Serious Reefers worst nightmare..whats needed to prevent disaster.....

mmgm · #1 10/09/2005, 12:40 PM

Well..... I left work at 12:00 noon Friday to spend the weekend at a relative's house...... When I get home and ready to walk out the door all of a sudden there is a power failure in my home.....

The power in 1200 homes in my area ended up being out for six hours.......

If I would have left my home 10 minutes sooner I would have come back today with 750 gallons of dead fish, corals, etc..... (A real disaster)

Luckily I have a generator and managed to power things up until the power came back on...... However, based on this experience I realized that a generator is not enough.....

If you are not home and the power goes for more than three hours say goodbye to years of hard work and big $$$$$

I heard of generator systems that kick in automatically when there is a power outage..... Looks like a good thing to have in place if you have invested big time and $$$$ into your systems.....

I prefer not to invest in such a back-up system but cannot think of what I would do if I came home to a dead 750 gallon system..... Probably give up the hobby.......

What kind of automatic power back up units do you serious reefers have out there.....

Too close for comfort.......

dnjan · #2 10/09/2005, 02:07 PM

I have a battery-powered air-pump that turns on when the power goes off. It provides a small amount of circulation, but most importantly it keeps the water aerated.

orangekush4 · #3 10/09/2005, 02:11 PM

i have had power go out for 6 hours several times in a year never had problems just keep a battery air pump

PsychoKnight · #4 10/09/2005, 02:41 PM

I always keep a powerhead powered through a large UPS, Uninterruptable Power Supply (used on all network servers and many home computers). It automatically switches on in a blackout and if it can provide 50watts for 5 hours straight, I imagine it should run a large pwr hd for a day or two. The higher capacity units run $4-550 and the batt need replacing every 5 years. APC Smart-UPS 1500VA. You can even run several powerheads on it and it would give you time to get home and start the generator, even if you were a day away. Or, you can get smaller, less expensive UPS units and dedicate one for each tank.

scunan · #5 10/09/2005, 03:34 PM

If you have all that money invested in a 750 I would think a generator set up that comes on automatically would be a drop in the bucket.

tmantaylor18 · #6 10/09/2005, 03:39 PM

My tank had no power for 8 hours a few weeks ago and i did nothing and everything was fine.

jeffbrig · #7 10/09/2005, 05:29 PM

Like PsychoKnight, I have an APC Smart-UPS dedicated to the aquarium. Right now I only plug a pair of Tunze Streams into it. These should provide enough water movement and surface agitation to keep oxygen levels up. You can live without full water flow, skimming, even lights in the short term, so I let them stay off. I figure the streams can go several hours at least, anything longer than that and I should be able to fire the generator.

mmgm · #8 10/09/2005, 06:05 PM

Thanks guys... Excellent suggestions on the UPS. back-ups..... $400 compared to $4000 for an automatic back-up generator makes a lot of sense...... Since over the last 10 years I can't remember when the power went out more than an hour or so.....

But it can happen.......

It's funny because last year I was installing my new refugium and had the pump off a few hours on my old 90 gallon tank..... To my surprise when I finished installing the new refugium all my Anthias were dead...... They are like canaries and very sensitive to the slightest change in environment..... I have about 20 Anthias in my tank and if they were lost I would not replace them anytime soon....

Anyway..... thanks for the suggestions.......

dhoch · #9 10/09/2005, 06:46 PM

I don't know what you have for a controller, but there are a couple out there that can send you automated power down messages....Neptunes for example...

Dave

hopper · #10 10/09/2005, 07:23 PM

The Tunze Streams only use 15 watts of power so they are very efficient and would run for quite a while on a UPS system. I agree that the price would be a drop in the bucket compared to what you have invested, especially in a 750. Don't know if you keep records of what you have put into the tank over time, but to most people the price would astound them. The Neptune idea is great. You wouldn't want the beer to get warm in the frig would you.

cwbroden · #11 10/09/2005, 11:46 PM

I use a power invertor that I run from a car battery. Been very helpful on the few occasions we have lost power.

Sparkss · #12 10/10/2005, 12:49 AM

I also read that ice cap is releasing a new powerhead in February, similar to the Tunze Stream, but with built in battery backup. Not sure how much truth there was to it, but they stated that the ice cap booth had them running at MACNA

Sparkss · #13 10/10/2005, 12:49 AM

Oh, and they said to check out the ice cap forum in the vendor forums section for details/info

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=672444

From IceCap:

When we started selling fans, they weren't the typical dumb fans that last 2 years on average. Imagine what it took for us to add a powerhead type pump to our arsenal.

IceCap and our newest partner, Eco-Tech Marine, combined two great ideas into one killer application. I've been told we stole the show. Eco-Tech's through the glass technology transfers adjustable power to provide a wall of water type flow for any 20 to 200 gallon tank. We wanted more. We combined a 12V backup battery system which can sense a power loss, seamlessly kick in and power the pump in a pattern between a fast and slow flow to provide 36 hours of life saving circulation for your tank. When power returns, you're off the battery and your tank comes away unharmed.

The Eco-Tech team will be posting on our forum with technical details and interim updates on when beta shipments begin and product becomes available in early 2006. I can't wait to have one on my tank. I can't image leaving my tank without a safety net now that it can be provided in this compact, easy to use application that serves as a cutting edge, high-volume pump when it's not providing emergency backup services. This product doesn't just beat the competition, it has no competition.

xdusty6920 · #14 10/10/2005, 12:58 AM

were can you find a battery powered air pump that turns on automatically when the power goes out?

jeffbrig · #15 10/10/2005, 01:26 AM

Check your LFS, most of them by me sell them. In hurricane season, they even put them right by the registers. Some pet stores like Petsmart even have them.

dhoch · #16 10/10/2005, 04:11 AM

Saw the product at MACNA and talked for a while with the rep about it... It looks like a solid product....

Similar to tunze streams, but with some big pluses.

Dave

mmgm · #17 10/10/2005, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sparkss
Oh, and they said to check out the ice cap forum in the vendor forums section for details/info

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=672444

From IceCap:

When we started selling fans, they weren't the typical dumb fans that last 2 years on average. Imagine what it took for us to add a powerhead type pump to our arsenal.

IceCap and our newest partner, Eco-Tech Marine, combined two great ideas into one killer application. I've been told we stole the show. Eco-Tech's through the glass technology transfers adjustable power to provide a wall of water type flow for any 20 to 200 gallon tank. We wanted more. We combined a 12V backup battery system which can sense a power loss, seamlessly kick in and power the pump in a pattern between a fast and slow flow to provide 36 hours of life saving circulation for your tank. When power returns, you're off the battery and your tank comes away unharmed.

The Eco-Tech team will be posting on our forum with technical details and interim updates on when beta shipments begin and product becomes available in early 2006. I can't wait to have one on my tank. I can't image leaving my tank without a safety net now that it can be provided in this compact, easy to use application that serves as a cutting edge, high-volume pump when it's not providing emergency backup services. This product doesn't just beat the competition, it has no competition.

Very Very cool stuff.....

I wonder how Tunze will respond?......

Looks like this hobby is catching on........

NHMarine · #18 10/10/2005, 08:17 PM

With these storms and floods we have been having across the country an LP gas automatic standby generator like this one has really caught my eye.

It's all pre-wired and comes on as soon as it detects a power outage.

One of the more reasonably priced standby's I have seen.

Automatic Standby Generator

Henry22 · #19 10/10/2005, 08:30 PM

My grandfathers office he works(sorta) in also has a company that sorts checks or something and the governement made them put in a Automatic Standby Generator after 9/11 so they could still process stuff. It was like 10ft tall and yellow and black. It could also pwr half the building for quite some time, but i dont know how much the fuel tank was. I will be getting a battery pwred airpump before winter starts for my 15 gallon.

mmgm · #20 10/10/2005, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by NHMarine
With these storms and floods we have been having across the country an LP gas automatic standby generator like this one has really caught my eye.

It's all pre-wired and comes on as soon as it detects a power outage.

One of the more reasonably priced standby's I have seen.

Automatic Standby Generator

NH:

This is awsome stuff.....

Turning into a very informative thread.....

I love to have options.......

leeweber85 · #21 10/10/2005, 09:48 PM

That's an awesome automatic generator! I wonder how long it can give power off of 2 lp tanks? I don't think it says anywhere.

EmergencyDpt · #22 10/11/2005, 01:58 AM

The generator from northern is backordered. I'll bet it will be for a while to come...

G_cuvier · #23 10/11/2005, 04:34 AM

Two quick thoughts.....

1. Obviously you all have computers or you wouldn't be here... You probably have cell phones too. If you buy a low end APC UPS with the monitoring software you can have it alert you when the power goes out.... Then you'll know it's gone.

2. Go to HD and buy one of their digital timers with the 14 programmable events for $20 and have it bring on your PH, air pumps or whatever for 30 minutes every hour. This will double your battery life.

burdundi · #24 10/11/2005, 06:33 AM

I haven't tried it, but this looks like a pretty cool battery air pump.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...&N=2004+113402

A little pricey at $58, but sounds good. Has anyone tried this pump?

-Burdundi

LobsterOfJustice · #25 10/11/2005, 06:59 AM

I've been eyeing that pump for a while, it seems like a good idea. The only question I have is does it run when the power is on? I dont want an air pump in my main tank running all the time. I think it just charges while the power is on and then turns on when it goes out, but I'm not sure.