Question about Power Outage Safety for Tanks

[TrueTricia]

So I'm trying to invest more money upfront in my equipment to support long term healthy livestock.  To that end, planning what to do in a power outage is always a concern.  TBH, I don't think I've lost power for more than 4-6 hours before at my place, but of course, there's always the possibility for something worse.  I do live on the coast, so hurricanes are possible, if not probably.  I don't have a generator, nor would I want to run one at my place.

 

I've got an automatic air pump that charges via USB and automatically turns on when the power cuts.  The airstone is deep in my tank but situated next to the weir to be pretty hidden in general.  This should provide critical oxygen to my tank with some, if minimal, flow.  I don't think heating the tank will be a problem generally, although in the case of a long-term power outage I would have trouble.

 

So I'm wondering what everyone does for their power outages beside generators?  What do you consider critical and why?  

 

[realypk]

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!

Edited October 15, 2019 by realypk

[Guest]

1 hour ago, realypk said:

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!

 

 

That's a great option for people!  Thank you for posting the link to the supplies needed!  I hate it when people provide great solutions, but it takes you ages to figure out what they used. 

 

For me, that's not an option (I live on the 3rd floor of a condo building, so we'd be talking a 60+ ft extension cord).  But I managed to find a good air pump that pumps to the bottom of my tank https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J9USQPM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.  

[realypk]

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)

Edited October 15, 2019 by realypk

[Jon Lazar]

Put even a modest airstone just below the wet side of an MP pump and your tank will be filled with tons of microbubbles.  It will look like the inside of your skimmer.

 

MP and Gyre pumps both accept 12V battery inputs.  Other powerheads may as well.   Add a sealed lead acid battery and a trickle charger and you've got your own reefing UPS with better efficiency than an AC inverter.

 

I'm going to assemble a 12V battery backup for my MPs and Gyres even though I have a whole house generator.  I can foresee a scenario where a tank breaker pops, and the generator won't come on for that.  But the powerheads will switch over to the 12V backup immediately, and this will keep my fish alive.

[AlanM]

If you want something completely automated I'd echo Jon here and rig up a 12V car battery system to a powerhead that accepts 12V.  You can stick the battery and trickle charger in a cabinet or something. 8)

[YHSublime]

I keep a deep cell cycle marine battery on hand with a battery tender and a power inverter. The only downside to this system is you have to be physically present (or somebody does) to hook it up. 

 

On it, I can run for about 3 days my 2 MP10's, my return pump, heater. Last power outage I did my 2 mp10's, return pump, and 2 box fans in my window for 30 hours, this was over the summer, so I used ice packs to cool down the water when needed. I also keep an ecotech battery backup as the failsafe when I'm not/someone's not here. 

[realypk]

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

Edited October 16, 2019 by realypk

[gws3]

Before I invested in a generator the next best option was a sealed agm deep cycle battery, trickle charger and inverter. You can wire up a relay to make it switch automatically when power goes out.

 

When I was in a condo we had an outage for a few days and I ran an inverter style 2kw generator the whole time on the balcony with the exhaust pointed out. There's probably some legal or health issue to poke at there, but I put my tanks first.

[Guest]

THanks all!  I am always curious what other people do for their tanks!  Thank you for sharing, and for the suggestions.  

 

Has anyone tried a solar powered battery?   I was even thinking something like this....and I can use it when I go camping...

 

 https://www.amazon.com/ALTIZURE-Portable-Generator-39600mAh-Emergency/dp/B07RYLHJZL/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1B7Q2N25K7WIP&keywords=power+generators+portable&qid=1571854854&smid=A11LHPRDPX6W93&sprefix=power+gener%2Caps%2C718&sr=8-7

Edited October 23, 2019 by TrueTricia

[menglish]

I use a marine deep cycle  battery (the largest one you can find) and a power inverter.