Backup power

[Blazer88]

I currently have a Coleman 400W 12V invertor that I hook to a deep-cycle RV battery. I could easily get four or five hours with just running a SEIO powerhead. I just wanted a generator just in case we lose power for longer. Of course I could always could pull my car to my front door and run some cables in

 

[mfinn]

It's always better to be over prepared, than not at all.

That ice storm we had a few years ago, I lost power for 5 days.
I had a 180, a 135, and a 40 setup. I had a 5500 watt generator that a friend gave me, that saved everything.

 

[jamiehill]

I have a UPS hooked up to my return pump. Should get me an hour or 2.

 

[spongebob lover]

aahh you all are lucky doods ... i like the UPS power thingy?

Rick, i can't believe you found a generator that cheap, i looked at the honda website and they're around the 400 .... which we can't aford at all

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Gab, run an extension cord over to Slickdonkey's house

 

[tamarindthai]

i got pretty good size ups ,,if you want to borrow,,this should run your pump for 2-3 hours.

aahh you all are lucky doods ... i like the UPS power thingy?

Rick, i can't believe you found a generator that cheap, i looked at the honda website and they're around the 400 .... which we can't aford at all

 

[spongebob lover]

Gab, run an extension cord over to Slickdonkey's house

LOL!!!! :lol: hmm yeah that'd probably cost me more than just buying a generator :lol: .

i got pretty good size ups ,,if you want to borrow,,this should run your pump for 2-3 hours.

hey that'd be awesome... thanks dood

 

[tamarindthai]

let me know when,,it need to be fully charge up.

 

[Reefdaddy1]

I think this would be an excellant topic for someone to take and sticky it. Back up power is the last thing someone thinks of. UPS or Generator either will help but absolutley a requirement . I am still debating this option on my build, But great topic.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Yeah, no debate in my opinion. If I lost power for more than a few hours and didn't have a generator, it would cost me more to replace everything than the cost of a generator.

 

[MCSInc]

My generator is listed as the last line in my signature. It is a 16K Stand By Guardian and will power the whole house. The problem is we need a bigger propane tank. With a 4 wheel drive we can usually get down to the local propane supply guy and he has extra 25 gal portables that we can use and fill from his truck.

Candy

PS Price $4000.00 for the equipment only - hubby did all the work installing it himself :| :idea: :| .

 

[SaltyTemple]

So how long can a system really sustain itself from a power outage? I've got about 200 gallons (including my sump and fuge) about 10 fish and 150lbs of LR... my fuge has about 1 bowling ball of chaeto and some other plants. Oh, and a bunch of LPS and SPS.

Thoughts?

 

[dnjan]

There are many levels of back-up. The best option is a generator on an automatic transfer switch with enough capacity for the whole house. For those of us who are more monetarily challenged, I offer the following considerations:

Requirements to keep your tank inhabitants alive for days are:
(Listed in order of importance)

1. gas exchange (oxygen in, CO2 out)
2. temperature control (assumption here is that tank will get too cold in a power outage rather than too hot. Very few of us have krish's problems ...)
3. light
4. flow

In my opinion, gas exchange alone will keep the tank inhabitants alive for periods approaching a week (or perhaps even longer)

As a bare minimum then, an airstone connected to an air pump is the minimal requirement. With little additional resources, a simple airlift can be constructed that will provide some degree of water flow to make sure that the benefits of gas exchange are experienced throughout the tank.

What can be done is to make an airlift using two pieces of PVC pipe, an elbo, an airstone, and an airpump. Use the PVC to make an "L", and mount it upside-down in the tank. The inside diameter of the pipe should be at least 1/4" larger than the outside diameter of the airstone. The bottom of the L should be an inch or so above the substrate, and the top should be an inch or two below the water surface when the pumps are off.

Put the airstone into the bottom of the inverted L. When you turn the airpump on, the bubbling of the air will cause water to flow up the long (vertical) section of the inverted L, and out the horizontal section. If you angle the horizontal section so it is about 45-degrees to the sides of your tank, you will end up with a slow, laminar circulation of water around the tank. Not optimal for coral growth, but adequate to circulate the aerated water around the tank.

When we set up our second tank, we used a setup like this connected to a battery-operated air pump. Since we rarely have long power outages, it works fairly well for us. If you may have power outages approaching a day or longer, having an airpump connected to an inverter-car battery (or a UPS) would be a good solution. Airpumps draw very little current, and can be kept running for a long time with an inverter.

Not the best solution if money is not a consideratio, but probably the best low-budget solution.

By the way - with a little thought, you can use the PVC pipe to support rockwork, and it will be somewhat hidden.

 

[Blazer88]

I will sleep a little easier. I just went to my fathers house and snagged a nice electric start Honda 4000W generator. I've got about 16 gallons of gas...bring on the wind!

 

[SaltyTemple]

wow dnjan - that is VERY helpful! Thank you kindly.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Air stone provides little gas exchange unless really creating turbulence. A power head blowing toward the surface would accomplish more. Chilling the fish is a big killer. If the room isn't going to be kept in the mid 70s, will need a heater as well. Boomer's string has a great discussion on how to keep the O2 levels up.

I fully agree about inverters. I have kept water pumping and heaters going for many hours on one portable battery and days with the car's battery getting a recharge now and then. Since buying the inverter, have never lost a fish even with annual power outages and many of them long.

 

[dnjan]

The airstone inside the PVC pipe provides the turbulence. The laminar flow is from the water when it exits the horizontal part of the tubing and flows around the tank.

In my experience, fish are amazingly tolerant of lower temperatures. Of course, I assume that the room won't get too cold (below 60). Most of the houses in Seattle have fireplaces ...

Heaters, unfortunately, eat battery amp-hours quickly. If you don't know how long the power outage will last, gas exchange is the first priority. If you are really worried about tank temperature, put blankets around your tank to make sure that your electric tank heater is not trying to heat your livingroom.

Remember - these are suggestions for avoiding loss of tank inhabitants under emergency conditions ...

 

[Herefishyfishy]

blankets around your tank to make sure that your electric tank heater is not trying to heat your livingroom.

Brilliant idea, thanks!

Many years back when we had a week long silver thaw, lost my entire tank to cold. Too many expensive fish I raised from juvi. Kept the water moving and aerated and figured the wood stove and residual heat would do. Got cold overnight while sleeping. Was devastating and blew me out of the hobby for close to a year... Since then, always have back-up power for a heater and a small powerhead.

 

[dnjan]

The tank itself has a huge heat capacity (thermal coefficient of water times the amount of water in the tank), but if you are losing a lot of heat to the room, that could spell trouble. If you room could get below the low 60's, I would wrap blankets/styrofoam around the tank to keep the heat in.

hope it doesn't get to that this time ...

 

[scytale]

Apparently, I lost power for ?7 hours? yesterday! There were utility trucks parked @ the end of my street when I came home.

(The power must have come back on about 45 minutes before I came home because the alarm clock was blinking "12:45")

When I checked the tank, the temp was down to 72! :shock:

So far everyone looks fine,
even the shrooms, polyps, and trumpets I just bought @ SaltWaterCity's sale on Sunday.
(wouldn't that be just great--losing those new additions 48 hrs after I bought them! )
(At least I can stop worrying about over-lighting the shrooms under my HM,
they spent the day in the dark yesterday.)

My options:

A whole generator is way way out of my budget,

and I already have an invertor and extension cords if I wanted to run things off of one of the cars,

I had thought about picking up a small generator--
but no one is ever @ home to start it up...

so I was up late last night buying stuff online....

--Amazon.com has those battery powered Penn Plax air pumps everyone else is talking about:

$13(w/ free S&H if you spend $25) I got 2 of those.

--I also found a backup power supply @ Costco.com:
$140 (w/tax and shipping)

I've tried using those APC UPS/surge potectors in the past (and they work great for my computer)
but whenever I tried to plug in a heater or powerhead they'd stop running immediately & give me a dead battery error--
or the internal breaker would trip almost immediately.
Maybe I had a bad unit,
or maybe fish gear pulls alot more amps than computer equip....
at any rate, they didn't work for me.


This Xantrex unit says it has enough charge for about 8-10 hours;
so hopefully a small heater and powerhead equates to less than a "small home office."
(It weighs 34 lbs.--so I'm guessing it's just a fancy car-szied battery with a current sensor).
But I don't have the time (nor the aptitude) to wire up my own relay/current sensor....
Supposedly this just plugs into the wall--has 5 sockets; and a digital display to show the current power consumption....
And the Xantrex is so slim, it should fit inside my stand!


Keeping my fingers crossed until the UPS truck comes....