STORMS: Do you have a generator for your reef tank?

[NigelRichardson]

This is what I use and it works great. It sends you both a text message and email alerting you the power went out on that outlet. Although, if you want it to work for when the whole house loses power, then you need a UPS backup for your WiFi and Internet.

https://myspool.com/content/products?q=content/power-alert

Thank you ! Definitely something I need to check out... Circuit has only died once since I have had the tank running (5 months now), but of course that happened to be a day I was out of the house for several hours....

 

[315wall]

Yes
Portable 8500w
I start it twice a year, spring and fall.

It covers my tank and most of my homes needs ie heat/ac, lights, freezers, water pump. My tank is heated with gas so I just need to run the small pump. I want to upgrade to a full house generator but there is always a need or want with high priority.

 

[krash7172]

I have a 12V DC power inverter for critical stuff.

 

[Reeferoppe]

3000 watt Harbor freight inverter that I run off my truck.

 

[hans4811]

4000 watt unplug my compressor in the garage turn off the main braker pug my gen in to the plug for my air compressor 240 volt . Have a volt watt amp meter hooked up in the garage so I can see how many watt I am pulling.

What I do as well, but have a Westinghouse 7500 watt generator and no meter. This runs all my house circuits except AC. Although I can run AC if I turn the other circuits off.
https://westinghouseoutdoorpower.com/collections/traditional/products/wgen7500df-generator-dual-fuel

 

[LeftyReefer]

I have a 8500w portable, that's large enough to power my house when necessary. I always keep it fueled up with REC fuel (ethanol free), since the REC fuel doesn't go bad.
Starts every time.

would not be without one.

 

[Biff0rz]

Two Tesla Powerwalls and solar panels to recharge. When power goes out we don't even know it.

Too bad they can only handle -4f. They wouldn't last here in Michigan too long.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Too bad they can only handle -4f. They wouldn't last here in Michigan too long.

No kidding. Was -15F on my drive in to work this morning.

 

[sandie.rose.923]

I have a portable Troy-Bilt 6250. Keeps my internet, TV, and 60 reef going during the outages.

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

I don’t have a generator for my little 13.5 gallon but I did get a mp10 pretty much only so I could get the battery backup and that thing has saved my tank quite a few times!

 

[Adamantium]

I have a 8500w portable, that's large enough to power my house when necessary. I always keep it fueled up with REC fuel (ethanol free), since the REC fuel doesn't go bad.
Starts every time.

would not be without one.

Are you sure REC fuel doesn’t go bad? I think all fuel, ethanol-free, or not, goes bad. It might take longer, but I wouldn’t test that theory.

I hate that where I live it’s not legal to sell ethanol-free fuel. It’s ridiculous.

Edit: Yeah, unless REC fuel is somehow different than non-ethanol fuel, this video shows it not igniting after 9 months of storage. Even if it is different, I have to imagine it goes bad eventually.


Around 8:30

 

[LeftyReefer]

Are you sure REC fuel doesn’t go bad? I think all fuel, ethanol-free, or not, goes bad. It might take longer, but I wouldn’t test that theory.

I hate that where I live it’s not legal to sell ethanol-free fuel. It’s ridiculous.

I'm sure it goes bad eventually, but certainly not nearly as fast as fuels containing ethanol... That's why they can sell ethanol free fuel in bottles/cans on the shelf at any hardware store... it has a much longer shelf life than regular pump gas that contains ethanol. This also keeps your carb/fuel system cleaner and less fouling. I use it in all my small engines now.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Edit: Yeah, unless REC fuel is somehow different than non-ethanol fuel, this video shows it not igniting after 9 months of storage. Even if it is different, I have to imagine it goes bad eventually.


Around 8:30

but watch the mower fire up with it at the 11:30 mark. Weird!

 

[Adamantium]

but watch the mower fire up with it at the 11:30 mark. Weird!

Totally! I’m not trying to say it’s not good stuff. In fact, I wish I could get some at the pumps near me. But, if it didn’t burn in open air, and it took some starting fluid to get it going, it’s clearly going stale after only 9 months. I wouldn’t leave it in a tank for any longer than that, personally.

 

[Malcontent]

I have a 1000W pure sine wave inverter attached to my hybrid. It can idle for days on a tank of gas, in theory. I have a spare inverter but now I'm thinking I should get a 2nd set of cables made that I can use on a different vehicle.

I'm also considering a Honda or Yamaha inverter generator with a tri fuel modification and keeping some propane tanks around in case we lose our natural gas supply. Propane has an indefinite storage life unlike gasoline.

 

[Malcontent]

To do it again I would have a battery operated fan over the water surface to add oxygen to the water.

This can't be efficient. An air stone is already 7 times more efficient than a wavemaker in terms of oxygen/watt. A fan blowing on the surface is probably even worse.

 

[darinsmall86]

Last winter we had no power for a couple days at -40 so access to some sort of backup power is a must. Tank or no tank.

 

[smlarson72]

We lost power and had to use our generator. Both tanks were the first thing to be plugged in! Thank the good lord it was only for a couple of hours. Everyone made it ok!

 

[2Wheelsonly]

Dedicated portable, works like a champ. I also have a smaller fish room that's easy to heat with a portable vornado off said generator. We had a major ice storm 3 years ago that knocked out power for 17 days...I sent the family to a hotel and stayed in the house with the tank. I sealed off the room, ran all aquarium equipment off my generator and used the vornado to keep the room and tank a comfortable 78 degrees while I slept in a 24 degree house.

My whole home AC/Heat pump makes generator usage difficult as I am on propane and my costs to run ac/heater are over $900 monthly which means to suck up that power.

I have two generators (1 backup), fire them up in spring and early winter to ensure they work and are clean.

My advice to anyone, make sure you have generator power for your tank before you buy anymore equipment! No heat in winter = reef death guaranteed.

I am looking at investing in a chiller for summer extended power outages, it currently worries me if I have an extended outage in the dead of summer. My current plan is to keep ziplock bags of ice in the sump but that falls through if I can't get ice.

 

[Screwgunner]

What I do as well, but have a Westinghouse 7500 watt generator and no meter. This runs all my house circuits except AC. Although I can run AC if I turn the other circuits off.
https://westinghouseoutdoorpower.com/collections/traditional/products/wgen7500df-generator-dual-fuel

I may have to upgrade my gen for a bigger one would be nice to run the house . I cut everything off but the fridge freezer and my tank. Might watch some t.v.