Power outage

[NC2WA]

I have a 40g tank in my office that has cherub angel, orange diamond goby, candy cane frag, and 1.5 inch crocea clam.

My bldg will be without power for 14 hours on the weekend.

I would like to know if the inhabitants will be OK during this time period OR do I need to take precautions and have them temporarily moved to a tank in my home until power is restored.

suggestions are appreciated.
Kirk

 

[Herefishyfishy]

If the temp is stable in the building, then water circulation is the primary concern. If the temp will fall below 72 F, then need to take care of that too. The simplest solution short of a generator is an inverter powered by one or more auto batteries. They will power a heater and a large decent air pump hooked up to an air-stone preferably lime wood which will be inside of a large tube. It will help create a flow of water and help with the surface gas exchange. The more power you can obtain, the better the possibilities such as a small powerhead blowing toward the surface from below.

HEAT AND OXYGEN

 

[MC Lighting]

if you were closer I would loan you my small generator...

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I have a 40g tank in my office that has cherub angel, orange diamond goby, candy cane frag, and 1.5 inch crocea clam.

My bldg will be without power for 14 hours on the weekend.

I would like to know if the inhabitants will be OK during this time period OR do I need to take precautions and have them temporarily moved to a tank in my home until power is restored.

suggestions are appreciated.
Kirk

You could also drain most of the water out of the tank and take the whole package home for a day

 

[apollothesun]

i can loan you my 800 watt power inverter with marine battery if your interested, just got to pick up and return

 

[NC2WA]

apollo,

would this be able to power a heater, HOB skimmer and two koralia powerheads ??

 

[apollothesun]

for about 50 watts you can probably go about 14 hours no problem. your welcome to test it out before the big day.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I have an inverter I could loan you too if your draw exceeded the amp rating on his. Would need to come up with another battery

 

[NC2WA]

Mike or apollo,

I assume all of this would be safe at work? as it would be unattended for at least 14hrs.
the last thing I need to do is to burn down the bldg

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I have used this system for power outages at my home in Black Diamond for many many years. Would be a power outage at least once a year. To date it, bought my first inverter at Incredible Universe
I used to run an extension cord to my car and if needed a recharge, would let it idle a bit. Since then, went to a portable jump starter type battery pack. Much smaller, but works in a pinch. When set up the 180 coral farm, bought a big generator and was glad I did. Was the year of the ice/wind storm and was without power for almost 2 weeks. Lost nothing except sleep and gas money.

The inverters have built in circuit breakers and mine would throw easily. More a concern for that happening then any fire concerns. Thus the offer of a second one just to be sure.

 

[apollothesun]

pretty safe, has overload feature too. pops fuse. also if you can get a second battery, you can run both of the batteries in series with the inverter if your load is great. or is it parallel. hopefully mclighting can chime in

 

[NC2WA]

my load is not that big..as long as I can get the heater on and pumps moving (for O2 exchange), i can live w/o the lights coming on and for that matter the skimmer not working for 14 hrs

 

[MC Lighting]

you would want the batteries in parallel as in series you would be toasting the inverter with 24v's I would go this route again if I were closer you could borrow mine but since you have an offer for 2 of them I would take them up on it. My suggestion would be to wrap the tank with a blanket just because over that period of time without building air it will get cold especially with the outside temps where they are. This will help keep the heat in the tank and keep the heater on a lot less time extending your run times. So long as your connections are tight on the battery and the inverter is set on a non flammable surface I would not be afraid to use this setup. If you can borrow a second battery then I would do that for added protection in case the power is off longer than expected; now if you have the ability to go check on it occasionally you could easily take the battery out to your car and charge it for 20 minutes in a pinch.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Great writing MC!

In lieu of parallel, he could run two inverters separately with each running it's own equipment.

Sorry to hijack but wanted to know how happy to hear that you are healing up. No matter what I do, My daughter has gotten in many car accidents and I live in terror of the thought. Keep healing and hope all is going great!!!

 

[boosted306]

I would be nervous as well. MC sounds like he is the man with a plan. Battery backup would be my plan.

 

[apollothesun]

kirk, any updates?

 

[NC2WA]

none..

im considering just moving my goby to a tank at my house and leave the tank be as is..the power outage doesnt happen until next friday so I have some time to think about my plan...I will let you know..thanks for the offer...