Backup for power outage

[Charley]

Had a situation a week ago where the circuit breaker for no obvious reason clicked off in the fish tank room. I caught it within a few hours and thought all was ok. But next day about 50% of SPS died. Lost 2 fish. What backup up would you suggest. Have a 90 gal reef tank with 25 gal sump. Thanks

 

[laverda]

A higher capacity typically 1000 or higher. UPS will keep thing running longer and put out true sine wave AC. You want true sein wave out put if you will running on them. Otherwise they my not work properly and over heat. I have an APC 1500 with an additional hot swapable battery pack. The only thing I have on it is a Tunze 6105, which it will run at full power for 700 minutes (11.66 hours) according to the display. It will run longer at a lower output setting. I plan to modify it when it is out of warranty to run the Tunze directly off the battery in a power outage. This should increase the length of time it will run as it will not have the losses of converting from 24v DC to 120v AC and back to 24v Dc again. Tunze sells a switch making this very easy. I used to run a larger 1/3 HP external pump on a similar set up and it ran it for 4-5 hours on 2 occasions
I already have a smaller UPS, pictured below, I modified this way for my Apex and a Tunze 6095. This one uses a 12 volt battery so will run my Tunze at 50%. You can find these smaller UPS used for free, that just need a new battery.

You can also get battery powered air pumps for less than $15.00 Marina battery air pump. This one uses D batteries so keep a spare set. These also work well when acclimating or transporting fish. I just but a ridged airline tube on the end of the hose instead of the air stone.
Cobalt products Makes more suffocated ones that automatically turn on in power outages starting for less than $40. The one I got comes with a seperate external USB battery pack like the ones that plug into cell phones. So it can be easily charged in your car or quickly swapped for another on in an emergency. It can be set to run all the time or just come on in a power outage. Sadly it does not turn off after power comes back on. You need to be sure to keep the external battery charged. Also when the built in battery runs out you have to hook up the external one manually, so it is not prefect. I have one of these on my 50 QT for emergencies. It has come on a few times during brief power outages.
Both of the above air pumps work very well and last longer than expected. There are other options available as well, these are just 2 of the 3 I have and use. Really their is no excuse for not having one for every aquarium someone has.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have icecap battery backups, and a portable generator.

 

[Charley]

A higher capacity typically 1000 or higher. UPS will keep thing running longer and put out true sine wave AC. You want true sein wave out put if you will running on them. Otherwise they my not work properly and over heat. I have an APC 1500 with an additional hot swapable battery pack. The only thing I have on it is a Tunze 6105, which it will run at full power for 700 minutes (11.66 hours) according to the display. It will run longer at a lower output setting. I plan to modify it when it is out of warranty to run the Tunze directly off the battery in a power outage. This should increase the length of time it will run as it will not have the losses of converting from 24v DC to 120v AC and back to 24v Dc again. Tunze sells a switch making this very easy. I used to run a larger 1/3 HP external pump on a similar set up and it ran it for 4-5 hours on 2 occasions
I already have a smaller UPS, pictured below, I modified this way for my Apex and a Tunze 6095. This one uses a 12 volt battery so will run my Tunze at 50%. You can find these smaller UPS used for free, that just need a new battery.

You can also get battery powered air pumps for less than $15.00 Marina battery air pump. This one uses D batteries so keep a spare set. These also work well when acclimating or transporting fish. I just but a ridged airline tube on the end of the hose instead of the air stone.
Cobalt products Makes more suffocated ones that automatically turn on in power outages starting for less than $30. The one I got comes with a seperate external USB battery pack like the ones that plug into cell phones. So it can be easily charged in your car or quickly swapped for another on in an emergency. It can be set to run all the time or just come on in a power outage. Sadly it does not turn off after power comes back on. You need to be sure to keep the external battery charged. Also when the built in battery runs out you have to hook up the external one manually, so it is not prefect. I have one of these on my 50 QT for emergencies. It has come on a few times during brief power outages.
Both of the above air pumps work very well and last longer than expected. There are other options available as well, these are just 2 of the 3 I have and use. Really their is no excuse for not having one for every aquarium someone has.

Thank you for the detailed info. Much appreciated

 

[SuncrestReef]

If you have an Apex, it can be configured in conjunction with a UPS battery to detect when there's a power outage, and turn off certain outlets to preserve battery runtime for water movement. Things like heaters, return pumps, skimmers, and lights all draw a lot of power and will drain a battery quickly. But if those devices automatically shut down, the powerheads can be run for many hours on battery.

See my Apex tutorial on how to set this up: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/neptune-apex-programming-tutorials-part-4-power-monitoring.698/

 

[BZOFIQ]

Had a situation a week ago where the circuit breaker for no obvious reason clicked off in the fish tank room.

I had that happen recently as well when lightning hit close by. I've added sound alarm to the outlet to alert me if power is lost.

 

[ZoWhat]

Heres the cheapest but easiest solution I use. Inverters at Harbor Freight for around $100

30 hour power outage

Did anyone else have to deal with the power outage in Newport Beach/Irvine area? I lost a Flame Angel and a Kole Angel. But on the plus side had 13 survivors. Corals looking a bit annoyed. Time to buy a whole house backup generator. 8 hours of battery back up wasn't enough.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[laverda]

If you have an Apex, it can be configured in conjunction with a UPS battery to detect when there's a power outage, and turn off certain outlets to preserve battery runtime for water movement. Things like heaters, return pumps, skimmers, and lights all draw a lot of power and will drain a battery quickly. But if those devices automatically shut down, the powerheads can be run for many hours on battery.

See my Apex tutorial on how to set this up: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/neptune-apex-programming-tutorials-part-4-power-monitoring.698/

The only reason my Apex is hooked to my UPS is to notify me in a power outage. I do not trust it enough to do any more than that, especially in an emergency situation. I just hope it notifies me! The last time it should have been notifying me of a problem it never did. There is no reason to have a eb8 plugged into a UPS at all.

 

[laverda]

For longer outages the UPS batteries can be charged from a car or solar panels. I have one Tunze on a battery with a small solar cell charging it. I also have a back up generator.

 

[laverda]

Thank you for the detailed info. Much appreciated

Your welcome. I have 4 fish and several corals I have had for over 25 years and would be heart broken if I lost them due to poor planning or just relying on one thing that failed.

 

[SuncrestReef]

The only reason my Apex is hooked to my UPS is to notify me in a power outage. I do not trust it enough to do any more than that, especially in an emergency situation. I just hope it notifies me! The last time it should have been notifying me of a problem it never did. There is no reason to have a eb8 plugged into a UPS at all.

In order to get a notification from your Apex when the power is out, you'll need:

1. Your Apex configured for Power Monitoring (see my tutorial article linked above for instructions)
2. A 12v auxiliary power adapter for your Apex
3. Your Internet router connected to UPS battery power so the Apex alert can reach the Internet
4. Your EmailAlarm output configured to send the alert with If Power Apex OFF 000 Then ON

 

[Brian_68]

For me it was the purchase of a HF predator 3500 inverter generator and a $200 transfer switch tied to the aquarium breaker as well as furnnace and a few other circuits that I installed myself. I would lose power once or twice per year and have too much invested to worry about it. Used it a couple times and is money well spent.

 

[laverda]

In order to get a notification from your Apex when the power is out, you'll need:

1. Your Apex configured for Power Monitoring (see my tutorial article linked above for instructions)
2. A 12v auxiliary power adapter for your Apex
3. Your Internet router connected to UPS battery power so the Apex alert can reach the Internet
4. Your EmailAlarm output configured to send the alert with If Power Apex OFF 000 Then ON

1. Done already.
2. Hooked directly to the 12v battery of my UPS.
3. It is on a seperate UPS.
4. Done. Just hope it works!

 

[SuncrestReef]

1. Done already.
2. Hooked directly to the 12v battery of my UPS.
3. It is on a seperate UPS.
4. Done. Just hope it works!

The key to this is that the 12v auxiliary adapter needs to connect to an UNPROTECTED outlet for this to work. During a power outage, the Apex is still powered on via the AquaBus cable connected to the Energy Bar that's powered by the UPS battery. The 12v adapter needs to be plugged into a regular wall outlet that loses power. The Apex senses the 12v adapter going dead, and then realizes the house power is out. When the 12v adapter is dead, the IF Power Apex OFF statement evaluates True and can send the alert or turn off specified outputs to preserve battery life.

Here's how I have everything connected:

 

[laverda]

I hope that is not the only way it will work. My apex classic should maintain power from the battery. I have the fallowing statements in my emalalarm.
If Power EB8_3 OFF 000 Then ON
If Power EB8_4 OFF 000 Then ON
If Power EB8_8 OFF 000 Then ON
I need to unplug them all to test it when I get home.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I hope that is not the only way it will work. My apex classic should maintain power from the battery. I have the fallowing statements in my emalalarm.
If Power EB8_3 OFF 000 Then ON
If Power EB8_4 OFF 000 Then ON
If Power EB8_8 OFF 000 Then ON
I need to unplug them all to test it when I get home.

It all depends on what is plugged into UPS battery power and what is not. If you have multiple EB's, any that lose power during a power outage would trigger an "If Power EBx" command provided that the Apex maintains power via AquaBus from another EB that's plugged into a UPS. In my example above, I only have one EB832 and it's plugged into the UPS battery. The only way I can know the power is out is if the auxiliary power adapter loses power.