Shopping for a UPS battery backup

[leahfiish]

I could use some guidance. I am looking for a battery backup system for my tank that will automatically switch to battery power in the event of a power loss.
I am trying to power 1 Nero 5 pump:
Power Consumption - (variable) 30W @ 120VAC max
Ideally I would like 24h of runtime.
What should I be looking for when looking at UPS battery backups? There's so many specs and I don't know what any of them mean. I would like to stay under a $200 budget but I understand I may need to sacrifice run time or features to do that. Does anyone have any links to specific product recommendations?
Thank you.

 

[Ludders]

Are you only wanting to run that one 30w pump? What about heater, lights and power head?

 

[Richard Hercher]

Make sure it has True Sine Wave output!

I have a UPS I got for my computer years ago, moved it to the aquarium for my canister, heater, and power head. Didn’t work. The problem was the power wave form: modern UPS are available with “True Sine Wave” Tech. Most offer that because most PCs need that now. Ac motors absolutely need that.

 

[leahfiish]

Are you only wanting to run that one 30w pump? What about heater, lights and power head?

Yes, just the 1 pump for circulation.

 

[Ludders]

Have you seen anything already that you're considering?

I "borrowed" one from work when relocating a small office and run pretty much everything off it.

The power where I live has been pretty stable lately, but 15-30 minute power cuts were common, so my UPS will run everything for over an hour. Anything more and I would get the generator out, but this hasn't happened yet.

 

[alton]

UPS are not the greatest at backing up equipment for our aquariums for long periods of time. UPS are meant to back up equipment for short periods of time. A $700 UPS will only backup 100 watts for 5 hours. Most of the cheaper ones only contain a 7 to 14 amp hour battery which is not a lot of run time. Your 120v 30 watt power head will run for a couple hours on a 7ah battery. A DIY 700 ah deep cycle battery and invertor maybe a better choice?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842301692

 

[charlesP77]

I use one of these and a couple of deep cycle batteries. Does all the switching and maintaining for you. Run time is only limited by the capacity of the batteries you buy.

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-APS700HF-Auto-Transfer-Switching/dp/B000MD5XIE

 

[leahfiish]

UPS are not the greatest at backing up equipment for our aquariums for long periods of time. UPS are meant to back up equipment for short periods of time. A $700 UPS will only backup 100 watts for 5 hours. Most of the cheaper ones only contain a 7 to 14 amp hour battery which is not a lot of run time. Your 120v 30 watt power head will run for a couple hours on a 7ah battery. A DIY 700 ah deep cycle battery and invertor maybe a better choice?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842301692

That is what I read but wouldn't I also need a transfer switch for it to automatically switch to the battery when the power goes out?
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/diy-universal-battery-backup-for-your-reef.416/
I have read this article so many times but I am just uncomfortable with doing the wiring.

 

[leahfiish]

I use one of these and a couple of deep cycle batteries. Does all the switching and maintaining for you. Run time is only limited by the capacity of the batteries you buy.

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-APS700HF-Auto-Transfer-Switching/dp/B000MD5XIE

Hmm maybe this is what I need.

 

[Jason Roth]

I’m in the same situation now looking for a backup option. The issue I see with the units from Best Buy is that they don’t have pure sine wave power which is recommended for the pumps we use on the aquariums. Also the cyberpower units specifically are not warranties with aquarium usage. And the units from Best Buy, APC and cyberpower are simulated/stepped sine wave. Not pure.

You can search and find plenty of pure sine wave inverters on amazon reasonably priced. That’s if you intend to build your own backup system.

APC has a 1500ah unit similar to the one at Best Buy that is pure sine wave for about $280. I need to confirm my equipment requirements tonight to see if the unit will be sufficient.