Storm Season

[highest_tides]

Yesterday we lost power for 12 hours (Colorado high winds) and I had no plan for my tank. Luckily I was home and I ran a pump, heater, and powerhead off my work van that entire time. Holy cow was this a learning lesson. I always put it off and said well, it hasn't happened yet. I spent all day turning on and off my van running it on the extra battery, then charging the battery off the alternator.

Anyways, I decided I want to buy a generator and install and 30A-50A two pole plug that is wired to a locked out breaker in the sub panel I installed for my tank. The questions now is...what to buy? Any suggestions?? My whole tank runs off two dedicated 20A circuits in this load center.

Thanks! And...if you need to be told like me...DONT PUT OFF THESE PRECAUTIONS!

 

[CoralB]

I would think being in the cold where you are your also going to need this power source to kick in automatically when the power goes out when your not home so If you can afford it look into like a whole house Generac system which they make in different sizes . I believe you can also get models that run off propane or natural gas if you don’t like diesel or gas . If not talk to a electrician to maybe hook something up on a smaller generator that will turn on automatically . I personally use battery back up for my pumps and because I have a well insulated structure in Florida I don’t worry about the heaters as much .power here doesn't go out as much and occasionally if it does it’s only for no more than a couple hours . Good luck and hope this helped

 

[ZoWhat]

Don't get a pull start...

 

[InactiveAcct]

Luckily in FL I don’t have to worry about the cold - takes a lot of heat to keep a tank at safe temps against extreme cold.

My backup is a car sealed lead acid battery attached to a USB-powered pump. Keeps the water circulating to get by. I have a relay in line with it that keeps the system off while power is received. It kicks in automatically when power turns off.

On the heat side I was actually wondering how a solar blanket and a candle lit (safely and supervised) in the sump would do.

For the electrical stuff look into having an electrician install a transfer switch which safely disconnects your home from the grid when the generator is running, keeping you and the power crew safe. They can be simple manual ones, or automatic so your standby generator can run. Call around and see what the different folks in your area recommend.

 

[kiran]

My dad surprised me with this thing a couple weeks ago. He bought it specifically for my tank even though I only have a nano, though I mentioned to him that I'm possibly getting a much much larger tank in the next couple months. Right now the Red Sea Max S-650 is what I'm heavily leaning towards (or something around that size).


This is the one he got me. Luckily haven't had to use it yet.

 

[Radman73]

Luckily in FL I don’t have to worry about the cold - takes a lot of heat to keep a tank at safe temps against extreme cold.

My backup is a car sealed lead acid battery attached to a USB-powered pump. Keeps the water circulating to get by. I have a relay in line with it that keeps the system off while power is received. It kicks in automatically when power turns off.

On the heat side I was actually wondering how a solar blanket and a candle lit (safely and supervised) in the sump would do.

For the electrical stuff look into having an electrician install a transfer switch which safely disconnects your home from the grid when the generator is running, keeping you and the power crew safe. They can be simple manual ones, or automatic so your standby generator can run. Call around and see what the different folks in your area recommend.

I use this as well. It can run an MP40 for roughly a week. Maybe more. I also have an 2500W inverter generator I got on sale at Lowes.

We have solar as well, but don't have powerwalls installed yet. That will make life much, much easier lol!

 

[joseph scott]

My problem with gas powered generators is they need to be run at least monthly, you have to have lots of gas on hand with stabilizer in it. When power goes out usually power is out at the gas stations or it’s sold out from people getting it for their generators.