Bracing My Self For Irma

Coronus · Sep 7, 2017

A couple days from now and a Cat 5/4 hurricane will be knocking on my door.
I have been through more than a few hurricanes but this one seems different. Extremely large and high winds at 185 mph. This one has broken all the US records.
I am prepared......pretty much anyway.
I have 3x Vortec Battery back ups recently replaced the batteries brand new.
1 small generator 1200 watts
10 battery operated air pumps between gas and charges.
I figure when the Eco techs go out, Ill start the generator and run the retun pumps and heater. and charge the batteries on the eco techs.
Air pumps in the sumps the keep live rock alive.
Just keep switching everything out.
One major problem is this is a full blown sps tank. Alot of highend acros. Dosing 110 ml a day of cal and alk.
So what worries me is if the power is out for more than a few days. I plan on running lights a little but not much. Alk swings could happen. Growth will continue at first so I will need to test and manual dose. But it will stop at some point. And I have to be fully aware of how the alk is being effected so the alk swings arent severe.
Thoughts would be helpfull! Thanks

vlangel · Sep 8, 2017

Wow, I wish you the best. Unfortunately I am not qualified to offer any advise on sps in any situation much less a crisis.

Deniss · Sep 8, 2017

What if you let the system continue to run on the generator?

If this one is strong enough to take all the needed Watts ofcourse.

Highgrade · Sep 8, 2017

I would believe the main concern would be lighting. After 2-3 days things will start going downhill. Are you running LEDs,T5 or halides? Personally I'd be testing parameters a couple times a day to prepare for the unseen. If your dosing pump/reactor can continue to run off your generator you can make the needed adjustments to minimize swings. Even dose by hand if need be. Any large ALK swing would be the big factor to keep the SPS from RTN/STN. I lost a lot of SPS colonies/Fish when my return pump failed for 5 days over the summer when I was away on vacation. My issue was the recirculation from the sump that caused a majority of my problems. All the flow in the world couldn't save my acros. There was a major salinity change due to the evaporation( ATO in the sump), temp change since the heater is in the sump and ALK/CA/MG swings since my dosing pump runs to my sump. I wish you the best.

CoralWealth · Sep 8, 2017

wishing you the best!

I would take the dosing pump offline if you use 2 part, if you use a CaRx thats a different story, never used one so I am not sure what I would do. I would just use one pump in your display and focus the rest of the energy on using your lights for 3-4 hours a day (if possible) and running the return pump so the sump is flowing, I think that would be really important and of course stay on top of testing since the consumption wont be the same.

It seems like you have everything covered as much as possible. I am assuming the return pump isnt ecotech? If it is, you should be good with running that on one of your batterys and just run one of the ecotechs in your display on another. Then use the generator to run the light in the display for a couple hours and to fully charge the echo tech batteries.

I would dose by hand and just keep checking every 3-4 hours or whenever is possible. I dont know how hot it is suppose to be but I bet you wont have to run the heaters, if anything I would think you would worry about it being too hot unless you plan on your AC and stuff running. I would probably always run 2 battery air pumps at a time too.

jda · Sep 8, 2017

Good luck.

Figure out your daily equivalent dose of dry Baking Soda, Calcium Chloride and Epson Salt and be prepared in case the dosers are not online or get fried. Without the lights on (much, or any), calcification will be much lower. You are all over this, so just test and keep diligent.

If you run you Radions or other electronics off of a cheap generator, get a GOOD surge protector... not a harbor freight one. Cheap gennies are awesome, but can have voltage spikes especially around startup that could damage the power supply or unit it's self. This should not scare you at all, just be prepared. If you don't have one, unplug everything when you fire it up and wait until it is warm and running well before you plug things in.

I would not sweat a week of no lights. This is not idea and you might have some color loss, a bit of STN and even a few losses, but it will not be the end of the world. Even if you run the Radions at half your normal power for 4-6 hours a day, this will help. I was out for 10 days before in pitch black and I lost something stupid like maybe a Blue Slimer, but my Leng Sy and Purple Monster were totally OK, which are way harder to keep. The next time we were out of power, I had a generator and just ran the VHOs (no halides) and had no losses and no color loss either - it was like it never happened.

You might consider charging the batteries at night and allowing them to run the pumps during the day when you power the Radions with the generator.

Keep the bacteria alive with oxygen and you will be as good as you can get.

Coronus · Sep 8, 2017

Thanks for all the suggestions. Definitely will use them. 32 hrs away.
Gonna test alk every day
Run returns on Generator
Maybe lights a couple hours to feed and keep the reef some what energized. Really , I have a plan, but you never know till it unfolds.
Buddy had a great idea to freeze some ro water in zip locks to add to the tank if it gets too hot.

GatorScott · Sep 8, 2017

Good luck man! I was lucky enough to get a 12v battery powered air pump. So atleast my fish will live. Going to do what I can for corals but no generator here [emoji853]