realypk

Yea a deep cycle marine battery would actually be better than a truck battery of similar size, the bigger the better though!

Gotcha, yea in your situation keeping air and water moving in your tank is your best bet... Getting a big UPS (which is really just a fancy small car battery and small inverter) and just hooking your main pump so you can keep water flow going would do wonders. That being said for the same amount of money as a fancy UPC you could buy a really big truck battery, battery charger and small inverter. This would likely net you longer run time than a UPC and be cheaper per run time hour. You could even charge the battery with your car in an emergency and lug it up, having one charging and one running for long extended periods.... That would be a lot of work though and I think a return pump alone would run for quite a while on a fully charged truck battery. For this it's all about run time so I'd limit how much I run off it to just the return pump and decrease the inverter to something more efficient just enough to cover the pump. I'm not sure if the 500w or 1000w version energizer inverter would work better.... depends how beefy your return pump is... amazon has great return policy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VD3CCTX Truck battery (higher CCA = better/more juice)

@achansek Happy to share my experience! If you have questions just ask! Let us know how it goes. Also I agree using schedule 80, just know those suckers are stronger than the glass so go easy and slow on tightening as you'll break the glass way before you ever break the bulkhead!

Power outages can kill fish pretty quick, corals can survive longer.... I saw news reporting on california power utilities cutting power for multiple days and my first thought was... wow what are the prepared reef tank hobbyists doing??? All it takes is one bad branch falling on a power line to cause thousands of livestock damage. I got one of the battery powered airpumps for my recent move (dual output cobalt unit) and it seemed to have trouble pushing bubbles to the bottom of a 15gallon rubbermaid tote. So I have doubt to their ability to help out an entire tank..... They were handy for the move but thats about it. I looked into all sorts of options, battery backups are a few hour extension at best, I looked at generators and the upkeep needed and huge cost made me scoff.... then i found a super cool thing called an inverter!!!!! It converts power from the alternator/battery of your vehicle to usable energy while it is idling!!!!! Most standard US cars will have more than enough go to power not only your aquarium but also your fridge as long as you have gas/diesel (depending on the flavor of your car) Make sure to get one that has plenty of wattage but also check and see how much the max your engine can handle is before investing. Your car is a great generator that is generally well maintained and ready to go in a pinch!!!! Just get long enough extension coords and test the solution before its needed to make sure it works as intended. Mine runs my whole setup + fridge + freezer fine, to include my aquarium chiller. My diesel SUV can power the most powerful type of inverter capable of pushing as much as most whole home generators with 0 added maintenance just a very heavy pricey brick that waits and is ready when needed. This is an example of one.... https://www.amazon.com/ENERGIZER-Inverter-Outlets-Automotive-Converts/dp/B07CGNTDNP But others cheaper chicom variants can be found. If you do use Amazon make sure to purchase through Amazon Smile and add WAMAS as the beneficiary !!! Also these are super awesome for camping/road trips! If you have a small 4 cylinder car that cant handle a lot (most can handle round 2k watts though, V6 3k watts easy usually) Then I would prioritize water flow, skimmer and heat/cooling in that order. Lights are one of the biggest draws and your tank/corals will survive a few days easy without it. Even just turning on lights for a few minutes if you have the overhead will keep the corals alive for extended periods and be better than nothing. But if your going weeks without power you've got bigger issues!

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1977616 This might do the trick

Definitely get a good bit, and a good drill. I used an 18v Ridgid drill with diamond coated glass bit I got from BRS. I never drilled glass before and drilled my 75gallon with 3 holes successfully. Definitely use highest speed setting, use plenty of water (it will make a sloppy mess) and once you start going do not apply pressure let the weight of the drill do all the work. 1 Hole used about 75% of my 4amp hour battery. It will make a squealing noise like no other and that's normal, earplugs are not a bad idea. Also I built a wall fort out of playdough to contain the water so it would never get dry. Dry = heat and heat = bad. I also used a drill guide to keep it in place that i got on BRS (https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/glass-drill-bit-guide-thk.html). It worked quite well. I built the playdough fort around it, play dough is cheap and easy, 2 standard tubs is what you'll need. Keep that drill steady and level at least that's how I did it, if the drill pushes water away from hole stop for a moment to let water come back or fill in more water. DONT EVER LET IT GET DRY. a little chipping arround the edges is ok thats what the gasket is for. I put a level block on the back of the drill to ensure I was going level. It took a long time to make that hole and the glass thickness is impressive. Note on tightening the overflow connector/bulkheads. Dont overdo it, get it nice and tight but don't fully tighten get it hand tight then use your wrench to go 1/4 a turn. If you see some water seepage thats ok, do a tenth of a turn. Dry it a few times and if it continues do another tenth turn. Keep doing till seeping stops, dry multiple times and wait a bit because you may just be seeing old residual seepage. A super slow trickle is not the end of the world... the salt will in many cases dry and form a seal.... had this happen in a 10gallon i drilled and I could not stop the super slow drip.... eventually it stopped on its own. Tightening bulkheads is the most dangerous part of this whole process.

Thats not a bad idea, getting stainles steel large guage mesh to adhere to plastic corners is pretty simple. May even be able to get the corner pieces to snap together to give it an even more solid hold!

What do you mean by this statement " I need the worms for the bacteria so this is a crucial part of my system. " How do they add beneficial bacteria to your system that otherwise would not be introduced via frozen foods? What kind of worms are they? Worms are not exactly normal food for marine life... do they provide the proper levels of nutrients or do you augment with other food too? I'd be willing to give worms a shot. Just never heard of it and a bit confused.

Yea probably so, does anyone know what size of threading i would need to fit the venturi thing on front cause my other DC pump has a very different thread from my antman ac pump. I would need to fit the venturi thing in front?

Gotcha wife hates noise so would you say more noisy than the Ant-Man equivalent or about the same? Wife would not stand for noisier lol it's in the living room so she's around it. Had to eliminate my eheim for a DC return pump and go fanless on my lights cause of her lol. She tolerates the sound of the Ant-Man but it's her max before she gets annoyed. I'm with you I'd rather have a workhorse... But alas compromise.... If noisier what DC equivalent from jaebo would fit if any?

Nice those do look pretty beefy! Do they run pretty silent/vibration proof? How about that issues?

Hey guys, I'm running an SCA 302 and my Antman PH2000 skimmer pump chewed through it's rubber bushing ting and now spins but no longer makes bubbles. Essentially 1 year of service and it died. Is there a DC varient that would be similar sized and fit? I'm not looking to go super expensive even would be ok with a chicom DC pump. I'm just looking for less noise/vibration and heat generation as the Antman was noisy and hot. If a similar sized DC does not exist any recommendation for a better made AC version? Thanks guys!

If you type WAMAS it's #3 on the list via pc using chrome

One of my fungia survived my recent issue.. as long as the mouth accepts food your ok. Keep parameters stable and ensure the mouth manages to eat and no CUC members take food out of mouth as this can damage that critical part. Once you feed every 2-3 days you should see skin start taking over the skeleton again, if you have no more mouth hope is lost.... My fungia went to 1/5th of flesh left and has recovered to maybe 1/4th at this point. The good sign is if they get bubbly and extend, if its not extending its not doing well. If it dies keep skeleton in the tank as it may sprout zombie babies.