Back Up Power Sources

[Itsadeepbluesea]

Just to see what my options are, what do you guys use for back up power sources for your reef tanks? The power grid that I am on is not very reliable so lose of power may become and issue from time to time.

 

[James77]

Your best bet, aside from a generator, would be to use powerheads like Tunze or Vortech that have battery backup shoudl power go out. The biggest killer is stagnant water. My Tunzes can last for 30 hours with no power, and I could add more to that but it is such a rare occurance here(never more than 5 hours in 12 years) that its not worht it. Any more than 48 hours, it would be generator time since heating and lighting would start to need to be addressed. Battery operated air pumps are also an option for samller tanks.

 

[James77]

Welcome to RC, by the way :beer:

 

[nine8taco]

i would definitely go with a generator if youre concerned about those power outages!

 

[aandfsoccr04]

I didn't know the Tunze pumps have a battery backup option. I thought that was only the vortechs. What's the back up for the 6105?

 

[rwb500]

a good economical way for a reasonable level of protection from both short (2-5 hour) and long (days) outages would be battery-backup powerheads and a cheap generator (can be found for less than $200).

 

[Thetman36]

I too will be using your advice

I too will be using your advice

thanks for the info good thread I am doing a 210 build and using mp40 and mp60 was going to get battery backup for pumps but generator is a great investment thanks

 

[James77]

I didn't know the Tunze pumps have a battery backup option. I thought that was only the vortechs. What's the back up for the 6105?

It is anything you want .....

You need the Tunze safety connector 6105.500, that will allow any controllable Tunze to connect to a battery safely and automatically convert to its power. Then you just need supply the battery of any size you wish and a trickle charger, or even a solar charger. It is something like 1 amp/hour equals one hour of run time for a 6105 IIRC.

The Vortech is more finished looking, but the Tunze more versatile. Search or post in the Tunze froum for more info.

 

[1upshroom]

Has anyone ever hooked it up to a car?

 

[Itsadeepbluesea]

I did for my freshwater tank, but that only for about an hour just to get things moving. My truck has a special hook up in the back for power tools.

 

[bongarone]

Has anyone ever hooked it up to a car?

A small 400W inverter could easily run the main return pump, skimmer, and powerheads on most tanks.

 

[firstlight10]

I ran my tanks off of my inverter and battery powered air pumps for 48 hours during Irene, I am convinced that if the water temperatures stayed within safe ranges I could have gone another 72 hours on this setup. I only ran the inverter when my truck was running (1 out of every 3-4 hours). If I was to do this again I'd have more fuel for my truck on hand to allow me to run more hours. My tanks also have a low bioload.

I did buy a cheap generator to have on hand, during the next long duration (12+hours) outage I plan to use both the generator and inverter at different times to avoid wearing either one out.