lost power.. tank down

Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum

Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:

Hope everything is good Adam, we are getting the winds now, hope things hold up over here:shock:
But............................................... I do have a generator.

Do like Scooter said man, water changes!!!!!
 
Even if you don't have money for a generator, buy a converter and a spare battery. Can keep a heater and small water pump going for many hours and the battery can be recharged with the car.

Yep, water changes and carbon
 
If you cant afford a generator, go to you local auto parts store and buy an 800watt (minimum) power inverter for around $75.00. I used to run my return pump, heaters and if temps in the tank were warm enough, a 250 MH so we could light our living room. An extension cord from the car to the tank is all thats needed.
 
I was shocked that I didn't loose power, my house always seems to be one of the first out in my neighborhood, this time people around us were out and we were just fine.

Hope everything goes well for those that went out.
 
Lost my Flame Angle, what a great birthday present but everything else is good. I lost power at around 10 last night and it didn't come back on til 5:30 this morning i was thinking of getting one of those 8 hour battery backups does anyone have any experience with them My girlfriends mom said she would buy me one for my b-day so let me know if you have feed back
 
Lost my Flame Angle, what a great birthday present but everything else is good. I lost power at around 10 last night and it didn't come back on til 5:30 this morning i was thinking of getting one of those 8 hour battery backups does anyone have any experience with them My girlfriends mom said she would buy me one for my b-day so let me know if you have feed back

We have one although I'm not sure what it's rated at. Our power was only out for 2 hours and we are newbs but it kept everything running. I'll have to wait for Shelbyguy to add input but think we only had the fluval running on it.
 
One more option for those of you with smaller tanks is to use a chemical hand-warmer Dry or Wet w/ zinc chip.
Directions: Dry, remove from original plastic shake it for a few minutes to oxygenate open and re-oxygenate every hour place in a zip-lock bag with just enough air to float in tank. You can also use it to stir up water like a paddle.

Good Luck All, Todd
 
I recently insulated my sump cabinet which is in the garage with 1.5 inch styrofoam board insulation. I had some left over so i cut

where you get the 1.5 stylofoan from
i need to insulated my tank too.
thanks
also i got 500W pwer invertor 12VDC(car battery) to 120VAC,,good for just cirulation pump,,want to borrow ,,let me know
 
Last edited:
Glad all seems well! Power outtages here are normal and something to look forward to all the time (even worse in the summer when they load shed :rolleyes: ). We are lucky to have a generator that runs the whole house. Glad I won't have to worry when the tank is up and running besides the generator kicking the bucket :shock:
 
Our power goes out a number of times every year. Being on the tip of the kitsap peninsula we get the winds coming thru the juan de fuca. Some times getting up wards 80 miles an hour. I had a gardian system installed little over a year ago. our power went out new years eve but not yesterday.
If anyone is ever in dire need, I also have a portable generater that would run a couple tanks and couple lights and refrigerator or freezer. Possibly anything else you need. Keep me in mind if you ever need one your welcome to borrow it. I am a little ways away, but it could be worth it to save your livestock.
 
Just a moral booster. I made it 3 days without power in my 55G reef during this past summer. It was only on day 3 I lost a few fish and inverts (5 total). as long as the temp stays around the 70F mark then you can swirl the water back and forth with your hand GENTLY!!!! None of my corals died, which includes: RBTA, Derasa Clam, Button Coral, Bubble Coral and such. They all survived. If need be go out and buy an L.E.D. Flashlight to shine inside the tank. I also used 1 Gallon ziplock baggies full of hot tap water and floated them to warm the tank up. If it was still summer, I would suggest filling a Gallon ziplock bag with tap water and sitting it in the sun like I did. Good Luck! I still need to invest in a generator myself.
 
Idea

I have an idea I have been kicking around and thought i would put it out there for input.
There seems to be many of us that are concerned with loosing power this winter and most of us may have a difficult time coming up with the money to purchase an adequate generator. We are left with the options of trying to get by without a generator, purchasing a used or underpowered generator that we can afford, or spending big bucks on a good unit.
I was thinking that in the event of power failure, the chances of any 4 or 5 people in different areas all losing power at the same time is slim. If 4 people went in on a generator together, one in Tacoma, one in Kent area, one in Seattle, and one on the eastside, it would be almost impossible for those 4 to all lose power at the same time. This would spread the cost of the generator across 4 households, and whoever lost power would jump in the car and go pick it up from whoever had it. In the event of more than one co-op owner losing power simultaneously, arrangements could be worked out.
Just an idea, any input?
 
Well all seems normal as can be(alk issues)

I'm really mad.. we have lived here for 5 years and only lost power twice.. once in the winter and once two summers ago when that power line sagged and went out on that 102 degree day. yea I lost power for 2 hours on the hottest day of the year..BUT the tank went up only 2 degrees t o82 and everything was fine.. this one had my stressed. going to bed knowing thousands of dollars of livestock and my fishies were slowly suffering..
Luckily the lights were already out and they were all snuggled in there beds for the night.
 
we lost power here in lacey at about 9pm last night. power finally came back on around 930 this morning. Did discover that my 4000 watt generator will run my 210 reef with everything but lights and chiller (did not try as it was not needed), 2 table lamps, stereo, cable box, tv and 2 cell phone chargers. not sure what else it would have run but the important thing was the tank survived. Went and bought another to run the fridge if this happens again. Which I think might happen this winter.
 
we lost power at 830 and it just came back on im glad i bought the generator this last weekend.

Hey dude,
Glad you took me seriously about the generator. I just had mine out Sunday gassing it up with stable and running it for a while. I didn’t even here anything about the weather till it hit us hard. Our power was out till around 6 am.
 
Back
Top