Ok so I owned tanks my whole life but I'm diving into my first ever reef tank. My big question here is incase of a power outage ....... can I get a link or recommendations for a good backup power supply? It's a 36g bowfront running a hob aquaclear 110 , heater, 2 power heads, Kessel led light , and eventually a intank protein skimmer. I know I know , hob sucks and in tank skimmer won't be enough. I hate sumps and never had any issues ever over 15 yrs. This is my first tank in my new house and I heard the block loses power during the winter months. So any help would be appreciated. 24 to 48 hrs worth of power should be good. Ty
Back up power supply
- Thread starter Sermanley
- Start date
I think only a generator could do that if a heater needs to be run. If all you cared about was keeping the hob running (15w I think), you could likely do it with a computer UPS. 15w x 48 hours is 720w. They say to multiply by 1.25 power factor so 720 x 1.25 = 900w. So a 900VA UPS would be needed to run that small load for 2 days.
I’ve never used a battery backup. We sometimes lose power in the winter but, it’s usually restored fairly quickly.
One winter we were without power for a week and I got a generator, can’t remember the wattage but, was able to run the furnace (natural gas), fridge, some lights, water heater, TVs, computer with that. We were the only people living in our house that week.
A lot of people use whole house generators but those can be pricy.
One winter we were without power for a week and I got a generator, can’t remember the wattage but, was able to run the furnace (natural gas), fridge, some lights, water heater, TVs, computer with that. We were the only people living in our house that week.
A lot of people use whole house generators but those can be pricy.
What you may have seen was this possibly (I’ve seen these in the sump area before):
Battery Backup
Included in package: 1 Power supply for charging 2 Fused Battery Backup cables Compatible with all models and generations of VorTech Propeller Pumps and Vectra Centrifugal Pumps. Note: Vectra Centrifugal pumps require the use of a Vectra Battery Backup Booster which is sold separately.
store2.ecotechmarine.com
I think those are designed for just the Vortech pumps. That said, what’s been mentioned by @griss and @kharmaguru are likely the better options.
Yup that's it lol damn thought that thing would keep the whole system up and running lolWhat you may have seen was this possibly (I’ve seen these in the sump area before):
Battery Backup
Included in package: 1 Power supply for charging 2 Fused Battery Backup cables Compatible with all models and generations of VorTech Propeller Pumps and Vectra Centrifugal Pumps. Note: Vectra Centrifugal pumps require the use of a Vectra Battery Backup Booster which is sold separately.store2.ecotechmarine.com
I think those are designed for just the Vortech pumps. That said, what’s been mentioned by @griss and @kharmaguru are likely the better options.
ironwill723
Well-known member
^this
Ok so final question, say I buy one of these..... then entire tank should be hooked up to it, heater, lights, powerheads, and my hob filter? Or certain things to conserve the battery while maintaining the absolute necessary stuff to not lose livestock?
Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
Either way, but to be safer for a long outage lighting can be done every other day, powerheads run daytime only, you can figure it out.
Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
Yes, but that can be handled by heating water on a stove & into a bottle to help out.
The sump is where you can have a problem if you are out extended time & have no movement.
The sump is where you can have a problem if you are out extended time & have no movement.
No sump for me , always loved my hobs
ironwill723
Well-known member
Water movement followed by temp are two most important. Lights can be out for days.
Awesome, thanks
we recently had like 500k+ without power in puget sound and the local reef groups on FB talked a lot about solutions. On top of temperature, the #2 big thing that came up was oxygen. a lot of people were doing things like physically stirring the water, or taking out buckets and pouring them back in to creat agitation etc.
we have a Jackery that my folks bought me a few years ago for Christmas I have been thinking about plugging into the tank as a practice run to see how long it would last. If power was out for 24hrs I'd personally be focused first on temperature. I could see doing a small water change for nutrients, and oxygen.
I personally spend a lot of time thinking about fish and corals being shipped all around the world and how much time they spend in a bag, in a dark box, without light, oxygen, or additional heat. for a short power outtage, temp seems most important to me. catch 22 would be that if anything DOES start to die, those filtration units are going to double in value.... I might be wrong but I think the lights are the least important thing for the first day or 3
we have a Jackery that my folks bought me a few years ago for Christmas I have been thinking about plugging into the tank as a practice run to see how long it would last. If power was out for 24hrs I'd personally be focused first on temperature. I could see doing a small water change for nutrients, and oxygen.
I personally spend a lot of time thinking about fish and corals being shipped all around the world and how much time they spend in a bag, in a dark box, without light, oxygen, or additional heat. for a short power outtage, temp seems most important to me. catch 22 would be that if anything DOES start to die, those filtration units are going to double in value.... I might be wrong but I think the lights are the least important thing for the first day or 3
the plan in my head right now if power goes out where we live is
1. use jackery to maintain temperature.
2. when jackery dies, recharge with generator.
3. put jackery back on.
we are on the water, low altitude, away from the foothills so we we don't get the storms nearly as bad as the east side of puget sound, but we are in the woods and if we lose power it can be out for a minute or a day+.
1. use jackery to maintain temperature.
2. when jackery dies, recharge with generator.
3. put jackery back on.
we are on the water, low altitude, away from the foothills so we we don't get the storms nearly as bad as the east side of puget sound, but we are in the woods and if we lose power it can be out for a minute or a day+.
Ok so off topic lol , my skunk cleaner shrimp just died. He got sucked into my damn filter intake. Trying to find a proper sponge to shove on the intake but can't find one without some troubling reviews whether it be killing the filters suction power or some weird chemical on the sponge that killed a fish or something, is there like a go to sponge everyone uses ?
is it a biocube? (that's the only specific tank I know with your description), if so there is a biocube group on FB that does custom lights, lids, filters, etc all the time. I have a 4g AIO that I wanted to use for seahorses but I have the same filter issue and I was never happy with any solution. ALthough in my situation, a simple sponge filter without an intake would likely suffice.
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