How did you come out of the outage?

[chucelli]

Hey Josh,

Thanks for the offer. I'm good at the moment.

Glad to hear your power is back!

This gives me hope!

-Robert

[wogga]

I was just mentioning this to jan - Instead of floating your ice, put it right behind your fan, on the intake side, and orient the fan so it blows across the surface of the tank. You can get a lot more efficient a thermal gradient from air movement than you can from water.

 

This is actually one of the first documented uses of what we would today call an air conditioner. It was employed in an attempt to delay sepsis in president lincoln after he was shot at the ford theatre... in summer... in DC!

Well, we all know it didn't save lincoln, but still, its a good way to keep the air cool. hot air around the tank will heat your water a lot faster (and more irreversibly) than the heat producing elements in the water.

 

i wish everyone the best of luck.

[MLazar]

We were without power for 32 hours. We lost it just after we went to bed, about 10:30. Since the power has never historically been off for long, we went to sleep. We woke up in the early am and realized the power had not come back on. Jon scrambled to get the battery operated air stones in the tanks, ran out for ice for the refrigerators and then went off to buy a generator. He was able to find one at the 2nd store he went to (first was sold out that morning). There were 4 generators on the shelves, and Jon was one of the four guys in line to get one.

 

Once home, Jon assembled it and built the cable that would allow him to plug into the dryer outlet and not have to run extension cords all over. Once he got it started he checked the tanks. Unfortunately we were too late to save our gorgeous powder blue and kole tang, or our 2 anthias.

 

Maureen

[LCDRDATA]

Our power was down for ~ 36 hours. In my 75-gal I ran a battery-powered air pump about 1/2 the time and ran an air pump from a computer UPS the rest of the time. About 12 hours of that time I also ran a Koralia 1 powerhead off the UPS. I ran another battery-powered air pump in my 30-gal cube almost the whole time; I "stole" it twice for about 30-60 minutes to run in my wife's 5-gal nano. As far as I can tell, we didn't lose anything (at least not yet - fingers crossed for delayed reaction). That being said, we bumped our insulation a good bit a few years ago, so have the room the tanks are in topped out at about 80 degrees; I suspect it would have gone a good deal higher today had power not come back, and we would have had no way to cool it further. So looking at getting some kind of generator or large-scale UPS for the future. My sympathies for others' losses.

 

For what it's worth, my understanding for power outage prioritization is that tanks' needs are generally in the following order: 1) oxygen/aeration; 2) circulation; 3) temperature moderation. I also noticed that aeration with the standard (vice battery) air pump, the high volume of bubbles creates limited circulation of its own. For better or worse, large volumes of water require lots of energy to heat and/or cool - meaning that larger aquariums should be stable on their own for a period of time, but will likewise take time and effort to return to "normal" if they get too hot or cold.

[surf&turf]

I stirred mine every half hour once the UPS died. So far no losses on SPS, lost my Anthias and six-line.

[Coral Hind]

I'm still out of power but I have learned that keeping light fish loads is very helpful in times like these.

[wogga]

I'm still out of power but I have learned that keeping light fish loads is very helpful in times like these.

 

AMEN!

[L8 2 RISE]

I JUST got power back almost 2 full days later. Vortech back up kept everything alive and had the generator up as well so I was able to float ice. No losses so far (knock on wood) so I think everything made it. I feel super lucky but the no AC was miserable.

 

Finally got one phase of power back after 36+ hours. Fortunately the tanks are on that phase. Hopefully the other phase gets turned back on so the AC kicks on.

 

Vortech back up only lasted for about 4 hours for 2 MP40s. Inverters running off 2 deep cycle marine optima batteries kept the vortechs and other powerheads going through out the night. In the morning I picked up gas and ice and hooked up my small inverter generator to run the controller, main circulation pump, powerheads, two part doser and fans. Ice helped knock the temp down when the fans weren't cutting it.

 

Hopefully nothing is too negatively effected. I was able to keep the temp between 78 and 80, but did notice a bit of an alk swing due to the two part doser being off for about 12 hours. Very glad I invested in a few forms of power outage equipment.

 

I can lend out my 2kW generator to anyone that is in desperate need as long as my power stays on.

 

Is the vortech battery old? 4 hours doesnt seem right. Mine lasted over 40 hours. It only had one mp10 on it, but still... I feel like you should've gotten more.

[treesprite]

#1: if you are going to go out at 4am to stock up on ice before everyone wakes up and takes it, remember to buy batteries!

The only reason I had batteries was that they were left over from a camping trip. Yesterday when electric was still out, I decided I better get more; I drove all over MoCo - none anywhere. Finally around 9:30pm Gary told me he got Magruders to hold their last 2 packs for him, so I went over there (his electric was not out). Right before I got there I got a call saying my electricity had just come back on and that the tank was running.

 

#2: don't let your car get close to empty, because you never know when you'll have to drive all over to look for batteries for air pumps when all the gas stations are closed.

Trying to get gas was really horrible.

 

 

For my 75g I had 1 large airstone thing that plugs in and switches to battery when electric goes out, which is good for at least small strip or else 4 stones, and a small portable one that only works for one airstone (had a second one, but it was not working for some reason). Every now and then I waved over all the corals while holding the airstones, splashed around in the water a bit. The temperature never went above 80f (it started out at only 75 the AC had been up too high). No losses, thank goodness!

[flooddc]

just got power back 2 hrs go. Sorry to hear those who lost their livestocks. lost power for 47 hours. Manage to lost only one peppermint (do not know if lost any other inverts). Fortunately for me, my tanks are in the basement and temp is average around 78-79. Around the 12-13 hours after lost of power, Since I was unable to obtain an generator. At last resort, I ran an extension core from my car 150W portable inverter and tried to power my mag 9.5 (93W). It's ran for almost 1 hour and burned out the inverter (Dud! panic and wasn't thinking, should have just run air pumps instead, LESSON LEARN!). On the other hand, since I was able to run my water through the sump for 1 hour, I think believed alone that saved my reef tank. I don't know what would happen if I did not get power today!

Good luck to all out there. Chuck

[astroboy]

I have my 29 gallon tank hooked up to a UPS connected to a car battery (WAMAS DIY). Only the powerheads are connected to the UPS. During the big winter ice storm, (18 months ago?) we lost power for about 48 hours and everything came through fine. This time I lost my powder blue and a gramma due to lack of oxygen, I think, after less than 12 hours. The clowns were panting, but perked up within half an hour after I connected the sump pump to the UPS and moved the powerheads so that the surface was really agitated. All the corals came thru like champs, but I felt bad about losing the fish. Even for a fish, that can't be a pleasant way to go, but perhaps they just black out before things get really bad.

 

I'm wondering if the temperature wasn't the difference. During the winter the tank temperature went from 80 to 62, this time it climbed up to just under 90.

 

What I'd really like to have is some sort of switch that I can plug into the UPS that will only turn on when the power goes out, to run an air stone or vertically aimed powerhead, which are things I'd normally not wish to run. Does anyone know of such a device?

[DaveS]

 

What I'd really like to have is some sort of switch that I can plug into the UPS that will only turn on when the power goes out, to run an air stone or vertically aimed powerhead, which are things I'd normally not wish to run. Does anyone know of such a device?

 

Those battery operated pumps do exactly that. The outlet plug on them isn't for power. Its to sense when power goes out so it knows to kick on.

[Coral Hind]

I got my power back on just after midnight. No livestock loses and everything in the tank looks good. I did lose one APC unit that smoked yesterday and a power supply to a panarama pro LED module died.

[Coral Hind]

What I'd really like to have is some sort of switch that I can plug into the UPS that will only turn on when the power goes out, to run an air stone or vertically aimed powerhead, which are things I'd normally not wish to run. Does anyone know of such a device?

 

Below is the air pump Dave was talking about but it wouldn't work plugged into an UPS unit the UPS battery died.

http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Aquarium-Air-Pumps/I/Silent-Air-Battery-Pump.aspx

 

What I think you want is an automatic transfer switch and you can DIY one with a normally closed relay using normal power to hold open the contacts. They also make them RV and boats but they are not real cheap.

http://www.bestconverter.com/Xantrex-Prowatt-SW-Inline-15-Amp-Transfer-Switch_p_457.html

[Big Country]

I am still without power this morning, managed to get a power cord from neighbors on Saturday morning to plug in refrigerator, freezer and the return pump for the aquarium and a circulation pump for the frag tank, refugium and reactors. Luckily tank is in basement so not getting really warm was only 78 when I checked yesterday and the water is cool to the touch. I have seen most of my fish with a flashlight so don't know what the losses are going to be yet. I finally fed the tank last night, figured the fish would find the food in the dark if they were hungry enough. I came to work today to get some A/C

[treesprite]

The device I have for air pump is: RAMBO RS-8000 "Auto Switching AC/DC Air Pump". http://www.china-tel...a0-zdddf1f.html

 

Got it from the freebie table at a WAMAS meeting! It plugs into an electrical outlet. When current stops, the device turns itself on using the D-Cell batteries that are in it. It has a dial to finely adjust the air rate, not just a high/low switch. It's fairly powerful.

Edited July 2, 2012 by treesprite

[.OptimusPrime.]

Lost power friday night and had it back sometime this morning.

 

I actually have a generator and I plugged all my tank stuff and the main necessities house wise. With the heat and everything, not even fans in the tank room could keep the the tank temperature down. The tank is in my bedroom upstairs. The whole main floor was hot.

 

The little glass stick on thermometer read well over 90 degrees. No bags of ice / fans in the tank bedroom and over the tank did anything to help reduce the temps. Oxygen wasn't a problem, since the powerheads were plugged into the generator.

 

Thankfully, ich actually saved the tank. I had no livestock since its been fallow for 2 months other than snails, which seem to be doing rather well.

 

Ich actually saving a tank, the heat must have gotten to me.

 

Sorry for anyone who has losses over the weekend.

[Steve175]

We are still without power, but after adding a window AC unit to the livingroom yesterday (which was able to keep the livingroom temp to 88F during peak sun yesterday), after uncovering my chillers and pointing 2 fans at them (fans #6 and #7), and with continuing to float ice every 4h the temp has actually continued to come down now to 82.2. Fingers still crossed . . . [they're starting to cramp a bit they've been crossed so long]

[luan67]

I'm just amazed that my tanks survived will no casualties, especially the SPS tank that had no air pumps. I had two battery air pumps for the bigger tank and I think that helped a lot for the fish. No generator or anything else. Tanks were also in the basement which was much cooler.

 

In the past, the SPSs would die rapidly without more than a couple of hours of power. I guess CB frags are the way to go since they seems to be more resilient.

[Coral Hind]

steve175, 82.2 is really good. How high did it go? That is a huge water volume to cool down.

[BowieReefer84]

We are still without power, but after adding a window AC unit to the livingroom yesterday (which was able to keep the livingroom temp to 88F during peak sun yesterday), after uncovering my chillers and pointing 2 fans at them (fans #6 and #7), and with continuing to float ice every 4h the temp has actually continued to come down now to 82.2. Fingers still crossed . . . [they're starting to cramp a bit they've been crossed so long]

 

If you need any help let me know. We never lost power where I am.

[Chad]

I was one of the very lucky ones in not losing power, though we did lose all of our communication abilities (phones and internet). All weekend I wondered how everyone was faring. I'm very sorry to those who lost things or are still out. Let me know if there is anything I can do.

 

Chad

[treesprite]

what are CB frags?

[luan67]

Sorry. I was thinking "captive bred" fish. I meant getting homegrown frags and not colonies/pieces from the ocean.

[BMW1600]

Once home, Jon assembled it and built the cable that would allow him to plug into the dryer outlet and not have to run extension cords all over. Once he got it started he checked the tanks. Unfortunately we were too late to save our gorgeous powder blue and kole tang, or our 2 anthias.

 

Maureen

 

Unless you have a way to cut your main feed to your house I think this is a really bad idea. I believe the power can bleed back up the line and kill any lineman who may be working to restore your power. They are not generally expecting live lines downstream of an outage :/

 

I sat up a few hours after the storm running pumps with a power inverter off the car battery, then got up early and went to Home Depot and got a generator. Everything came through perfectly. I had a supply of frozen water bottles that I deployed a few times to keep the temps down. Those and fans on each tank saved everything. I don't think my reed tank ever got over 80.3.

 

Dave

Manassas

Edited July 2, 2012 by BMW1600