Battery back up plan for my upcoming vacation

[Broutilde]

Hey everyone,
I'm sure that it's been posted before but I still can't figure out what to do.
I'll be leaving for one month in December and no-one will be in my apartment during that time. I live in Canada and it can get fairly cold in case of power outage.
Fair to say that if the power dies (and it happens at least 3 times a year, for 6 to 8 hours on average), I won't be able to plug in a portable power station nor a generator as I won't be home...
I'm in the process of getting an Apex that will be linked to my good reefer friend's account, so anything happen he can drive to my place and take action. Totally trust the guy, he's been reefing for years and made it his side business, but yeah he lives 30/40mn away and has a life, so he probably won't be able to come right away.
Anyways, I'm looking into finding some sort of battery back-up that kicks in right away if the power dies (like the ecotech battery back up) but I have a big issue: my wavemakers are 24V and my return pump is an not a DC pump (Eheim CompacON 3000). I'm not too sure if there's something out there compatible with either my wavemakers or my return pump. I'm handy but very electrically challenged, so I definitely can't DIY a back up system.
I don't plan on buying new MP10's (that are overpriced for what they are in my opinion) as I can't afford both Mp10s and back up batteries.
What would you advise me to do?
Thank you
E.

 

[CasperOe]

Hey everyone,
I'm sure that it's been posted before but I still can't figure out what to do.
I'll be leaving for one month in December and no-one will be in my apartment during that time. I live in Canada and it can get fairly cold in case of power outage.
Fair to say that if the power dies (and it happens at least 3 times a year, for 6 to 8 hours on average), I won't be able to plug in a portable power station nor a generator as I won't be home...
I'm in the process of getting an Apex that will be linked to my good reefer friend's account, so anything happen he can drive to my place and take action. Totally trust the guy, he's been reefing for years and made it his side business, but yeah he lives 30/40mn away and has a life, so he probably won't be able to come right away.
Anyways, I'm looking into finding some sort of battery back-up that kicks in right away if the power dies (like the ecotech battery back up) but I have a big issue: my wavemakers are 24V and my return pump is an not a DC pump (Eheim CompacON 3000). I'm not too sure if there's something out there compatible with either my wavemakers or my return pump. I'm handy but very electrically challenged, so I definitely can't DIY a back up system.
I don't plan on buying new MP10's (that are overpriced for what they are in my opinion) as I can't afford both Mp10s and back up batteries.
What would you advise me to do?
Thank you
E.

Here's a good DIY article on the subject

Are you planning on hooking up your heater too since you mention temperature? Or is the cold temperature the reason for the power outage?

 

[aaron186]

UPS or the tunze backup system that you can connect to a car battery could work.

If you wanna be cheap you can purchase a portable air pump and air stone (or 2 or 3 depending on tank size) and plug them in before you go. They have a 24 hour or more battery life. So when the power cuts the air pump will keep pumping air into the tank for 24 hours. It will look awful and make air bubbles in your tank but you won’t be there to see them. I did this during Hurricane Ian before I purchased my ecotech battery. Amazon sells a bunch of brands of them for 10-50 bucks.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hey everyone,
I'm sure that it's been posted before but I still can't figure out what to do.
I'll be leaving for one month in December and no-one will be in my apartment during that time. I live in Canada and it can get fairly cold in case of power outage.
Fair to say that if the power dies (and it happens at least 3 times a year, for 6 to 8 hours on average), I won't be able to plug in a portable power station nor a generator as I won't be home...
I'm in the process of getting an Apex that will be linked to my good reefer friend's account, so anything happen he can drive to my place and take action. Totally trust the guy, he's been reefing for years and made it his side business, but yeah he lives 30/40mn away and has a life, so he probably won't be able to come right away.
Anyways, I'm looking into finding some sort of battery back-up that kicks in right away if the power dies (like the ecotech battery back up) but I have a big issue: my wavemakers are 24V and my return pump is an not a DC pump (Eheim CompacON 3000). I'm not too sure if there's something out there compatible with either my wavemakers or my return pump. I'm handy but very electrically challenged, so I definitely can't DIY a back up system.
I don't plan on buying new MP10's (that are overpriced for what they are in my opinion) as I can't afford both Mp10s and back up batteries.
What would you advise me to do?
Thank you
E.

I have a similar problem quite often.

Don't forget the Apex can't send an alert to your friend without power and internet.

My solution is a large UPS system (5kVA) which keeps everything essential running for about 6 hours.
After that my LFS know how to come around and start the generator.

A UPS that size ain't cheap, but neither was the reef.

 

[aaron186]

Turbelle Safety Battery Backup Connector 6105.500

The Tunze Turbelle Safety Connector allows for a safe connection of your Tunze powerheads to most 12v batteries. It contains a 4 Amp fuse and permits normal operation with the Tunze power supply units. In case of a power failure, it will automatically switch over to a battery or another...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

This is the tunze system. I believe it’s simple to install and can work on different brands but I’m not sure. There’s a lot of YouTube videos worth checking on it

 

[aaron186]

I have a similar problem quite often.

Don't forget the Apex can't send an alert to your friend without power and internet.

My solution is a large UPS system (5kVA) which keeps everything essential running for about 6 hours.
After that my LFS know how to come around and start the generator.

A UPS that size ain't cheap, but neither was the reef.

Enable the heartbeat on your apex and you’ll get a notification when it loses connection, which you should assume is a power outage until proven otherwise

 

[gbroadbridge]

Enable the heartbeat on your apex and you’ll get a notification when it loses connection, which you should assume is a power outage until proven otherwise

How does it send a notification when it has no power?

 

[aaron186]

How does it send a notification when it has no power?

It’s an online service. Your apex sends a signal to the fusion account every minute or whatever interval. When the signal fails because power is out (or the apex is disconnected) it sends a cloud based alert to your phone.

 

[BaliReefBox]

i dont have one but by the sounds of it it pulses the remote node and when the pulse stops the remote sends the notification

 

[CasperOe]

Enable the heartbeat on your apex and you’ll get a notification when it loses connection, which you should assume is a power outage until proven otherwise

Yeah, mine does that! Luckily, power outages are quite rare where I stay, so I only have a backup on my MP40s.

We are looking into a full house solution such as this- but that's a fair bit down the line though.

 

[aaron186]

I just found this on Amazon.

Penn Plax Silent Air Battery Operated Aquarium Air Pump for Power Outage Automatic Turn On Keeps Fish Safe
https://a.co/d/eYh13SO

Might be all you need

 

[Broutilde]

Here's a good DIY article on the subject

Are you planning on hooking up your heater too since you mention temperature? Or is the cold temperature the reason for the power outage?

Oh boy I was dreading the DIY...
Yeah I'm aiming at heater and wavemaker or return pump. I just want oxygen and heat as long as possible.

 

[Broutilde]

I just found this on Amazon.

Penn Plax Silent Air Battery Operated Aquarium Air Pump for Power Outage Automatic Turn On Keeps Fish Safe
https://a.co/d/eYh13SO

Might be all you need

I have one like this for my freshwater tank! Unfortunately it works when it wants to work... I've had power outages when it never kicked in, yay.

 

[Broutilde]

UPS or the tunze backup system that you can connect to a car battery could work.

If you wanna be cheap you can purchase a portable air pump and air stone (or 2 or 3 depending on tank size) and plug them in before you go. They have a 24 hour or more battery life. So when the power cuts the air pump will keep pumping air into the tank for 24 hours. It will look awful and make air bubbles in your tank but you won’t be there to see them. I did this during Hurricane Ian before I purchased my ecotech battery. Amazon sells a bunch of brands of them for 10-50 bucks.

I'll look into the Tunze. Never heard of it (but I live under a rock) so if it works with my setup, I'm golden. Thanks!

 

[CasperOe]

Oh boy I was dreading the DIY...
Yeah I'm aiming at heater and wavemaker or return pump. I just want oxygen and heat as long as possible.

Just have in mind that your heater will draw an awful lot of power!