Your power outage plan???

[kevgib67]

I’ve used a battery powered aerator in the past but last week we lost power for over 17 hours. I will be purchasing this next week.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

3000w inverter and 4 AGM deep cycle batteries in parallel. I could run my tank for 2 weeks if needed easy.

 

[Reef Devils]

We had a disaster happen several summers ago when the power went out while we were on vacation and it was over 100 deg. We had a house sitter, we had a gennie with extra gas and spark plugs on the patio. We had a stack of extension cords with labels on each end and a map to where they needed to go.

But the power went out while the house sitter was at work. We had a 400g display tank at the time. And the fish loss was well into 5 figures.

We got home and 4 days later I found a used low hour Generac on Craigslist. Hired a solar installer to wire it to the house with an fully automatic transfer switch. It's a dual fuel, so it will run off propane or natural gas. It's normally hooked up to Natural, but flip a switch and move 2 valves and it is hooked up in 30 secs to a 300lb propane tank.

Total cost of Gennie and install was less than 5g. Value of piece of mind --- No price on that. In the event the power goes out the whole house is powered back up in under 20 seconds - whether anyone is home or not.

We have a 26k Generac with the Generac ATS - It will support our entire house (3k sq ft), guest house, multiple multi ton AC units and the 1500g system without any issue. All without any involvement from me.

The generator runs every Friday night for 10 mins and then sends me a text that is working and ready to go. When the power does go out the generator has it's own 5g signal and texts me that the generator is running and texts me again when the power comes back on.

You don't have to have a huge tank to have a 4 or 5 figure investment in livestock. So the investment in a whole house generator to protect your investment in the livestock really isn't that much of a big deal. And if you have a 180g+ and don't have a gennie ready to go.... Then you know you've already prepared yourself for an upcoming disaster.

Dave B

Sorry about the loss of those fish. Thanks so much for answering. I appreciate your help. I have 100 gallon and I was thinking of getting a full house generator eventually. It always be nice even just not for the fish tank but for just us in general, they can also be a good selling point for the house. I’m gonna look into a gas generator right now though.

 

[threebuoys]

If you live in an apartment with an outside porch, a very small portable generator would be an option. Honda has one that's light weight and quieter than a dishwasher.

 

[Gundy]

If you live in an apartment with an outside porch, a very small portable generator would be an option. Honda has one that's light weight and quieter than a dishwasher.

This is a very good option. Quite frankly, a small Honda generator like a used 2000 or the newer 2200 is an awesome idea as a backup plan. It could power an entire system for days with a gallon of gas. 1 tank lasts 8 hours.

 

[Uncle99]

My area has not had many power outages in 60 years, and when they occur, the longest ever was 18 hours.

So for me, two bubblers running off of two D batteries, 8 batteries ready, so, runs about 6 days.

I understand that can be very different for others.

Weather has been nasty lately.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

I have a portable generator, and would have lost all five of my tanks without it last weekend. The power was off for 2 ½ days. Here are my tips for preparing and dealing with a power outage.

 

[FISHMAN22]

I’ve used a battery powered aerator in the past but last week we lost power for over 17 hours. I will be purchasing this next week.

 

[FISHMAN22]

For emergency backup get an 500 W inverter that can run off a car or a PREDATOR1400 Watt SUPER QUIET Inverter Generator W/Longer runtime: Up to 7.3 hours. The equipment list is for a 150 gal reef tank. All of the numbers used were rounded up and are average taken from other websites. 1HP chiller rated at 6,000 BTU/hr Return Pump - 1200GPH 72W
AI Prime Fuge light - 25W
3x AI Prime 16HD tank lights - 85W total
Aqua Ultraviolet Light - 20W
2) of hydor koralia wave makers - 5W
Bubble Magus Protein Skimmer - 25W
Transfer pump for UV Light 4000lph - 35W
mini PC for my Seneye (dell mini) - 30W
Heater - 400 W winter month average 15W
2) of Jabeo wave makers - 20W In total 334 W per hour with lights on, with lights are off 224 the average is watts per hour average 280 over a 24 hour period.
Average Power consumption: 280W
Hours of use per day: 24h/day
Energy consumed per day: 6.72 kWh/day
1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) cost: 0.12 cents per Kw
Energy cost per day: .8064 average
Energy cost per month: $25
Energy cost per year: $300 Enter your total watts on this website https://www.rapidtables.com/.../energy-cost-calculator.html
PS. I my home has a Tesla 7.5 solar system with a Tesla 5.8 backup battery.

 

[Reef Devils]

For emergency backup get an 500 W inverter that can run off a car or a PREDATOR1400 Watt SUPER QUIET Inverter Generator W/Longer runtime: Up to 7.3 hours. The equipment list is for a 150 gal reef tank. All of the numbers used were rounded up and are average taken from other websites. 1HP chiller rated at 6,000 BTU/hr Return Pump - 1200GPH 72W
AI Prime Fuge light - 25W
3x AI Prime 16HD tank lights - 85W total
Aqua Ultraviolet Light - 20W
2) of hydor koralia wave makers - 5W
Bubble Magus Protein Skimmer - 25W
Transfer pump for UV Light 4000lph - 35W
mini PC for my Seneye (dell mini) - 30W
Heater - 400 W winter month average 15W
2) of Jabeo wave makers - 20W In total 334 W per hour with lights on, with lights are off 224 the average is watts per hour average 280 over a 24 hour period.
Average Power consumption: 280W
Hours of use per day: 24h/day
Energy consumed per day: 6.72 kWh/day
1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) cost: 0.12 cents per Kw
Energy cost per day: .8064 average
Energy cost per month: $25
Energy cost per year: $300 Enter your total watts on this website https://www.rapidtables.com/.../energy-cost-calculator.html
PS. I my home has a Tesla 7.5 solar system with a Tesla 5.8 backup battery.

Thanks for the help

 

[BZOFIQ]

I have 2 portable Honda Generator because in the world of redundancies - one is none and two is one


... in addition to multi-layered battery backups.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I need to invest in a generator!

 

[Trilobite]

Generac 24kv whole house generator! 100% worth it for the piece of mind.

 

[Trilobite]

I had already installed a 24kv generac before I setup the reef tank. Feel real secure when mother nature gets angry