Power outage temperature control

BigJohnny · Sep 10, 2018

Hey Reefers,

I live in NC and we may lose power from Hurricane Florence. I have flow covered but for temperature my solution is far from ideal so I wanted to know when should I be worried? I'm lucky that the forecasted temperatures here are the following (hurricane starts wed or thursday). I keep my tank at 78. If we lose power I'm not sure how long it will be or what the temperatures will be like after the shown forecast. When would I expect to see issues with live stock in either direction?

Thanks

legionofdoon · Sep 10, 2018

Someone on the other thread said he hit 84 on his tank with out an issue during Irma.

BigJohnny · Sep 10, 2018

legionofdoon said:
Someone on the other thread said he hit 84 on his tank with out an issue during Irma.

Thanks. I wonder about the other end, although I think it's less likely the tank will cool down that much. I just want to know when I would need to run a heater. My other problem is my fish only eat live or frozen food lol, crash course in pellets starting now!

Dennis McGrath · Sep 10, 2018

How big is your tank? A larger tank would be a more gradual temperature increase. If you're not leaving the house, you can put ice in ziploc bags and drop in your tank to help.

BigJohnny · Sep 10, 2018

Dennis McGrath said:
How big is your tank? A larger tank would be a more gradual temperature increase. If you're not leaving the house, you can put ice in ziploc bags and drop in your tank to help.

Thanks. Yea I have plans for either scenario I'm just trying to determine when I'd see actual issues.

Dennis McGrath · Sep 10, 2018

I wish you all the best.

BigJohnny · Sep 10, 2018

Dennis McGrath said:
I wish you all the best.

Thanks, I'm hoping I wont even lose power but preparing for the worst.

legionofdoon · Sep 10, 2018

Good luck. Don't be surprised if you lose power without much storm damage. During Wilma FPL shut off our power before the storm hit us.

Pntbll687 · Sep 10, 2018

Spare car battery and a power inverter if you have a small tank. It should be able to run a powerhead and heater.

We had a power outage for a couple days a few months back. I got a battery and ran a heater and powerhead on my nano tank. I would run the heater and get the tank up to temp, then uplug the heater when I went to work. The water movement and breaking the surface for gas exchange is more important than temp at that point. This was on a 29g tank.

For my 200g tank, I got a gas generator and plugged in return pumps, heater, and skimmer. Ran for two days and didn't have problems.

What size tank do you have?

BigJohnny · Sep 10, 2018

Pntbll687 said:
Spare car battery and a power inverter if you have a small tank. It should be able to run a powerhead and heater.

We had a power outage for a couple days a few months back. I got a battery and ran a heater and powerhead on my nano tank. I would run the heater and get the tank up to temp, then uplug the heater when I went to work. The water movement and breaking the surface for gas exchange is more important than temp at that point. This was on a 29g tank.

For my 200g tank, I got a gas generator and plugged in return pumps, heater, and skimmer. Ran for two days and didn't have problems.

What size tank do you have?

90g 40g sump, estimated total volume 110g.

I have an ecotech battery back up to run an mp40 for 36 hrs. I also have 6 battery powered air pumps/air stones and 36 D batteries so I can oxygenate the water for over a week if the vortech didnt work for some reason. I also have a 1000w inverter for my car to run my heater if necessary and vortech once battery back up runs out.

I may purchase a 2000w generator today though as well.

A single car battery wouldnt run my heater for more than a few hours, although that assumes it's on 24/7 which wouldn't be the case. I may pick up a deep cycle marine battery of like 100ah+ that way I can run the heater without running my car/generator outside and running an extension cord into the house in potentially terrible weather.

What size battery did you use and how many watts was your equipment?

BigJohnny · Sep 10, 2018

Pntbll687 said:
Spare car battery and a power inverter if you have a small tank. It should be able to run a powerhead and heater.

We had a power outage for a couple days a few months back. I got a battery and ran a heater and powerhead on my nano tank. I would run the heater and get the tank up to temp, then uplug the heater when I went to work. The water movement and breaking the surface for gas exchange is more important than temp at that point. This was on a 29g tank.

For my 200g tank, I got a gas generator and plugged in return pumps, heater, and skimmer. Ran for two days and didn't have problems.

What size tank do you have?

Oh also what generator did you use.

Thanks

Dennis McGrath · Sep 10, 2018

BigJohnny said:
I may purchase a 2000w generator today though as well.

I would assume that finding a generator now would be difficult.

BigJohnny · Sep 10, 2018

Dennis McGrath said:
I would assume that finding a generator now would be difficult.

Definitely but luckily we have a truckload coming into my local home depot tonight

BigJohnny · Sep 10, 2018

Does anyone know when cold temps pose a threat? At what temp?

legionofdoon · Sep 10, 2018

From what I understand 72 is about the lowest I'd go. However I do believe some corals can tolerate 68.

legionofdoon · Sep 10, 2018

It's been my experience that it usually gets pretty hot following a storm but South Florida is pretty much tropical to begin with.

BigJohnny · Sep 10, 2018

legionofdoon said:
From what I understand 72 is about the lowest I'd go. However I do believe some corals can tolerate 68.

Ok thanks. Same for fish?

BigJohnny · Sep 10, 2018

legionofdoon said:
It's been my experience that it usually gets pretty hot following a storm but South Florida is pretty much tropical to begin with.

Yea I think I may need a fair amount of ice if we dont have ac. Fingers crossed.

legionofdoon · Sep 10, 2018

Yes fish too but they might not eat.

Pntbll687 · Sep 10, 2018

BigJohnny said:
Oh also what generator did you use.

Thanks

Just a 2500w generator from Walmart. Not sure of the brand. Ran the extension cord outside and got it as far away from the house so I didn't have to hear it running.

The power inverter ran a 150w heater and a powerhead. I unplugged the heater when I left for work at 8am and plugged it back in when I got home at 5. Tank temp only dropped from 78 to 73

If they don't have generators, the power inverter should last a couple days with just the powerhead going.

Best of luck, hope everything makes it if you lose power.