Reef Tank Power Backup

[Syed123]

Hey guys,

I'm at the point with my reef tank where I cannot afford to lose it to a power loss. I was wondering if I can get some info on the best power backup for my aquarium in the chance of a power outage, especially if I'm out of town. My tank is not high tech by any means but pretty basic.

Tank is a 90 gallon skimmerless reef tank.

Equipment:

Tunze DOC skimmer 9012

4 Tunze 6045 powerheads

2 150 Watt Eheim Heaters

Tunze 3155 ATO

Bubble Magus Doser BM T01

Marine Series Pro Metal Halide Fixture(2 x 150 watt Halides, 4 x 54 watt T5HO bulbs)

In terms of life support, I think the 2 heaters, 2 of the 4 powerheads as well as the ATO should be at minimum run by the power back up?

 

[DLHDesign]

I went with a Tesla Powerwall, but that's likely a bit more extreme than what you're thinking... ;-)

 

[Syed123]

I went with a Tesla Powerwall, but that's likely a bit more extreme than what you're thinking... ;-)

Yeah that might be a bit of an overkill.

Pretty neat though.

 

[Tbell805]

What kind of power loss are you trying to make it through? I'm just curious because that will impact the kind of backup you need. If you are going for something longer than a day then you are going to need a generator. I've got an icecap battery backup for my gyres to make it through a power outage for the first day. I dont really care about heat for the first 6 hours after that I become more concerned and will either bust out the generator or do other methods of maintaining heat like wrapping my tank in blankets or putting hot water into milk jugs and letting them float.

 

[DLHDesign]

One thing to consider; if you are away an an outage happens, will you know? Most of the time, the answer is "no". Which means that anything you want to keep on during an outage will need to be on a dedicated power source (which would run through the backup system). If you have a controller (such as an Apex or the like), this can actually be difficult to isolate (not impossible; just difficult - otherwise known as "expensive").

You mentioned your system is "skimmerless", but then listed a skimmer in the equipment list? Did you mean "sump-less" perhaps?

If you don't have a sump (eg; no return pump to worry about), then there's not much you really need to keep running to keep the tank in a minimal state. You need enough heat to keep things stable and some water movement. I'd reduce your list down to just one heater and one powerhead (ideally one aimed up at the surface to help with gas exchange) on emergency backup (eg; something that kicks on without any intervention). Those two items should keep your tank from crashing in the event of a short outage.
For a longer outage, there is really no automatic backup that will be practical. I agree with @Tbell805 - at some point you'll need to mix in a generator if you are worried about longer-term outages. If you are out-of-town for long periods, you would likely want to talk to an LFS (or another local reefer) about tank-sitting in the case of such an event. Note that you will need to be notified that an outage is happening in some way so that you know to trigger this support network, of course...

 

[Syed123]

What kind of power loss are you trying to make it through? I'm just curious because that will impact the kind of backup you need. If you are going for something longer than a day then you are going to need a generator. I've got an icecap battery backup for my gyres to make it through a power outage for the first day. I dont really care about heat for the first 6 hours after that I become more concerned and will either bust out the generator or do other methods of maintaining heat like wrapping my tank in blankets or putting hot water into milk jugs and letting them float.

I'm looking at a 3 day power loss as the worst case scenario. It's mostly for if I'm out of town.

I don't know much about backup generators and backup power sources in general.

One thing to consider; if you are away an an outage happens, will you know? Most of the time, the answer is "no". Which means that anything you want to keep on during an outage will need to be on a dedicated power source (which would run through the backup system). If you have a controller (such as an Apex or the like), this can actually be difficult to isolate (not impossible; just difficult - otherwise known as "expensive").

You mentioned your system is "skimmerless", but then listed a skimmer in the equipment list? Did you mean "sump-less" perhaps?

If you don't have a sump (eg; no return pump to worry about), then there's not much you really need to keep running to keep the tank in a minimal state. You need enough heat to keep things stable and some water movement. I'd reduce your list down to just one heater and one powerhead (ideally one aimed up at the surface to help with gas exchange) on emergency backup (eg; something that kicks on without any intervention). Those two items should keep your tank from crashing in the event of a short outage.
For a longer outage, there is really no automatic backup that will be practical. I agree with @Tbell805 - at some point you'll need to mix in a generator if you are worried about longer-term outages. If you are out-of-town for long periods, you would likely want to talk to an LFS (or another local reefer) about tank-sitting in the case of such an event. Note that you will need to be notified that an outage is happening in some way so that you know to trigger this support network, of course...

Sorry I meant sumpless. So a generator would be worth looking into? What kind would be best to run the heater and powerhead? Also I'll need something to notify me of a power outage? Like an Apex or something?

 

[csockwell]

If you want something to run your tank for three days and be available and automatic when you are out of town, then you'd need a standby generator with a large fuel supply (generally natural gas or LP). You could get a smaller standby generator to run selected circuits in your house: think refrigerator, freezer, sump pump, tank lights and a few others, or go big and get one that will run your whole home.

 

[DLHDesign]

I don't know much about backup generators and backup power sources in general.

The general rule of thumb is that you will be paying for two things:
1) Time. The more you spend, the longer you get at a given consumption. If you lower consumption, you can get longer time from the same solution.
2) Convenience. A backup device that turns itself on when needed is going to be more expensive than one that does not.

Most backup batteries provide relatively little time, but a high level of convenience. Portable generators provide a higher amount of time, but generally have to be hooked up, turned on, and fed gas and such. Something like the Powerwall provides a relative longer time and turns itself on, but because it offers both time and convenience, it costs more.

I doubt that you will be able to find any backup source that will last 3 days - even with just minimal equipment - that you will be happy with the price on. Heaters (when they are on) take a fair bit of power to work (and during an outage, it's not uncommon for ambient temps to drop around the tank - which causes the heater to be on more than normal). Powerheads don't use as much as heaters, but they are generally a constant draw, so they work out to be high consumers as well.
As an example; a single EcoTech Battery Backup can last about 30-ish hours for a pump size roughly equivalent to a 6045 (I'm not sure it can actually plug into the Tunze powerhead, but assuming it could). That would be at about a 9W draw. Your heater draws 150 watts. And while it doesn't need to remain on constantly, the same battery would only buy you a few minutes - and that's with the $165 price tag. To get to the 3-day timeline you are looking for, you would need to spend thousands (either on a battery array - see Powerwall I went with - or a whole-house generator as @csockwell suggest).
At the end of the day, you'll likely spend about as much (perhaps more) on a backup system for your tank as you've spent on the tank itself...

 

[Cment]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/real-time-battery-backup-test.265931/#post-3177486

 

[don_chuwish]

For reference, my Back-UPS Pro 1500 from APC only gives me a couple of hours running one Tunze 6055 cranked down to 30%. Apex is configured to shut off everything else and set it to 30% if power is lost. Oh, and I get alerted.

 

[csockwell]

For a backup plan, you must look at the life support equipment categories in this order: flow --> temperature (heat/cool) --> light.

Most power outages will probably last less than 12 hours, during that time, flow is most important. IMO, every tank should have some sort of automatic battery pump, whether it be a power head with a battery backup, or even an air-stone. Just something that will happen whether you are there are not.

Unless it is very hot/cold in your environment, then temperature can wait until the 24 hour mark without a lot of concern. Going past 2-3 days, you need to get the lights working if you have coral.

My plan: I have Ecotech MP10's, so I use the battery backup and should get 24-36 hours of flow. If the outage is going to last longer than a few hours, I have a portable 8000watt generator that I can connect to my house that will power the rest of the tank's life support and other comfort items in the house.

Again, the most important is flow. If money is the object (usually is), then put it to something that will automatically keep flow going in the tank!

 

[Syed123]

The general rule of thumb is that you will be paying for two things:
1) Time. The more you spend, the longer you get at a given consumption. If you lower consumption, you can get longer time from the same solution.
2) Convenience. A backup device that turns itself on when needed is going to be more expensive than one that does not.

Most backup batteries provide relatively little time, but a high level of convenience. Portable generators provide a higher amount of time, but generally have to be hooked up, turned on, and fed gas and such. Something like the Powerwall provides a relative longer time and turns itself on, but because it offers both time and convenience, it costs more.

I doubt that you will be able to find any backup source that will last 3 days - even with just minimal equipment - that you will be happy with the price on. Heaters (when they are on) take a fair bit of power to work (and during an outage, it's not uncommon for ambient temps to drop around the tank - which causes the heater to be on more than normal). Powerheads don't use as much as heaters, but they are generally a constant draw, so they work out to be high consumers as well.
As an example; a single EcoTech Battery Backup can last about 30-ish hours for a pump size roughly equivalent to a 6045 (I'm not sure it can actually plug into the Tunze powerhead, but assuming it could). That would be at about a 9W draw. Your heater draws 150 watts. And while it doesn't need to remain on constantly, the same battery would only buy you a few minutes - and that's with the $165 price tag. To get to the 3-day timeline you are looking for, you would need to spend thousands (either on a battery array - see Powerwall I went with - or a whole-house generator as @csockwell suggest).
At the end of the day, you'll likely spend about as much (perhaps more) on a backup system for your tank as you've spent on the tank itself...

Thank you for the thorough explanation! I'll have to dig deeper and find the best option for my tank.
I liked your idea of the Power wall. Thing is I'm going to be moving out this summer from my parent's place into a condo. So I don't know how having something like an external generator would work in a condo.
Time and convenience. Those are the main factors in this and including power consumption and time for the equipment being run. Got it.
I would love the convenience since being out of town and things going wrong and having the back up power turn on automatically is a big plus for me.

For a backup plan, you must look at the life support equipment categories in this order: flow --> temperature (heat/cool) --> light.

Most power outages will probably last less than 12 hours, during that time, flow is most important. IMO, every tank should have some sort of automatic battery pump, whether it be a power head with a battery backup, or even an air-stone. Just something that will happen whether you are there are not.

Unless it is very hot/cold in your environment, then temperature can wait until the 24 hour mark without a lot of concern. Going past 2-3 days, you need to get the lights working if you have coral.

My plan: I have Ecotech MP10's, so I use the battery backup and should get 24-36 hours of flow. If the outage is going to last longer than a few hours, I have a portable 8000watt generator that I can connect to my house that will power the rest of the tank's life support and other comfort items in the house.

Again, the most important is flow. If money is the object (usually is), then put it to something that will automatically keep flow going in the tank!

I was looking into the MP10 and the battery backup. They say they last 72 hours? Roughly 3 days? Or is that at a certain flow setting...

 

[csockwell]

I was looking into the MP10 and the battery backup. They say they last 72 hours? Roughly 3 days? Or is that at a certain flow setting...

Yes - (1) MP10 is rated for 72 hours. There is a separate battery port on the MP10 driver which is where you connect the battery backup to. Once the driver senses the power loss, it auto switches to the backup source and runs at a slower constant speed. It will flash green indicated its in backup mode and give you a readout on the drive of the charge of the battery. If you already have Ecotech pumps, going with the battery backup is a very easy solution and works well.

 

[cycled123]

I went with a Tesla Powerwall, but that's likely a bit more extreme than what you're thinking... ;-)

This is interesting. Do you have it hooked to solar panels or can it store charge during non-outages?

 

[Tbell805]

For an apartment I would look into a ups or battery operated air pump (the ones that automatically switch when power is lost)

 

[Syed123]

Yes - (1) MP10 is rated for 72 hours. There is a separate battery port on the MP10 driver which is where you connect the battery backup to. Once the driver senses the power loss, it auto switches to the backup source and runs at a slower constant speed. It will flash green indicated its in backup mode and give you a readout on the drive of the charge of the battery. If you already have Ecotech pumps, going with the battery backup is a very easy solution and works well.

Great. That will work for the flow issue. It looks vary convenient too. Just have to think about backing up the heater.

 

[DLHDesign]

This is interesting. Do you have it hooked to solar panels or can it store charge during non-outages?

The Powerwall works with or without solar.
With solar (which is what we have), the battery charges using excess energy produced from the array. This is beneficial as the cost of power is often more than the buy-back value. For example; I pay somewhere between $0.20 and $0.40 per kWh for power from PG&E, but when they buy power from me (because my panels are producing more than I'm using), they pay me just $0.03 per kWh. So instead of feeding it to them, my excess goes to charging the battery - which I then use when the solar panels aren't producing.
Without solar (or with solar, but when the panels aren't producing excess), the battery charges from the grid. This is still (potentially) beneficial as it allows you to shift your power usage to a cheaper time. For example; you might charge the battery during the middle of the night, and then draw from it during the middle of the day. Most energy providers have "time of use" plans which have a good chance of making this type of system financially viable in the long run.

Whether with or without solar, you can also configure the battery (or batteries - they can be arrayed together pretty efficiently) to keep a reserve. This reserve will be available automatically in the case of a power supply failure (I've got my reserve set at 30% right now; normal is 20% for me). Depending upon how your house is configured, the system can be set up to provide backup to everything (by tapping into the main) or just a limited number of circuits (by tapping into the sub-panel).

 

[cycled123]

The Powerwall works with or without solar.
With solar (which is what we have), the battery charges using excess energy produced from the array. This is beneficial as the cost of power is often more than the buy-back value. For example; I pay somewhere between $0.20 and $0.40 per kWh for power from PG&E, but when they buy power from me (because my panels are producing more than I'm using), they pay me just $0.03 per kWh. So instead of feeding it to them, my excess goes to charging the battery - which I then use when the solar panels aren't producing.
Without solar (or with solar, but when the panels aren't producing excess), the battery charges from the grid. This is still (potentially) beneficial as it allows you to shift your power usage to a cheaper time. For example; you might charge the battery during the middle of the night, and then draw from it during the middle of the day. Most energy providers have "time of use" plans which have a good chance of making this type of system financially viable in the long run.

Whether with or without solar, you can also configure the battery (or batteries - they can be arrayed together pretty efficiently) to keep a reserve. This reserve will be available automatically in the case of a power supply failure (I've got my reserve set at 30% right now; normal is 20% for me). Depending upon how your house is configured, the system can be set up to provide backup to everything (by tapping into the main) or just a limited number of circuits (by tapping into the sub-panel).

Thanks so much for the info! We are not planning to stay in current house forever and are planning to build in 10 or so years so might wait until we build but it is an intriguing option.

 

[DLHDesign]

We are not planning to stay in current house forever and are planning to build in 10 or so years so might wait until we build but it is an intriguing option.

Note that the batteries are fully movable (an electrician can do it - no need to involve Tesla). They also generally math out to have an 8-10 year "payoff"; meaning that in 8-10 years they should pay for themselves on the energy savings. This is a really rough estimate, of course - everyone's energy use (and billing) is different, but that's the model that Tesla took into account when they priced them out.

(BTW - just to be clear; I don't work for Tesla in any way. Just a satisfied customer and advocate for anything that helps the world make better use of the energy we have.)