anyone using a battery backup?

[jabis96]

im a bit concerened with this crazy snow already and loosing power. I am wondering what people are using as a battery backup incase power goes out? what are you running how many powerheads? heaters? i have a 180

 

[pledosophy]

I have a little UPS unit that is meant for computers to run my return. I also have a battery operated air pump if it goes that far.

 

[godofsod]

The ups system works great i agree

 

[crvz]

Heating will be an issue, but the other concern is O2 levels. Buy some penn-plax b11 battery air pumps, they kick on automatically and a pair of them saved my entire system during a hurricane power outage this year.

 

[plateboy3293]

I also have a battery powered air pump to the tank. I'm not worried to much about heat loss. But maybe you could wrap the tank in something I am not sure if this would work or not.

 

[justinl]

hot water works for me when the power goes out (natural gas rather than electricity), so if I need to, I can use bottles filled with hot water. I also have a UPS; you can extend how long it runs by turning it off every fifteen minutes, on for five etc. but those little battery poweered penn-plax pumps are just a life saver.

 

[michellejy]

Is there any reason you recommend the penn-plax ones over the other batter powered options?

 

[IslandCrow]

I use one of the Tripplite APS inverters connected to a deep cycle battery. It's a little pricey, but it was a no brainer when I concidered how much I have invested in even a 46g tank. It switches on automatically if I lose power, and can literally run my entire tank (though I only have it running the return pump and skimmer at the moment). The battery is also automatically recharged when it's not running the tank.

 

[jabis96]

where can i pick up one of those penn-plax air pumps

 

[michellejy]

I saw them on the Petsmart website. There's probably some other cheaper option that everyone else is aware of though.

 

[JPA]

Tripplite APS with a forklift deep cycle battery. Ran a snapper and two tunzes for 6 days during a power outage in September.

 

[justinl]

you should be able to find them at your lfs. just make sure you have D cell batteries kicking around somewhere.

the penn-plax pumps are pretty cheap imo and are actually pretty good quality pumps (not that Ive used it for more than a few power outages). 15$ w/o batteries. Haven't yet heard from anyone who hated them.