Power out in NW PA

markak · Apr 11, 2013

My worst fear a poweroutage, has been out since 5pm Wed. So far My Copper Band is upsidedown on the sandbed not moving DEAD.

oh: Yellow Tang not looking good either. I have a generator running but it won't run my 250w return pump or my heaters. I 'm so bummed just watching things in the tank just slipping away.

oh:

Trentondrummer33 · Apr 11, 2013

Could manually aerate the water by getting a pitcher, Stand on a chair and dump tank water back into the tank from as high up as you can

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Trentondrummer33 · Apr 11, 2013

Either way sry to hear, your giving me sandy flashbacks

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Dtech07 · Apr 11, 2013

Don't run everything at once if your generator can't handle it run things in spurts and off set them even if you have to do it manually. Run the heat for 10min off for 30min then wrap the tank with a Blanket and put jugs with warm or hot watering it. Run the return pump by itself for 30min off for 30min and turn all unimportant things off. My generator can run my whole system but I turned off my sump lighting Myron display lights (until day two then had them on low for 4 hours but had the heaters off). This process should work for even the smallest generator if planned and watched. Hope if helps and that all goes well for you during this difficult time. Take care
Darryl

c_healy · Apr 11, 2013

That seems very quick for things to start popping up dead. I have had fish in transit for longer and they were fine. As stated run things in spurts and the hot water in a jug will work to keep things warm. That is if you have a gas top stove and can heat water.

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Dtech07 · Apr 11, 2013

Or if you have a gas or charcoal grill heat the water up with a pot and add to a plastic jug.

Rob&Gab · Apr 11, 2013

best thing to do screw the heater.! make sure you have power heads on for a hour and then put sump back on for an hour switch up the way you have it. cause they can survive like that. i hope everything is okay. protein skimmer will be fine if its off a little dirty water for a day isnt going to hurt.

markak · Apr 11, 2013

Got powerheads up and going. Tried just pluging in 1 extension cord only into the generator and plug in my return pump and it only hums won't turn over. The generator is rated 5500 watts, it should be able to run a 250 watt pump? Just looked in tank with flashlite all fish are dead, corals are closed up but look ok for now.

markak · Apr 11, 2013

Water Temp down to 70

tidus10 · Apr 11, 2013

c_healy said:
That seems very quick for things to start popping up dead. I have had fish in transit for longer and they were fine. As stated run things in spurts and the hot water in a jug will work to keep things warm. That is if you have a gas top stove and can heat water.

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+1 people ship fish all the time and it can be 24hrs sometimes in a bag.. but id deff wrap a blanket on it, drape one over the top and float warm water.. its always a tough situation.. good luck

Bow · Apr 11, 2013

5500watts? Should be able to run most of a small house. What kind of generator?

cdness · Apr 11, 2013

Some pumps don't do well on generators or UPS battery backups...

Keep some simple powerheads on hand for this issue as they take little to no power to run.

See this article for more ideas: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-discussion/73699-reacting-loss-power.html

markak · Apr 11, 2013

Bow said:
5500watts? Should be able to run most of a small house. What kind of generator?

Thats what I thought when I bought it. The brand is UST from Big Lots. Right now it running my fridge upright freezer my TV w direct TV , a lamp, 2 vortecs 40 powerheads ,and a canaster filter with no drain on the generator.

markak · Apr 11, 2013

I don't know why it won't run my Panworld pump???????

Bow · Apr 11, 2013

Like cdness said, some generators produce "dirty power" if the htz provided is off just enough some things don't like it. Try a different outlet off the generator, or if you have a 30amp 220v to a 110 manufactured cord try that. Most hardware stores will carry those to.

Bow · Apr 11, 2013

Like cdness said, some generators produce "dirty power" if the htz provided is off just enough some things don't like it. Try a different outlet off the generator, or if you have a 30amp 220v to a 110 manufactured cord try that. Most hardware stores will carry those to.

Keepnitreel · Apr 11, 2013

Bow said:
5500watts? Should be able to run most of a small house. What kind of generator?

That 5500watts is most likely not continuous watts. Companies will put peak Watts on generators in large print to make it appear more powerful than it really is, just as they do with stereo systems. Peak vs continuous vary greatly.

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kyle1284 · Apr 11, 2013

water movement (gas exchange) and heat is what you need for survival. Screw the return if you have power heads in the tank. Take the heaters out of the sump and put them in the display tank with the power heads. point the power heads at the surface of the water to the point when you can kind of hear splashing. Depending on what kind of power heads you have get them so high in the water column that they draw in air from the surface and spit it out into the tank along with tank water. Dont let them run dry. if you do this you will have plenty of water movement with gas exchange and the tank will stay heated until the power is restored. Good Luck

Bow · Apr 11, 2013

Keepnitreel said:
That 5500watts is most likely not continuous watts. Companies will put peak Watts on generators in large print to make it appear more powerful than it really is, just as they do with stereo systems. Peak vs continuous vary greatly.

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That's true but even if that's peak it's designed to handle that load for motor start up. For ac, refrigerator or well pumps. I'm guessing most of us have only 1 maybe 2 circuits powering all our systems. Even if its a 20 amp circuit that's only about 2400 watts max. Unless the pumps and heaters he is trying to run are 220v. Lol lets just hope his power comes back quick

turbo21 · Apr 11, 2013

pull the dead fish out as soon as you can and get some carbon in there. dont worry about the heater. i had my tank drop to 64 degrees because soemone knocked the reset on a surge. it was that way for 2 days and no loss of fish or corals.

you can also use peroxide to increase the oxygen levels in a tank. and yes peroxide is safe to use. there is a thread on it here about dosing for the treatment of dinos

read this link

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