Scheduled Power Outage! HELP!

NewEnglishMutt · Oct 14, 2014

I'm kindof freaking out here, I have a 135g display with a 25g sump/fuge. Last night my sump return pump died while I was at work (I work nights) I got home at 2:30am to find my fish hyperventalating, my Naso Tang lying on the sand bed barely alive and my Coral Beauty Angel dead and already being taken over by bristle worms and bristle stars... My Clown actually seemed fine, but my Tangs were on the edge of life! I swapped the pump and got it back on in record time, and my Tangs recovered... I still havent seen my sixline wrasse, I'm afraid he hid really well and died... The Angel got a porcelin funeral... Sad day, but not really the problem I have to ask advice about, just needed to put it out there.

I got a notice today from my housing office ( I live in military housing, I'm active duty) that they are going to be replacing a transformer in my neighborhood on thursday and power will be out in my neighborhood from 7:15am - appx. 1:00PM. Based on evidence I'm gonna say that the return pump was dead for about 8 hours, and my fish suffered terribly from it... Now I'm gonna be no power at all, no pumps, no lights, no wavemakers, no filter... For 5 hours... I can only hope it will not take them that long to replace the transformer, but the idea of no power for that long scares the hell out of me, especially after last night. I don't own a generator, or know anyone with one, and I can't afford to go buy one right now... Am I left to just pray that my whole tank doesnt die?

kschweer · Oct 15, 2014

Go to Walmart or if you can find quick shipping on Amazon or somewhere else and get some battey powered air pumps. In Walmart they are usually in the fishing section for aerating bait. Get yourself some extra batteries too. Should be fine for that amount of time. Good luck.

http://mobile.walmart.com/ip/Penn-Plax-Silent-Air-Battery-Aquarium-Air-Pump/16947718

Also if you're going to be home you can get a power inverter that plugs into your cars cigarette lighter and run a small power head pointed to the surface of the water. If you can find a strong enough one you may be able to run your return pump.

NewEnglishMutt · Oct 15, 2014

On another note, not sure if it will matter, my skimmer was disgusting, and I cleaned it today, just a basic cleaning...

tuna_bullet · Oct 15, 2014

pick up a generator at harbor freight their cheap and do great for back up situations

Diesel · Oct 15, 2014

Rent a geni for that day.
Cost you about $50.
If you don't have a backup geni if you in this hobby you almost doomed I must say.
Battery backups work too for water circulation but still need to inject some kind of air if you're gone.

racin2438 · Oct 15, 2014

Just rent one for the day, $50.00----$75.00 per day....we had same thing happen for pole repairs...I submitted the receipt and got reimbursed for cost of rental. Doesn't hurt to try..

Then pickup a good used generator for the next time.....

Or buy new if you want..

NewEnglishMutt · Oct 15, 2014

Unfortunatly the internet is telling me that none of the big stores near me (including walmart) have any battery operated air pumps in stock... And I can't even afford the Harbor Freight generator right now, though I do plan on investing in a generator in the near future for instances like this. I'll be driving to the LFS tomorrow to see if they have anything, and maybe I can rig something else if they don't?

NewEnglishMutt · Oct 15, 2014

I'm going to go the the Housing office tomorrow and see if their maintenance dept. has a generator they can lend me too. If they do and are willing to let me use it for the day then I'll be fine.

joesreeftank · Oct 15, 2014

contact your power company and let them know you have a tank that needs power, they may supply you with a generator. will not hurt to ask.

Eienna · Oct 15, 2014

If you can get a power inverter, I hear you can run some stuff off a car battery...you'd have to look that up, though.

cagdason · Oct 15, 2014

UPS should be fine for couple of hours but you are talking for a longer time hope you can find a generator, if not try to use few UPS for different components. I would plug return pump and skimmer. Mine is attached to two UPS last 3-4 hr.

joesreeftank · Oct 15, 2014

I have used a power converter off of my truck befor, but by the time you pay for gas you may as well rent a small generator

bond300 · Oct 15, 2014

I would go to MWR and get a generator!!! And I would put in a claim for my FISH!!! MSG (Ret)

mainereefer · Oct 15, 2014

5 hrs without power in the fall your all good, as long as your temp dosnt raise... heck maine winters we lose power all the time just try to keep temp stable....
you can pick up an inverter,(converter wont work lol ) but they are not cheap,I think my 800w inverter cost around $70. but being in maine with -30 winters I bought a generator

shred5 · Oct 15, 2014

Diesel said:
Rent a geni for that day.
Cost you about $50.
If you don't have a backup geni if you in this hobby you almost doomed I must say.
Battery backups work too for water circulation but still need to inject some kind of air if you're gone.

Exactly rental centers rent generators.

Otherwise bait pumps work with batteries but your best bet is a generator.

You can use ups systems for short periods too...
If you have vortech they sell a battery unit..
This is what I do... I do not run them continually in outages.. I will turn them on for a while and then off incase it goes a long period especially in the winter because I can run a heater on them too...

I agree 5 hrs isn’t too long if you are there and the temps are not extreme.. You can grab something and just stir the water every so often too, that helps...

Getting oxygen to most parts of the tank is what really is important.. Bacteria that need oxygen start to die and that is what really starts a crash sometimes.. This can mean a sump of fuge too..

juggalogentry · Oct 15, 2014

during a late late night power outage due to a bad storm in my area, i literally woke up at 3 am and grabbed a cup, scooped up tank water and poured it back in slowly, repeating the process several times until i had power again, it was a pain, but i suffered zero loss and nobody seemed stressed, Took about six hours, but i now take pride knowing for that potentially catostrophic night, i was the iron lung that kept my tank "afloat"

NewEnglishMutt · Oct 15, 2014

Our mwr doesn't have generators... Which I thought was strange but whatever... I found a 1500w peak 1200w running 4 strike generator on Craigslist for $140 I'm going to look at now, should be more than enough power and I won't have to worry next time this happens

NewEnglishMutt · Oct 15, 2014

Ok, got a generator. 1200w running should be enough right? And I should be able to plug in a power strip to an extension cord off the generator? It's only a single plug on the generator but I couldn't beat the price