dcreefer July 26, 2010 Share July 26, 2010 So my power went out Sunday about 3:30pm. I was on my way home when the storm came upon me and the traffic lights started going off... Panicked I called my wife to tell her to pull my loc lines out of the display to stop the ensuing flood from the sump ( gotta get check valves). Only lost about 5 gallons! My power was out for 27 hours total! After about 20 hours with no power I started to experience loss of life Rip Domino Damsel (btw u & me I was ready to trade him) Not sure about my anemone...it has shrank soooo small... Did anyone else suffer? How did you deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore July 26, 2010 Share July 26, 2010 I lost power about 4 times for less than 30 seconds each time. Then it came back and stayed on. Amazing, because we seem to be an oasis of power in an otherwise powerless desert of Montgomery county. I lent my generator to a friend this morning. I firmly believe that had my generator not been tested and filled up ready to run, I would not be typing this right now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind July 27, 2010 Share July 27, 2010 I lost power about 9pm last night and it came back on at 3:40am. An air pump and a MJ900 plugged into an APC UPS saved me. Nothing lost. You do not need check valves, just drill a hole in the loc line just below the water's surface. That will break the siphon for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott711 July 27, 2010 Share July 27, 2010 Battery operated air pumps, UPS, or a generator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverspringnano July 27, 2010 Share July 27, 2010 Our power just came on about 45 minutes ago after being out for 30 hours. Lost two of my livestock...two favorites of course. Did a 30% water change and removed the corpses...will do another 50% change tomorrow. The tank has that smell of death like during that first week when you're curing live rock so I expect there will be more losses before its all over. I'm sure the ammonia is through the roof. Too messed up about it to deal with it anymore tonight..will be back at it tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind July 27, 2010 Share July 27, 2010 Sorry about your loses. You should really look into some battery air pumps. They are not expensive compared to the livestock we keep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tygger July 27, 2010 Share July 27, 2010 Regarding your loclines, drill a small hole under the bottom side of a link that sits above the water line. When your power goes out, it'll stop the siphon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverspringnano July 27, 2010 Share July 27, 2010 Sorry about your loses. You should really look into some battery air pumps. They are not expensive compared to the livestock we keep. Yup..lesson learned the hard way...thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite July 27, 2010 Share July 27, 2010 Our electric is never out more than a few hours, regardless of what the rest of the county is doing. I'm worried that this won't be the case in the area I'll be moving to soon. My refugium return pump will work off a car jump start battery for several hours. My question for future reference is: do those batteries charge off the car battery if hooked up with the car engine running? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf July 28, 2010 Share July 28, 2010 Our electric is never out more than a few hours, regardless of what the rest of the county is doing. I'm worried that this won't be the case in the area I'll be moving to soon. My refugium return pump will work off a car jump start battery for several hours. My question for future reference is: do those batteries charge off the car battery if hooked up with the car engine running? I don't think so, the only way to charge them would be thru a battery charger. Or if it has a way to plug it in and recharge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind July 28, 2010 Share July 28, 2010 treesprite, what make/model unit do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman July 28, 2010 Share July 28, 2010 Power was out for a couple of hours Sunday afternoon. Ran the tanks on my generator after waiting about an hour. All is well. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite July 28, 2010 Share July 28, 2010 It's in the car so I can't look at brand or model - I got it at Sears, but I don't think it's Sears brand. I usually plug it into an ordinary house outlet using an ordinary extension cord... the battery has prongs to connect the cord. It also has a place to connect things that typically connect in a car, like cell phone chargers, CD players, and inverters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b July 28, 2010 Share July 28, 2010 Had no power for about 5 hours which is not good considering the night before I drank too much and left the flow off all night. I hooked up two air pumps and a fan (for cooling) to an auto inverter and my tanks temp stabilized. I also did some manual water agitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary July 28, 2010 Share July 28, 2010 I used battery air pumps that switch on automatically when the power goes for all of my small tanks and a car battery with an inverter to run a powerhead and the return for the 90 gallon. Even remembered to drop an air stone into the HOB fuge on the 90. No loss of life, though I was worried about the temps in the small upstairs tanks (especially the horses and the temperate tanks). Note to self to buy a second car battery - when I reached 6 hours without power and by then it was Sunday night I was getting worried about running out of juice with no opportunity to buy a second battery (and no idea if it would have to be charged before using?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arwndsh July 28, 2010 Share July 28, 2010 We got power back right as my shipment I had forgotten about should up from LiveAquaria. Thankfully we had no loses in our 48hrs without power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quazi July 28, 2010 Share July 28, 2010 Our electric is never out more than a few hours, regardless of what the rest of the county is doing. I'm worried that this won't be the case in the area I'll be moving to soon. My refugium return pump will work off a car jump start battery for several hours. My question for future reference is: do those batteries charge off the car battery if hooked up with the car engine running? Cars do not efficiently charge up a battery. You can buy a charger (I bought this that charges and jump starts your car: http://www.sears.com...7&blockType=G7) for less than $40. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcreefer July 29, 2010 Author Share July 29, 2010 Wow this is great info, keep it going! We need to make a permanent note called "Worst Case Senerio" and list everything that one should have if the power goes out...glass cracks...mantis shrimp attacks ...massive flood...etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary August 6, 2010 Share August 6, 2010 Hmmmmm - remember my note to self to buy a second big battery? Almost 6 hours again without power today and I hadn't gotten around to buying the backup. Kudos to Arlington for getting us back up that fast, though - I thought we'd be out until tomorrow so made a last minute run to PEP Boys to get the darn backup. Another note to self - don't assume that the box full of new batteries are the size you need (have about 30 larger batteries and all are "C" - none are the "D" that fit in my battery-operated airpumps..... ) Also note that neither Petco, Petsmart nor Walmart carry battery-operated airpumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay August 6, 2010 Share August 6, 2010 Power still out here. Bah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jawfish August 6, 2010 Share August 6, 2010 I live on an old grid which loses power almost every storm, while my neighbor is on a newer one and rarely loses power. So, I string up an extension cord from their house to mine and run my filter, actinic, and heater. I guess I'm just lucky to live near the newer grid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay August 7, 2010 Share August 7, 2010 I live on an old grid which loses power almost every storm, while my neighbor is on a newer one and rarely loses power. So, I string up an extension cord from their house to mine and run my filter, actinic, and heater. I guess I'm just lucky to live near the newer grid! Rub it in... Still no power here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan August 7, 2010 Share August 7, 2010 My power was out for about 24 hours. My power goes out a lot in the Summer and in the Winter. Last year, when I came back into the hobby, the first emergency pieces of equipment I purchased were 2 battery powered airstones and 1 battery back up. We then bought another BB for the smaller tanks. Each BB lasts about 1.5 hours with 1 powerhead or HOB filter plugged into it. In the winter I plug the heaters into them which lowers the time by about 20 minutes or so. BB's do die. The battery wears out and that's that. Replacing them can cost just as much as buying a new unit. Since I got so nervous about this because we've had power outages that have lasted days, we decided to invest in a portable generator from Sears. It costs $350.00 including shipping. It's the portable one recommended for trailers. It's about the size of a large suitcase. It's heavy yet portable enough to be move around easily. Not only did it keep all the powerheads on in the tanks but my husband was able to hook up the refrigerator in the kitchen as well as the freezer in the basement. Whatever he did also lit up half the house. We didn't leave lights on or add anything we didn't need. I could have plugged in tank lights but why? We got more out of it than what we expected. He made sure we had plenty of gas on hand and the generator worked like a charm for about 19 hours. Note:There are precautions that need to be taken beforehand which I know nothing about so if you decide to purchase a generator make sure you speak with a professional to make sure you know how to hook it up safely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldReefer August 9, 2010 Share August 9, 2010 I just got a 7,000 watt generator and a transfer switch delivered. Should be able to run my furnace, refrigerator, and my tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan August 9, 2010 Share August 9, 2010 WTG! Ours is 7,000 watts too. It's great. Keep it a safe distance from the house. I'm so paranoid about fumes that I have a plug in carbon monoxide detector. It was upstairs where the bedrooms are with us while the genertor was running all night. I just got a 7,000 watt generator and a transfer switch delivered. Should be able to run my furnace, refrigerator, and my tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.jpg.cec6c540fb2da6431942d5ff09ef7a2d.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now