4 bills]

Malster, I hope your still hanging in there! let me know how it goes after your power kicks back on. last month my power went off twice once at 7pm and a week later at 2am, Ups's are great for an hour or so but at 2 am I had to plug in my generator because I need to sleep for the night. buy a small generator it's worth it's weight in gold.

Oh yea, my gen. is one of those little 1950 watt jobers but it powered my return pump (mag 12) a 300 watt heater, my 50" plazma with the HD sattalite receiver. I didn't want to push it after that.

[africangrey]

and remember place the generator outsite or an area with good air flow, carbon monoxide isn't something you want to breath in inside the house.

[corals b 4 bills]

Originally posted by africangrey
and remember place the generator outsite or an area with good air flow, carbon monoxide isn't something you want to breath in inside the house.

And don't eat the paste.

[Kinetic]

power went out today from 10am until about 7:30pm, tree fell down the block =P I hooked up my battery powered air pump (hurricane 5 unit) and it died a few minutes in... I guess it loses some charge if not used / plugged in for a year =X

So those with your battery pumps, make sure you have fresh batteries or charge that unit up to max while you can. I had to goto a cafe nearby to charge my pump =X

[chefssaltyballs]

im covered with:
2000 watt power inverter in car
6250 watt home generator (gas powered)
apc-700 ups backup runs powered head for a few hours
I only run the 802 powerhead and air on the UPS.
think I'm covered
CSB

[Kinetic]

who here knows of a generator that will kick in when it detects a power outage and switch over to generator power without needing to connect things and manually start the generator?


EDIT: Gear junky looking for some cool gadgets and more failsafes for redundancy =)