marlinmero
Marlin
i was thinking about gettin a generator for this winter since its suppose to be a bad one. on average how many watts does a fish tank need to run. thinkin about a honda 1,000 watter super silent one
generator power
- Thread starter marlinmero
- Start date
Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:
nsamouroux
Well-known member
That depends... Do you want the generator to run only life support equipment or nearly everything? I was too lazy to look up the specifics of your tank, but what wattage are your lights? Amp draw on the major pieces of equipment? A couple of 250w halides and a decent size return pump / closed loop can easily exceed 1000 watts (heck, I've got 1300 watts in only 4 bulbs). You'll need to add up the wattage / amperage of all of the "critical" equipment and then multiply it by 1.5 to be safe, you definitely don't want an under-capacity generator if you're going to go through the expense / setup anyways.
marlinmero
Marlin
i have a 6bulb tek5 which is 324watts. and eheim 1260 return, a 100 watt titanium heater and then a few hydor power heads. then my skimmer. i think i should be under a 1,000?
nsamouroux
Well-known member
You're probably safe then with 1000-1200 watts; I thought you had a 100-ish gallon tank based on the avatar photo and figured the power draw would be higher. Keep in mind that the rating for generators is usually based on "peak" output, you want to look at the continuous duty output when shopping for them. A little Honda 1000 unit would probably only output 700w or so continuous depending on the model (I have one of those little red plastic-enclosed Honda 1000 generators, it wouldn't even run my dual 400w Hamilton halide ballast).
My parents have a 5000 watt honda generator that is ~10 years old and the inverter on it doesn't run pumps very well; they run choppy and make clicking noises and don't move as much water when running off the generator. The fluval canister my mom used to use wouldn't even spin on the generator power; the output is too dirty or choppy somehow.
Noisy pumps are very definitely better than no pumps at all, but if I were shopping for a generator for mostly aquarium use I would read all I could about which ones produce clean power.
Might want to look bigger than 1000 watts though unless it is just for your tank; if your aquarium lights kick on while your coffee maker is running on a 1000w generator you'll probably have to go outside in the wind and rain to restart the engine.
Noisy pumps are very definitely better than no pumps at all, but if I were shopping for a generator for mostly aquarium use I would read all I could about which ones produce clean power.
Might want to look bigger than 1000 watts though unless it is just for your tank; if your aquarium lights kick on while your coffee maker is running on a 1000w generator you'll probably have to go outside in the wind and rain to restart the engine.
thatguy559
Well-known member
i bought a 6k all power one for the same price as the honda 1k watt one
marlinmero
Marlin
Wish I had a generater now. My power its out. Lol. So I got my tank wrapped in blankets. It is a bigger tank 130 gallon plus 30 gallon stump.
Maybe I will step up to the 1200 or 2000watter. The little honda ones I'm talking about have a thing in then makes produce good clean constant power. And they run at like 60db
Maybe I will step up to the 1200 or 2000watter. The little honda ones I'm talking about have a thing in then makes produce good clean constant power. And they run at like 60db
marlinmero
Marlin
I live in an apartment complex so lower the db level the better.which means higher the price 
mcoomer
Who's your daddy?!?
Get yourself one of these Honda's and call it good. That will run your tank and be so quiet that you'll wonder if it's on. I've got a 6500W generator that I use to run the tank, house lights, heat, TV and computers. It's nice being warm and dry while you're surfing the net during a power outage.
Mike
Mike
marlinmero
Marlin
lol thats the website and one i was looking at actually
nsamouroux
Well-known member
That 2k honda unit would probably work well, it's listed continuous output is 1600w so if your tank is only using ~1k you'd be good to go with some extra safety margin. Just don't make the mistake I made and expect a honda 1k to be sufficient!
mfinn
Surgeonfish
I have 2 different generators. One is wired into my house and the other is a 1000watt Yamaha. It has the same specs as the Honda, but was about $300 cheaper.
markdadof2
Member
I have a yamaha EF2400iSHC and it is great! Very clean power and very quiet, but a bit costly to purchase.
marlinmero
Marlin
i bought one the yamaha 2400 and by the time i did the heater, return, and sum power heads, tv, ps3, and a heater it was pretty much maxed, so i once the power came back on i took it back and got the 3000eb. so hopefully next time the power goes out ill have enough for my new tank to
DonW
R.I.P.
ac7av
Bring on the FISH!
For my kids it’s the Wii and the wife definitely needs the range so it’s a 5k generator here. BTW the tank uses around 1.6k if everything is on.
marlinmero
Marlin
got to have something to keep yourself entertained when the power is off
mfinn
Surgeonfish
Yes you do.
I need to find out if the power from the generator will mess up my blu-ray player/plasma tv combo.
I know a few years ago I was able to use my computer on generator power and something really got messed up. Ended up having to buy a new one.
ac7av
Bring on the FISH!
I’m sure it depends on the generator regulation. Ill be they don’t like fluctuations. That’s a good question though. I have a new Panasonic G25 plasma and the matching 7.1 blu-ray player and have not run ether on the generator. I can say that the computers I have never has a problem and the un interruptible power supply I have for the computers is very sensitive and it will some times go off threw the day if it sees something strange with the power and it always stayed pretty quiet even on the generator unless something big kicked in, it would beep for a second or two. Now that you mention it I may get a UPS for the TV and Blu-ray to prevent any problems with the generator surging under loads. Most of the UPS are good for smoothing out things like that. Since I live on an island the power is all over the place in the winter time. Thanks for asking aobut the plasma tv, that’s my new baby and I don’t want any problems.
marlinmero
Marlin
i know with the yamaha's they make a big deal about there inverter and something with it that gives constant steady power so you can hook your most sensitive electrical equipment to it with no problem.
Similar threads
