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

[Dennis Cartier]

I have a portable one sitting in the garage still in it's box. I have had it for 3 years but have not needed it yet. I plan on switching to a whole home one this summer.

Dennis

 

[Mical]

This is why I have a whole house generator...

 

[7hogwarts]

Generac 20 KW-Natural gas
It fires up every Thursday morning for about 15 minutes.
I get it serviced every year.
I figured it is a great piece of mind to have an automatic generator that is powerful enough to have LITERALLY everything in my house running if needed. I have way more invested in my tanks than the cost of the generator. Insurance doesn't cover the losses of aquarium inhabitants.
No more refueling the portable generator every 8 hours or so. And If we run out of natural gas for my generator we have much bigger problems than my reef tank.

 

[Ferrell]

I have a portable one from my hurricane days in Florida. Best thing I ever did was convert it from gas to propane. Now I never ever have to worry about stale gas or storing gas or cleaning the carb.
My testimonial, I hadn’t started the thing for six years until last summer we lost power and after about an hour decided it was going to be needed. Pulled it out of the barn, blew off all the dirt and crap on it, checked the oil, hooked up my grill tank to it, primed it and one pull later we had power. I was astonished and very pleased at how well it stored and ran when needed. I keep 2 35# bottles full which is about 1-1 1/2 days each.
Conversion well worth the $200 or so I spent and the hour it took to install. I think I got it from carburetor.com or something like that.

 

[Uncle99]

I live in a major city.
Power not off long enough to justify.
I can get about 4 days of water movement off my battery backup.

If I was either rural or in a storm zone, yup, worth every penny.

 

[Oswald]

With so many major winter storms popping up lately there has been a lot of discussion on preparing for power outages and having power back up plans! So let's talk about generators today and see who's ready and what generator your using!

1. Do you have a generator for your reef tank for emergency situations?

2. Which generator do you have and how many watts is it?

3. Do you regularly start and service your generator to keep it ready to go?

 

[Oswald]

1. Do you have a generator for your reef tank for emergency situations?

I have a small portable generator that I picked up a couple of years ago, in a panic, when the power went out and was going on 3 hours with no ETA for restoration in sight. I found it at a small hardware store. Word to the wise get yours before everyone is shopping for one in the middle of a storm

2. Which generator do you have and how many watts is it?

Powermate 1500w. Just enough to power heaters and water pumps. Even the ocean gets cloudy days.

3. Do you regularly start and service your generator to keep it ready to go?

Power it up at least every 6 months and keep stabil-360 in the tank. so far so good.

 

[Uncle99]

I have solar at my house and had them put in a Tesla power wall - which stores enough power for our main appliances and 2 reef tanks (160g and 200g) to be covered for about 24 hours - in which case it would be recharged when the sun returns in the AM. The tanks were the main inspiration for installing the power wall. I definitely sleep better now during fire season and earthquakes don't really concern me

What a great idea!

 

[Flameback Pair]

I would like to have a generator for camping and it would double as emergency power for my reef. Right now I just have an IceCap BBU but those tiny 20 some pounds Honda generators would be peace of mind for these bitter Montana winters.

 

[ReefKeeperElite]

Flow continuation is my only concern, so I just have battery backups for my vortechs and vectras. Where I live in Norcal the temperature doesn’t get too low so the house stays warm enough, and lighting can be out for the fish and LPS for a day or so. Power outages have only lasted a few hours at the most here, and that’s been during an 18 year span. So pretty comfortable with just the battery backups.

 

[Jay Norris]

Yes we have a 37kw whole house generator. We don't get winter storms where I live, but we do get Hurricanes as I live in Southeast Miami Dade County, Florida. We also have enough fuel for 21 days of continuous use, and the generator has saved my reef system on multiple occasions. The generator is started once per month for 15 minutes and we service the generator every 2 years, or depending on an abundant amount of use we will service it every year.

 

[Hot2na]

Generac 22kw..whole house ...wouldn't do a tank otherwise

 

[action21]

Bought a Generac 16k whole house with 200 amp auto transfer switch. It cost a fraction of what I have invested.

How many times has it been used? Debating here

 

[NigelRichardson]

Kind of sort of on topic...

Has anyone worked out a way to get a notification when the power goes out?

I have an unstable circuit in my house which randomly (but only about once every 3-4 months) trips out. And of course that's the circuit my tank has to be connected to

So - not a complete blackout, but same impact when the power outlets my tank is connected to all die

Anyone found a device / gadget that you can plug in to a socket that'll tell you when it dies ?

 

[duke62]

Protocol for every reefer whenever a storm is coming

 

[afuel]

It’s a necessity not only for storms but a country that can no longer adequately supply the current power grid

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

I have solar at my house and had them put in a Tesla power wall - which stores enough power for our main appliances and 2 reef tanks (160g and 200g) to be covered for about 24 hours - in which case it would be recharged when the sun returns in the AM. The tanks were the main inspiration for installing the power wall. I definitely sleep better now during fire season and earthquakes don't really concern me

If the batteries are depleted after 24 hours, can the solar panels recharge them in a day? On a smoky/cloudy day? I had solar panels when in Arizona and generally the answer was they could not charge anything that quickly...

 

[Dana Riddle]

I'm in the middle - a Generac 17kW whole-house generator is in place, awaiting NG and electrical hookups. Permits are pulled, just awaiting contractors. After 3 power outages since December 2017, I will get serious about a reef tank reboot after the generator is up and running.

 

[fyrefightr]

Having rolling blackouts here in Texas, I do have a whole home natural gas generator but they are now telling us they will be doing the same for natural gas for 45 mins at a time. Hopefully, they are not stupid enough to shut both gas and electricity off at the same time.

Power was off for 2 hours last night, that initial up front investment sucks, wife was not happy with the cost but is now thankful we have it

I would be more concerned with them doing blackouts on natural gas. Think of all the pilot lights they will have to relight and also the gas leaks and explosions/fires from gas leaks of business' or homes not occupied when the rollout happens. Not smart

 

[Tim Olson]

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.

We've been doing the same thing for about 20 years and it's worked great. The generator powers the whole house, except the Air Conditioning. Although, we're considering getting a built-in natural gas generator, since it would would automatically kick-in and not require filling it with gas every few hours.