Have a PLAN ..... for power outages!

[ca1ore]

At the risk of seeming lecturous (as opposed to letcherous), in the current climate, no pun intended, everyone should have a plan in the event of power outages. Seems to me it’s become the biggest threat to a healthy tank. Doesn’t have to be a $10K whole house generator, it can be battery powered bubblers or a battery backup or two. Teenage son and a kitchen wisk isn’t a good plan - as entertaining as it would be to watch. Temperature can become an issue, but with heavily stocked reef tanks a lack of oxygen gets critical much faster.

As I discovered long ago, waiting until there’s a major power outage is not a good time to try to buy a portable generator because you’ve not exercised the one you already had in years. Also not a time to try to find/buy a battery operated airstone. Friend of mine was a disaster planner for a manufacturing factory. Always said it’s better to have and not need that to need and not have.

Make a plan!

 

[X-37B]

At the risk of seeming lecturous (as opposed to letcherous), in the current climate, no pun intended, everyone should have a plan in the event of power outages. Seems to me it’s become the biggest threat to a healthy tank. Doesn’t have to be a $10K whole house generator, it can be battery powered bubblers or a battery backup or two. Teenage son and a kitchen wisk isn’t a good plan - as entertaining as it would be to watch. Temperature can become an issue, but with heavily stocked reef tanks a lack of oxygen gets critical much faster.

As I discovered long ago, waiting until there’s a major power outage is not a good time to try to buy a portable generator because you’ve not exercised the one you already had in years. Also not a time to try to find/buy a battery operated airstone. Friend of mine was a disaster planner for a manufacturing factory. Always said it’s better to have and not need that to need and not have.

Make a plan!

Agree. I have a new 5k generator.
Also start your generator a few times a year. My 25 year old one died but I had the new one in a box for about 6 months because of all the fires.
PG&E randomly shuts off power if it gets windy.
I can run the fridge 2 tanks and the snake room without worries.
Like a reef tank, always have a backup of everything.
A plan will make life and reefing easier when issues arise.

 

[CMMorgan]

Just a word of advice... if you are relying on a generator then you better start it up once a month or so. Those things are known for seizing up. I've found several people left in a bad place for not having an ounce of prevention.

 

[OrionN]

Texas, and the US, is in a deep freeze emergency. Good good to all the reef tanks that are without normal power and endure this extreme weather.

 

[Gtinnel]

I have a whole home generator, and they're expensive but they are well worth the price. It is a great investment in to your home.

Teenage son and a kitchen wisk isn’t a good plan

Many years ago I used this method to oxygenate my tank once in a power outage. No son at that time so I had to whisk my tank myself. All joking aside oxygen wise it's still better than nothing...I assume.

 

[Hydrored]

Also have rolling/scheduled blackouts in Texas. Tough time to own a reef tank, wife was telling me about the numerous post in people loosing tanks on Facebook. She has been offering that we can hold it for people, nobody has taken us up on it so we’ll see what the next couple days bring

 

[Sdot]

I had a Generac generator installed in October. Im thanking my lucky stars. This was the 1st time i had to use it.... between the frequent blackouts, 39 run-hours later my tank and i are good.

 

[SamsReef]

At the risk of seeming lecturous (as opposed to letcherous), in the current climate, no pun intended, everyone should have a plan in the event of power outages. Seems to me it’s become the biggest threat to a healthy tank. Doesn’t have to be a $10K whole house generator, it can be battery powered bubblers or a battery backup or two. Teenage son and a kitchen wisk isn’t a good plan - as entertaining as it would be to watch. Temperature can become an issue, but with heavily stocked reef tanks a lack of oxygen gets critical much faster.

As I discovered long ago, waiting until there’s a major power outage is not a good time to try to buy a portable generator because you’ve not exercised the one you already had in years. Also not a time to try to find/buy a battery operated airstone. Friend of mine was a disaster planner for a manufacturing factory. Always said it’s better to have and not need that to need and not have.

Make a plan!

Totally agree. Actually Black Friday is where I bought both my generators. One 15 years back when I first got into the hobby and then couple of years back I replaced it with a much lighter, much more portable 4KW generator. I wanted to make sure anyone in my house can bring it on.

sam

 

[Gtinnel]

I had a Generac generator installed in October. Im thanking my lucky stars. This was the 1st time i had to use it.... between the frequent blackouts, 39 run-hours later my tank and i are good.

I also have a generac whole house generator and so far I luckily haven't had to use it for more than a few minutes. It seems like my power went off all the time before I got it and now that it's installed my power never really goes out.

 

[botheboss]

I’m in Arkansas and last time this or anything close to this happened in 2012. Lost power for 10 day only heat was in my truck. Was cooking on a fire in the back yard and it was as cold inside as it was outside. Now I have 2 generators and everything in my house is gas. I also have 2 kids and 2 dogs there is no way I’d let the go through that.

 

[ca1ore]

I also have a generac whole house generator and so far I luckily haven't had to use it for more than a few minutes. It seems like my power went off all the time before I got it and now that it's installed my power never really goes out.

Yeah ..... its the 'wash your car and then it never rains' analogy. I installed a whole house back in 2018 and then we never had outages; well, until this last Summer when the power was out for three days. thing worked like a charm.

 

[Sdot]

I also have a generac whole house generator and so far I luckily haven't had to use it for more than a few minutes. It seems like my power went off all the time before I got it and now that it's installed my power never really goes out.

This was my exact scenario. Im glad i have mine though! My neighbor sent me this picture and i felt terrible... so i turned off my garage and front porch lights...

 

[ca1ore]

My neighbor is an elderly widow and I keep a 100' heavy duty extension cord in the garage that we run to her house in the event of a power outage. Wont run her heating of course, but it will handle the fridge and a few lights.

 

[fish farmer]

At the hatchery I work at we have three big generators (two diesel, one propane). Of course the main one needs some work....make sure you mouse proof your gennys.

The propane one runs a home and recirc pumps for one series of rearing tanks. We also have many gas powered pumps with hoses in strategic locations.

We also have a huge liquid oxygen tank where most rearing tanks having one or two airstones per tank.

Sometimes if a storm is coming we will manually switch to genny power so we don't have to worry about the switch over. We have a weird supply of power, we use three phase, but it isn't true three phase in that it comes on two separate lines, so if one goes down we'll brownout and won't have enough for the main well pumps.

 

[Bleigh]

At the risk of seeming lecturous (as opposed to letcherous), in the current climate, no pun intended, everyone should have a plan in the event of power outages. Seems to me it’s become the biggest threat to a healthy tank. Doesn’t have to be a $10K whole house generator, it can be battery powered bubblers or a battery backup or two. Teenage son and a kitchen wisk isn’t a good plan - as entertaining as it would be to watch. Temperature can become an issue, but with heavily stocked reef tanks a lack of oxygen gets critical much faster.

As I discovered long ago, waiting until there’s a major power outage is not a good time to try to buy a portable generator because you’ve not exercised the one you already had in years. Also not a time to try to find/buy a battery operated airstone. Friend of mine was a disaster planner for a manufacturing factory. Always said it’s better to have and not need that to need and not have.

Make a plan!

I have a small generator for my tanks that has been used multiple times now. Definitely worth the investment here. I have plans for a 120-180 gallon LPS tank and a 300-400 gallon SPS tank. With the frequency of outages and prolonged outages in my area, I plan on investing in one of the more expensive whole house generators some time between putting up the LPS and SPS tanks. I think of my corals as my pets and I need to protect them. I also feel strongly about conservation and I cannot describe the gut punch I feel when I loose a coral. It feels like I am letting the whole ocean down.

 

[zalick]

My neighbor is an elderly widow and I keep a 100' heavy duty extension cord in the garage that we run to her house in the event of a power outage. Wont run her heating of course, but it will handle the fridge and a few lights.

I have a whole house Generac with automatic transfer switch.

For anyone that owns their home, this is a wise investment IMO.

My neighbors on each side and across the street all know that in the event of extended power outage, they each get an extension cord to my house.

I also have a 5000w portable gas generator as a backup.

And it's not just about the weather. Our aging electric system can fail for many reasons.

 

[JTDeLaRosa]

This was my exact scenario. Im glad i have mine though! My neighbor sent me this picture and i felt terrible... so i turned off my garage and front porch lights...

Preparation meeting opportunity! Nice move....

 

[ca1ore]

I also have a 5000w portable gas generator as a backup.

I like it! I also kept my old portable ..... a backup for the backup. A few years ago one of my neighbors had a tree take out his Generac ..... and then another one further up the street took out the mains. Talk about lousy luck.

 

[Robert Riccio]

I had a Generac generator installed in October. Im thanking my lucky stars. This was the 1st time i had to use it.... between the frequent blackouts, 39 run-hours later my tank and i are good.

I agree. One of the better items I spent money on for my home.

 

[mfinn]

Great topic.
This should be one of the things people tell people new to the hobby.

There is nothing more shocking ( especially at night) when the lights go out, everything is silent, except the sound of your tanks overflow draining the last bit of water into the sump.