??AZOO Backup Battery Air Pump Question- Airstone???

R

reeferoo

Lady Tank Tinkerer
So I purchased an AZOO Backup battery air pump- the big one, to provide oxygen to my tank in case of a power outage.

I have never once seen a reef tank with the horribly distracting stream of bubbles created by an airstone. I just had the tube pump some big air bubbles in the top corner of my tank, but low enough that it is still submerged when the power goes out and my DT drains a bit into my sump, as I have an external overflow.

Thinking about surface area and oxygen, I was told perhaps it isn't very efficient this way, and that the directions do tell you to use an airstone.

I am very unhappy with the look of the bubbles the airstone creates.

How do others deal with this?
If I had a device that could somehow only turn my battery backup air pump on once the power is out, that would be great as well (of course one of the features is that when the power goes out, the air pump automatically switches to battery and remains on.)

Thanks for your input.
p_11939_18050.jpg
 
I'm a bit confused about your description but in the case of a power outage, the most important thing is to keep the water in your tank moving/oxygenated. Looks at that point is secondary and temporary. You can also look into a UPS device but its ability to keep crucial equipment running depends on how big the battery is and what you have plugged into it. If you want to go all out, you can look into getting a generator to supply backup power when the power goes out.
 
I am not really able to get a generator at this time, and although water flow is indeed most important, a UPS would only keep my pumps going for a matter of a couple hours. As a last ditch effort for when I am out of the house for a day or two, or even at work all day, if the power goes out, I wanted to get some oxygen into the tank (as I understood part of the importance of the flow was to provide oxygen)

The devices you linked are great in that they only come on when the power is out, so maybe I will switch to some of those. Do the batteries slowly drain even if the device is plugged in and power is on?

The backup battery pump I have simply pumps air into a tank nonstop, and keeps going for hours after the power stops using a battery. My issue was that if I have it on "off" it doesn't go to on just because the power is out, and if I have it on, it makes a visual affect I am unhappy with.

I can deal with it pushing some big bubbles in the corner of the tank, but I am not sure that provides much oxygen at all vs the many little bubbles created by an airstone.

I appreciate all of your feedback and replies so far- thank you so much
 
reeferoo said:
The devices you linked are great in that they only come on when the power is out, so maybe I will switch to some of those. Do the batteries slowly drain even if the device is plugged in and power is on?
Click to expand...

I've had the same D batteries in them for about 3 years. Total hours used is probably about 20 or so.
 
I have the B-11 pumps. I have the tubing/airstones hidden behind liverock. I haven't had them long, but my plan is to change the 'D' batteries any time that the power has been out for an extended period and to also change them twice a year when I change my smoke detector batteries. I will stockpile the semi-used batteries for the unlikely event of a multi-day outage. My Apex controller emails me in case of outages, but the B-11s buy me time to get home to deal with it. My long-term plan is to get MP 60s and the Vortech battery back-up as budgeting allows.
 
I finally bit the bullet and got he MP40 with the battery backup. I still have the azoo for emergencies (and an inverter for my car for bigger emergencies)

se la vie
 
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