Power Outage options

[LoneStarReef]

We currently have a potential Cat 4 hurricane approaching and that for the first time made me worry about prolonged power outages and consequences for my tank. Since I moved into my current place, we only had one major power outage (12+ hrs), once, and that was before I had my tank up. Since then, no power outages (*knock on wood*), but shorter outages (a few hours) are common in the general area. Hence, we did not yet feel the need to buy a generator (hurricanes are very very rare - so are blizzards )

How long can a 40 gal FOWLR tank go without power? It's not cold, so I'm not too worried about heating. But what about the filter? I have a normal stack on filter, no elaborate setup. But, I thought, beside filtering of course, it's needed for keeping the water oxygenated?

You can buy an icecap battery backup to power a small powerhead for a while. I don’t remember the exact numbers (as to how long it will run the powerhead) but it might work perfectly for your 40.

 

[LoneStarReef]

Fairly new to reefing, and have had my tank up almost 6 months and had my first "significant" power outage after a storm overnight. Total power out time was only about 14 hours, but I was starting to get concerned when the power company kept moving out the estimate for the fix. Fish and corals were no worse for wear and they don't seem phased a bit, but it was less than a day and temps stayed pretty close to normal.

I have a 75g DT with a 20g sump, skimmer, ATO, GAC reactor, UV, T5/LED Hybrid lighting, and a ReefKeeper Elite Controller. Current livestock : 2 Frostbite Clowns, 3 BG Chromis, Lawnmower Blenny, Tomini Tang and a few snails and hermits. Corals include a couple Acans, Duncan, Hammer and some SPS including an Acro, a Stylo, a milli and a pocillipora.

My questions are, what do you folks do for power loss mitigation? Generator? UPS Battery backup? What are the minimum systems that you would try to keep running to sustain livestock? How long before you get worried (I realize that is probably dependent on bio-load). I was thinking about looking at a UPS and only have like return pump, heater and maybe a skimmer on it but still don't think it would last long enough in a major type of outage. I am adding solar panels this summer, so hopefully I won't have to worry about it soon, but still like to contingency plan.

Would love to what others do in cases of power loss. Thanks in advance!

I would suggest both a battery backup and a generator. The smaller battery backups (UPS, icecap, etc) really aren’t good enough to run your return pump and powerhead for any length of time but I would use them to run a powerhead to get some circulation going in the short term. This will buy you time to get the generator up and going (if needed) for an extended outage.

 

[ZoWhat]

My suggestion is not tripping over the extension cord

 

[Jet915]

I recently had my circuit breaker trip due to the really hot weather outside. Luckily I was home and was able to run an extension cord to another outlet while I figured out what happened. Since then, Ive had an electrician install a dedicated 20 amp circuit that Ive plugged most 9f my tank equipment to. Then I got an APC 1500v battery that I plugged a wavemaker into. It runs a wavemaker for about 4.5 hours. Next step is to buy a small generator....

 

[siniang]

Severe weather seems clearly on the rise, which was why I decided to go with a better generator. Blizzards are common here in the US North East and I think it's just a matter of time before we get a hurricane. You don't say where you are ..... But generally oxygen is the most immediate problem. Good idea to have battery powered airstones on hand.

Well, I'd be extremely surprised if we got a blizzard here in Hawaii (but never say never) But yes, I know that blizzards are indeed common in the US North East (my parents were without power for 3 or 4 days straight one of those last winters), and so are hurricanes (I was there during Sandy).

Will pick up an airstone, just in case. I wonder if those computer-battery-backups are any good? I just looked up the IceCap and I don't think I'd be able to get it anywhere here and it most definitely won't arrive in time if I ordered online. But thank you for the suggestion!

https://www.costco.com/CyberPower-6...-with-Surge-Protection.product.100293160.html
https://www.costco.com/APC-BN1350G-Battery-BackupSurge-Protector.product.100428222.html

 

[siniang]

So, another hurricane is aiming for the islands. In the mean-time I picked up one of those battery backups. With light and heater it says I'll get about 2 hours out of it. With only the filter, it says an estimated 500 minutes. Not great in the worst case but better than nothing (the longest power outage I personally have experienced was 12 hours and that wasn't after a major storm, only after a thunderstorm when lightning hit the main trafo station...). I also picked up one of those battery-operated air bubblers.

I keep wondering, how long can a 40 gallon survive without airation/filtration? No corals or such, only two fish.

What about temperature? It does get "cooler" at night (we have a good 20 degree difference between day and night with minimums of high 50s/low 60s and it takes quite some time to warm up in the morning)

 

[lapin]

Battery back up hooked to 1 powerhead and an air pump. Honda generator + 5 gallons of gas. Generac whole house with transfer switch 1000 gallon natural gas tank. Powers tank room, refridge and house water supply pump. If it does not work then I know I have done everything I could.