Power outages

MsAmethyst · Jul 15, 2016

What erquipment is best to help with emergency power outages?

I have a Biocube 29 and live in Florida and there can be frequent storms.

I bought a battery bubbler I found at Petco and modified it best I could but it's just not strong or enough.

How do I prevent a tank crash?
What do I look for as signs of what is needed?
What can I do if I have no power and what I have until I can get what can help me?

Alanc425 · Jul 15, 2016

I'm going to assume heat isn't an issue for you so I would just say a battery with power inverter. Should be enough for a single powerhead and last a few days. Most important part is just keeping water moving and aerated.

MsAmethyst · Jul 15, 2016

Could you link me to what kind of battery with power inverter you mean? Would I just plus my tunze into that?

Humblefish · Jul 15, 2016

A member of my local forum wrote this: Hurricane / power outage tank survival

Harry_Y · Jul 15, 2016

From my experience the tanks can handle cold much better than heat..
I once had a 4 day power outage, and only lost one shrimp (someone had a snack)

For me I just kept the room dark and did not feed them.
But, I also tend to under-stock my tank so that does help.

I have how ever picked up 3 battery powered air pumps in case it happens again (extended outage)

MsAmethyst · Jul 15, 2016

I'm most worried about oxygenation and ammonia build up from no flow.

jsker · Jul 15, 2016

What you need is water movement, small powerhead/pump and a battery back up will work. You can use a pc battery back up or there are pumps sold with an optional battery back up that works for 24 to 48 hours depending on the power usage.

Harry_Y · Jul 15, 2016

By not feeding it will help the ammonia build up.
Keeping the tank dark will help the fish to be calm and use less O2
also as the temp drops they should also use less O2

Humblefish · Jul 15, 2016

MsAmethyst said:
Could you link me to what kind of battery with power inverter you mean? Would I just plus my tunze into that?

A marine battery would be best (more info here) and you connect it to this to run your pumps: https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-Outlets-Power-Inverter-Battery/dp/B004NZI4K6/

But a battery powered air pump will keep you going for a long time as well. Just make sure you have plenty of extra batteries.

mcarroll · Jul 15, 2016

MsAmethyst said:
What erquipment is best to help with emergency power outages?

I have a Biocube 29 and live in Florida and there can be frequent storms.

I bought a battery bubbler I found at Petco and modified it best I could but it's just not strong or enough.

How do I prevent a tank crash?
What do I look for as signs of what is needed?
What can I do if I have no power and what I have until I can get what can help me?

If your place is REALLY prone to outages, get a generator and set it up to kick on automatically. Lots of ways to go about this....give it some thought and call a pro.

For an in-between solution, consider an inverter for your car...depending on how much you spend, and your car, it will either run your bubbler, or your whole system, for as long as your gas tank lasts. (Using a deep cycle battery should only be needed for heavier duty usage.....where I'd start thinking about a generator instead. Good batteries are big, heavy and pretty expensive.)

For more ordinary outage circumstances, the best bet is to stock your tank a lot more conservatively than you generally see around. A moderately stocked tank is unlikely to have problems surviving a "normal" power outage with a battery powered bubbler going. Your biofilter is everywhere in the tank....as long as the bubbler is working, there's water circulation and everything should be OK.

pgammon · Jul 16, 2016

+1 on the generator, I even had a dedicated plug wired in my house so all I have to do is start the generator and move my return pump plug. It doesn't start automatically, maybe one day!

MsAmethyst · Jul 16, 2016

When we get the fund for a generator I definitely want one but it's not in the cards for now.

I'll take a look at all the links provided! Thanks so much!

Alanc425 · Jul 16, 2016

Forgot about this unit too, found one in my closet the other day. It's battery powered and you can plug it into an outlet so it kicks on automatically when power goes out. Should be more than enough to keep a 29g alive without spending $$$.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/silent-air-pump-with-battery-powered-back-up-sab11.html

Harry_Y · Jul 19, 2016

Alanc425 said:
Forgot about this unit too, found one in my closet the other day. It's battery powered and you can plug it into an outlet so it kicks on automatically when power goes out. Should be more than enough to keep a 29g alive without spending $$$.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/silent-air-pump-with-battery-powered-back-up-sab11.html

Those are similar to the ones I have

One concern I do have is a way to heat my tank in winter if the power goes out

I have a fireplace to help heat the room and a gas water heater for the house,
I have thought about running a coil of thin tubing through the tank with hot water flowing through it.

FishOfHex · Jul 20, 2016

MsAmethyst said:
What erquipment is best to help with emergency power outages?

I have a Biocube 29 and live in Florida and there can be frequent storms.

I bought a battery bubbler I found at Petco and modified it best I could but it's just not strong or enough.

How do I prevent a tank crash?
What do I look for as signs of what is needed?
What can I do if I have no power and what I have until I can get what can help me?

MsAmethyst · Jul 21, 2016

Alanc425 said:
Forgot about this unit too, found one in my closet the other day. It's battery powered and you can plug it into an outlet so it kicks on automatically when power goes out. Should be more than enough to keep a 29g alive without spending $$$.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/silent-air-pump-with-battery-powered-back-up-sab11.html

This looks a lot like the unit I found at Petco for my in the mean time. My husband found an old PC backup that were trying to find out if it would be functional and reliable.

Frop · Jul 21, 2016

I have a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) for my CCTV system, should a burgler turn my power off. It's literally been running 27watts for 45min and it still shows 97% power (though I don't trust that %). 50 watts is said to run 3 hours on it and seems it is somewhat exponential on time/watt. Probably won't last all day though..
Idk what your pumps are at but my fish tank return pump is 4watts because my tank is tiny. I might add another small powerhead.

If not $200+ and maybe you can buy a solar panel and just have it charging a car battery. Should the power go out at night the batter(y/ies) will keep it charged and if in the day the sun will keep it up.

I am in a bad neighborhood. I mean if there was a crysis people would rob those who have generators, why? Because they have power so they probably have food. If you are solar the noise is less likely to alert anyone plus neighbors will thank you at 2am. If you have wind you can buy a wind turbine (the one on Amazon tops out at like 30mph winds from appearance they're more cost effiencent than solar too).

jpontier212 · Jul 21, 2016

I live in South florida also and i have found that most of us have a small generator around but i have a power inverter that i bought from Harbor freight that i paid $40 on sale. It runs of the battery terminal on a battery. i have found a cheap deep cycle marine boat battery and have a trickle charger also for pre charging before the hurricane hits, If i can manage my devices properly and with timers and such i can get a week with powerheads and running my back up hob protein skimmer for an hour every 24 hrs for 1 week if need be. [HASHTAG]#learning[/HASHTAG]