Battery Backup
- Thread starter RDFISH
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MCooper
MCooper
what size tank you use them on?
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Rybren
Valuable Member
No, it doesn't have to be running all the time. However, it does have to be plugged into a wall outlet so that it can detect a power loss.
Rybren
Valuable Member
I had it on a 75G for ~6.5 years and is now on my 120G. There is no need for an airstone on it either. I have mine connected to a section of rigid airline tubing that extends to the bottom of the tank and is hidden behind the rockwork.
I do have a portable generator that I can use (and have used) for extended outages. I also have a 400W true sine wave inverter that I can plug into my car's DC adapter to run the return pump and heater in case I can't get the genny going.
Greenstreet.1
5000 Club Member
Ok guys what upc would you recommend to run
Mp40 x2
Mp10
Eheim 200w heater
Jebao dc 9000 return pump
For at least 48hrs
Mp40 x2
Mp10
Eheim 200w heater
Jebao dc 9000 return pump
For at least 48hrs
AllSignsPointToFish
"No Longer The Guy Without FaceBook"
That 200W heater will be the killer. You will need a portable inverter or several large deep cycle batteries to make it 48 hours with that load. You might be able to get away with a couple of golf cart batteries and and inverter, but for similar money, I would just buy the portable gasoline inverter (essentially a small generator designed to be more portable).
By the way, I'm not really sure you need all of those pumps in a power outage scenario. You can probably get away with one power head and the return pump to minimize load. You also should probably consider running the DC-9000 pump at a reduced speed to conserve power in such a scenario.
AllSignsPointToFish
"No Longer The Guy Without FaceBook"
Just be cautious so you don't get a false sense of security as the devil is in the details on this one. Please note that they claim 24 hours of backup power on the lowest speed and W1 setting. The W1 setting is a square wave which means the pump is off approximately half of the time. I don't know about your tank, but with my tank the W1 setting does not move enough water, and unless you're around when the power goes out to switch the pump to these settings (assuming you don't already run those settings all the time), then the battery backup will be considerably shorter than 24 hours. FWIW.You can buy this CoralBox battery back up from Fishstreet for around $100 They claim it will power my Jabeo rw8 for 24 hrs.
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Agreed. The Jabeo/Icecap battery backup has 5x less capacity then the Ecotech back up. The Ecotech also decreases the power to 30% where as that one does not. I wish there was a good option for the Gyre. Even the biggest UPS would only run it for a few hours
reeffirstaid
Active Member
I recommend smart battery back-ups. Their are several on the market, and most have an LED screen that shows the battery charge level, along with estimated run-time under the current load. What's best, is they can send you an email in the event of an outage, and allow you to check their status from anywhere. Just make sure to also back-up your modem and router.
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If you are referring to a UPS, they will not last very long
reeffirstaid
Active Member
I am referring to a UPS, although the purpose of the smart battery back-up, is simply to notify the aquarist of an outage, in the event they are asleep or away. I actually get about 4 hours from a high-end smart UPS, but they are pretty pricey. Also, when using UPS' it's best to have a bank of them. Four or five UPS units connected with a smart UPS, can provide several hours of back-up, and also notify you of outages.
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Or if you have an Ecotech pump it can last a few days.....I do wonder how long the Vectors will run for.
Rybren
Valuable Member
It does in my system. You really don't need a whole lot of flow and movement.
Because I also have a generator and a DC powered inverter, the air pump is fine to keep things going until I decide that I need to run something else. It once kept the tank going for 6 hours in the dead of winter with no heat in the house. There were no losses.
AllSignsPointToFish
"No Longer The Guy Without FaceBook"
No just the bacteria but also the fish. They consume a lot of oxygen and can deplete a tank quickly.
reeffirstaid
Active Member
My personal experience with trying to circumvent the need for total system back-up, has shown that total system back-up is really the only method to prevent long-term issues. In the past (10+ years ago) I tried using battery powered pumps, only UPS devices and these types of things, for backup during power failures. It seems to me, that while they may prevent a total tank loss, there is always a trade-off, and it's often not apparent for a while down the road. Normally, when I used such devices, within weeks or months, I noticed coral tissue recession, rapid swings in water chemistry (typically nutrient build-up) any form of nitrate reactor would de-cycle entirely and often my system would have a mini-cycle. It's my guess, that such a number of beneficial bacteria die off, that it greatly effects a tank's overall bio-filter. My view today, is that the only 100% bulletproof way to back-up a reef tank, is with a gas generator that backs-up everything. Smart UPS devices and battery banks, I only use to notify me of a power outage, and to give my tank a few hours of full power, if the power goes out while I am away or asleep. When I become aware of the outage, I switch the tank entirely to generator power for the duration of the outage.
