Tank Survival Plan: How prepared are you?

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Well it's tornado season for a lot of people and some people and I was made well aware last night when we had 7 tornadoes hit in the area I live. Thankfully we were spared! We did lose power last night but it came back on this morning while others in our area are looking at days without it. This really made me think as I have been prepared in the past but I was not prepared last night for what happened! I would have been in a little trouble had our power stayed out for a few days.

Also people are still dealing with snow and ice and hurricane season is coming too! I know we have many threads on this but let's chit chat on how prepared you are today, some tips you have for others and what is your plan for a long outage.

1. How prepared are you, right now, to take care of your aquarium for an extended time without power? (vote in the poll)

2. What is your aquarium survival plan of action?

3. Do you have any tips or tricks to keeping a tank alive if you're not very prepared?

 

[vlangel]

A few years ago I decided to be more prepared should a long power failure happen. In the 30+ years we had lived here we never experienced the power off longer than 7 hours. Up until this time I relied on 3 battery back up aerator that used D batteries. At any rate my investment and attachment to my animals prompted me to buy a power inverter for under $100. It is small and fits behind my couch so that was a plus.

A year ago January our power was off about 4-5 days and I was never so glad to have that inverter.

We ran it off the car battery and just ran an extension cord in the window near the tank. My tank is in our living room where we have a fireplace so temperature was not a concern. My biggest worry was oxygenation so I had the powerheads pointed toward the surface to create agitation. I also had the blue lights come on but on a shorter photosphase. Doing only that, both my reef tank and Seahorse tank did fine. I also have RO water made for water changes at all times just in case.

A power inverter is a very economical option if you can access your vehicle battery. BTW, it did not seem to hurt our car at all to idle for that length of time.
A comment on the battery back up pump...I used one on the basement sump since I did not want to run a 2nd extention cord down the stairs and that little $20 pump ran the whole time on the same batteries so that option is better than nothing.

 

[Flippers4pups]

First and foremost, @revhtree we are relieved that you and your family are safe! Many others weren't so Lucky. Prayers sent to those that lost their homes do to this event, but more importantly to those that lost loved ones. Our hearts go out to all of them.

Power outages should be looked at as family first, tank second.

I've always had a power inverter as a back up for the tank, a battery powered air pump that turns on when the power goes off attached to my DT with extra batteries for extended outages.

The inverter gets attached to a car battery with extension cords and allows me to run a heater during the cooler months. Ice packs kept in our deep freeze allows for cooling of the tank in the warmer months. The air pump provides O2 to the DT.

Of course if you can afford a small generator, this is the best option.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

I have a small Honda portable generator that I use 3-4 times a year so it stays in pretty good condition and 2 50' extension cords specifically for this situation. I haven't ever had to use them but just in case. Also I am rarely gone from my home for more than 5 hours at a time, so hopefully I can keep everything alive.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Thankfully we don't have hurricanes and tornadoes in Cali, but we do have extended power shutoffs in the fall. I'd love to have an automatic backup, either battery or whole house generator. But I decided to keep the costs down and got a portable propane generator. It can power the tank, refrigerators, a couple laptops, etc. We had a power shutoff for 40 hours this past fall and it kept everything going.

 

[Greybeard]

Tunze 6040 and Safety Connector (6105.5) connected to a SLA battery, with a trickle charger. Keeps good surface agitation for a full day without power. Works without any manual intervention, long enough to make sure I'm home to do something about the problem.

Gas generator for short term outage. If the outage is long enough, I've got a larger PTO powered generator that I can run from my little tractor. Plenty of fuel stored for both. PTO genny will run my well pump, so we've got water handled. Pellet stove for heat... About as ready as I can be.

 

[MikeYasin]

We were planning solar and battery backup for a while, but after last year's 4-day power outage due to Nor Cal's fire danger, we pulled the trigger. We now have a monster solar array and two Tesla Power Walls providing whole house battery back-up.

 

[dbowman5]

I voted "other". I have a dual fuel generator that would run all my equipment or my appliances. i need to run extension cords into the house to use it. It does not automatically switch over so if the power outage happens when i am not here I would have issues. I have a bluetooth ap for my current loop that should alert me to loss of power but i have not tested it. I have a certain amount of anxiety about my preparedness so thanks for bringing it to the surface!

 

[Magellan]

My power was off from 5:30am-2:10pm today. Was not prepared. In all the years I’ve lived here it’s never done anything worse than blink! Manually aerated both tanks every few hours, everything was fine. Will definitely be better prepared in the future!

 

[Oliver d]

Solar panels witch charge my back up batteries with a 12v dc to 24v dc converter as all my pumps are 24v.the only thing that needs 220v is my heater for that I have an inverter my system can run nearly indefinite if there is sunshine to recharge my batteries.If this fails I would have to connect the tank to my genny that runs my ac and fridges.

 

[Jose A Venereo]

I just installed a 22kw generac back up generator.

 

[mfinn]

One word, generator

 

[Jon Rubino]

A few years ago I decided to be more prepared should a long power failure happen. In the 30+ years we had lived here we never experienced the power off longer than 7 hours. Up until this time I relied on 3 battery back up aerator that used D batteries. At any rate my investment and attachment to my animals prompted me to buy a power inverter for under $100. It is small and fits behind my couch so that was a plus.

A year ago January our power was off about 4-5 days and I was never so glad to have that inverter.

We ran it off the car battery and just ran an extension cord in the window near the tank. My tank is in our living room where we have a fireplace so temperature was not a concern. My biggest worry was oxygenation so I had the powerheads pointed toward the surface to create agitation. I also had the blue lights come on but on a shorter photosphase. Doing only that, both my reef tank and Seahorse tank did fine. I also have RO water made for water changes at all times just in case.

A power inverter is a very economical option if you can access your vehicle battery. BTW, it did not seem to hurt our car at all to idle for that length of time.
A comment on the battery back up pump...I used one on the basement sump since I did not want to run a 2nd extention cord down the stairs and that little $20 pump ran the whole time on the same batteries so that option is better than nothing.

One word, generator

I Installed a 15kw natural gas generator after we were hit with back to back hurricanes which knocked out power both times for 10+ days. We are getting hit right now with a nasty storm and my lights have flashed a few times. It’s a great feeling to know I’m covered.

 

[xabo]

17W natural gas whole house generator

 

[AltitudeReefer]

I bought a small generator. Nothing fancy or expensive, but good enough to keep 90% of the normal tank functions going. I’d have to turn a light off or reduce them, otherwise the pumps, heater, ATO, skimmer and power heads will have enough electricity with some to spare for other things like WiFi and the refrigerator. Getting a $200 generator to protect the thousands I’ve put into the tank seems like a small investment to make.

 

[jordan10]

Well I was lucky that my father in-law got a genaracks installed to his house when power goes out it automatically kicks power back on to house. So how am I lucky he gave me his old generator! Never had use it for power outage yet but few side jobs.

 

[Treefer32]

I don't have a backup plan, power's never been off for more than 5 hours. With a 350 gallon system, I'm not even sure what would be minimally enough. I have a 6 year old battery backup from ecotech for my one still functional MP40. I've charged it and made sure it works (not sure how long the 6 year old battery would last, haven't tested that).

One of our vehicles has a standard outlet plugin on it that I've been able to run a 230 watt laptop powercord off of. I'm not sure if a 300 watt heater and 200 watt return pump would be something that the vehicle could power though. Eek.

So, a question would be, what is the rule of thumb for fish survival in a power outtage (and eventually coral). How long does it take for water to cool if there's a ten degree difference in temperature, and how long does it take for fish to run out of oxygen? I've always assumed 24 hours is generally the max unless the tank is completely overstocked (high filtration) or extremely understocked. 1 fish in 350 gallons of water could probably last 2-3 days with the amount of oxygen in the water.

Had a 125 lightly stocked, that the breaker tripped while on vacation (and at that time no power monitoring or webcams)... The fellow reefer that checked it Monday said everything was fine. He came back to check it Wednesday and all the fish were dead. Breaker had to have tripped MOnday night or Tuesday morning. The corals and anemones survived, fish did not. So, after 8-12 hours I'd probably start panicking and hope to guy I could panic buy a generator or rent one.

 

[evolved]

I have a few UPS which do a few things: 1) keep all my network equipment powered 2) Will keep my main return pump running, and 3) will keep my vortechs circulating.
This allows me to receive Apex alerts in the event of an outage, even when away from home. And then it buys me about an hour before the UPS dies, which is enough time to get home and get the inverter generator running. I also have a single room portable AC unit to manage temps in the tank room for the summer outages.

 

[Fishy Art]

Living in an area of northern California where PG&E our utility company began scheduled power outages in October due to the high fire risk, I ran out and bought a portable generator. However, because this will be the new norm and because of not only the risk to my aquarium but also the inconvenience of throwing freezers full of food out, I bit the bullet and ordered TESLA POWERWALLS to be installed in May.

 

[ca1ore]

1. How prepared are you, right now, to take care of your aquarium for an extended time without power? (vote in the poll).

Well, one can always be better prepared than you are, but I have done as much as I possibly can to harden my system against power outage. Whole house standby genny will last (in theory) for about a week. Kept the portable and manual transfer switch just in case. Battery backups on the vortech powerheads. Two strong teen sons in the event manual stirring becomes necessary. No plan is without it's flaws …. mine is the availability of fuel to run the generators because there is no piped in propane/natural gas in my area. Oh, and generators require periodic maintenance otherwise they won't work when you need them to work.

I'm more concerned, frankly, with the longer-term lack of availability of supplies in general.

2. What is your aquarium survival plan of action?

See answer to question #1

3. Do you have any tips or tricks to keeping a tank alive if you're not very prepared?

Heat is much less important than O2, at least initially. Get the circulation sorted first, then worry about temperature. Always have a couple of battery driven airtones on hand.