FL Hurricane Season Prep - Generator?

[TJDaddio]

Hi,

I was going to post this in a FL Reef Forum, but figured there are still hurricanes in CA, NC, SC, etc, so more people can chime in by posting it here..


What do you do to prepare for Hurricanes? I know we always have a few days, maybe 2-4 to prepare, get water, supplies, watch everyone go bonkers and act like the world is going to end, (haha), but what do you do to prepare your tank? I currently have a 37gal tank, and have 5gal of saltwater, and 5 gal of RO water in Home Depot buckets inside my condo - not in a hot gargage or on a patio etc.

Do you have a small generator to run the tank lights, pumps, etc when there is a power outage? What size do you have or what do yo do? I've heard of people rigging up something from their car battery, but I own a condo and my car is not exactly close to my front door, even though I'm ground floor. Unless I had a 50ft wire of some sort, it ain't happenning...

It's sad... I've lived in Florida my whole life and never once thought to spend money on a small generator to keep my fridge on to keep my food from spoiling, but am looking to buy one for my fish tank, haha.

 

[bdroptjj]

It's sad... I've lived in Florida my whole life and never once thought to spend money on a small generator to keep my fridge on to keep my food from spoiling, but am looking to buy one for my fish tank, haha.[/QUOTE]

LOL I'm with you on this one. I have a few more things to buy for my tank, with Ecotech battery backups on that list. I also plan on finally buying a generator before a hurricane develops and people start losing their minds around here.

 

[TJDaddio]

What size generator would work? I was thinking about going and getting a small one soemtime this week just so I have it. Then when a hurricane comes our way, I can worry about other things bc the tank will be all set and ready. My condo is easy, I have accordian shutters that were already installed when I bought it as a foreclosure. I got lucky , so was going to use money I would've spent on shutters to preparing my tank now .

Even though at the moment I have a chromis attacking and eating my xenia and want to killllllll him! lol

 

[bluewater921]

i have a 8500 that power my whole house inc air .. thats the only way to live in fla ..

 

[TJDaddio]

Nice, but I don't have that much $$ laying around... lol... so..

I have a 2/2 1500 sq ft condo, ground floor, so I probably could buy one that would power my lights and my fridge... my electric bill is usually no more than $70 a month. What would be a good size/power generator for that?

 

[bdroptjj]

I would love to get a whole house generator installed myself. In the meantime, I've been told that the Honda inverter generators are very nice - and quiet, too.

http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/power/honda-inverter-generators.html

 

[TJDaddio]

$$ though, omg.....

 

[bluewater921]

cost of mine was 650 and i wired it in my self .. as easy as 1 2 3 ... powers everything inc tank lights tv .. just installed one in my friends house next door .. no flipping switches no turning a breaker on and off .. just push a button .. bought the LP gas connection with it too .. so if pumps go out which they do during storms like that i have LP gas so i never run out walmart carries it .. some stores .. you have to play smart .. when we got the hat trick of storms most of my hood was down 5 days i was down 5 mins ..

 

[TJDaddio]

Only problem with a generater like that is neighbors.... haha...I'm in a condo so I'm assuming while everyone is listening to my generator, they would "stop by" to say hi knowing I have power lol

 

[MrTuskfish]

I had a whole house generator when I lived on the MS coast; it saved my tanks a few times. Evacuated a few days; came home to a cool house and cold beer. Then Katrina came along; the generator didn't help. Power outages can happen anywhere (look what just happened in WV, MD, etc.) IMO, a generator is always a good investment.

 

[bdroptjj]

cost of mine was 650 and i wired it in my self .. as easy as 1 2 3 ... powers everything inc tank lights tv .. just installed one in my friends house next door .. no flipping switches no turning a breaker on and off .. just push a button .. bought the LP gas connection with it too .. so if pumps go out which they do during storms like that i have LP gas so i never run out walmart carries it .. some stores .. you have to play smart .. when we got the hat trick of storms most of my hood was down 5 days i was down 5 mins ..

Wow, that sounds interesting! I wouldn't know where to begin, though. Could you tell me which brand/model generator you used, so perhaps I could at least begin there? Thanks

 

[bluewater921]

i got mine at home depot .. then i ordered the LP connection and did that when i got it in the mail most gens you can interchange them with LP gas anymore cause most house built now are coming with gas hook-ups .. my next step to my gen is building a room and drilling a hole in the side of it and putting a car muffler on it so the people that live behind me stop calling the cops when the power goes out after 11pm .. really .. if you fart in the direction of my power pole the power goes out and good ol FPL takes there sweet time coming out and fixing it .. the storm we had yesterday here knocked me off line for 2 hours gen kicked right in and did her job ..

 

[nuclearheli]

20kw Generac whole house generator with automatic transfer switch. Messed with everything else, gas generators, battery backups, inverters etc,. Besides, why should my fish be the only ones comfortable and happy during a power outage.

 

[bemenaker]

I just purchased a 4K watt generator off of amazon for $300. That will be plenty enough to run a tank and my fridge. Helps that I had $200 in amazon gift cards thanks to visa points

 

[spoonman1979]

I just picked up a Champion inverter generator from Home Depot for $599. Everything specs out to equal the Honda but a lot less $. I ran it the other day and it powered everything on the tank including the metal halides. I had it running on the balcony of my condo. It could be heard inside but not obnoxiously loud.

 

[auburngrad]

i have a 5500 watt from lowes that will pull lights and a fridge and freezer. just to be safe i got a little(900 watt) 2 stroke generator from harbor freight for my tank. i think i paid $120.00 for the little one.

 

[Reefmedic79]

I used 1000W Honda generator in 2004 when we had the three hit us. Was out of power for about 20 day total with all three storms. From the front of the house you couldn't hear the generator in the back.

Another thing generators attract are would be thieves so having a quite one was deffinately a plus. The Honda's are expensive, but run awesome and are very quite, so as to not disturb neighbors.

 

[MarkGP]

As nice as it would be to have a generator that will run everything in your house that is not always an option for everyone. After the last hurricane that came our way I bought a small 2000 watt generator. All I am concerned with is my tanks and freezer and it runs all of that. You should be able to find something in the 2000-3500 watt range for around $250.

 

[dzfish17]

Another vote for the Honda generator. Ive had to use mine 4/5 times in the last few yrs. Its big enough to run the tank, TV, computer, and a couple of lights during a power outage. They are very quiet compared to a lot of other generators. I think of a generator as an essential piece of equipment that every serious aquarists should have.

 

[Ehaze]

bat + invert?