Emergency Plans for fish/corals

[murfman]

Since we are in a quasi state of emergency, what plans do you have in case you loose power? Heat?

I have a gas fire place so I can heat the downstairs of the house. I also have car batteries charged and ready to go. Why car batteries? I have an inverter that I picked up at Radio Shack that has a 300 watt load capability. I can run the 250 watt heater to keep the tank warm and alternate with my Seios for circulation. I can also wrap the tank with blankets to insulate it.

 

[Joe69]

I have a portable generator that I can back-feed into my house through a 220 plug. It 5550 Watts, so it can run my furnace, tank pumps and lights, fridge, and TV. We lose power frequently in the winter in Pueblo County.

 

[COreefer]

I have an inverter to connect to my truck battery and a generatorcapable of putting out 2000 watts. I had to use them last week when we had that heavy wet snow. My power was out almost 11 hours. The generator on inverter powered my tanks, my ppellet stove and my TV.

 

[racer69]

Joe, how do you back feed into the house. I would be interested in that so I dont have to use extension chords.

 

[Joe69]

You flip off the main and plug the generator into a 220 plug, like the dryer or maybe you have one in the garage. This should light up your circuit box. (You need to make a 220 cable with male plugs on both sides and at least 6 gauge wire.) Be careful because everything will be usable, and you will overload your gennie depending on its watts.

The ideal way to do it, would be to have seperate circuit box that handled the furnace, fridge, tv and tank.

If you don't back feed it and just use ext. cords, how do you run the furnace?

I think Russ needs to chime in as he is the licensed one of the bunch. I may be doing something dangerous for all I know....LOL

 

[racer69]

You could just flip off the unused breakers and only leave on the ones you need? This sounds like a plan to me. What do you think Russ?

 

[green wrasse]

I have a tredmill ha ha no I have the fireplace cookin and keeping my fingers crossed the power doesn't go off although it has flickered a few times and the wind is really picking up here at Woodmen and I 25

 

[murfman]

Steson Hills is without power right now, just across the road from me.

 

[Crit21]

Wood burning stove with 16 feet of exposed duct that can heat the whole house.

 

[Crit21]

I've had power losses before, and even after 2 days, the tank doesn't suffer from the cooling. I just stop feeding to reduce the buildup of bad stuff. I do have a sheet of the blue foam that I can put on top to slow the heat loss, but I'd have to make sure the MHs are turned off in case it comes back on.

 

[COreefer]

A battery backup air pump is also part of my prevention of losses due to power outages.

 

[murfman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8420881#post8420881 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Crit21
I've had power losses before, and even after 2 days, the tank doesn't suffer from the cooling. I just stop feeding to reduce the buildup of bad stuff. I do have a sheet of the blue foam that I can put on top to slow the heat loss, but I'd have to make sure the MHs are turned off in case it comes back on.

How cool does the tank get? How cool can it go before there are fish/coral losses?

 

[Crit21]

About as cool as the room, I guess. 70 or so. There's only so much you can do with no power.

 

[Deuce67]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8420325#post8420325 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by racer69
You could just flip off the unused breakers and only leave on the ones you need? This sounds like a plan to me. What do you think Russ?

A lot of folks do it that way. The main thing is to shut off the main breaker. If someone forgets to do that and hook up a generator and the power comes back on, there could be trouble. Best way is to have a seperate panel and have only the essentials on that panel. To avoid an accident, a transfer switch is recommended. With a transfer switch, there is no way the main power and the generator can feed a panel at the same time. Unless somebody wires it wrong.