Power outage concern

Paul_TheOctopus

New member
I got a notice from SCE that they will be performing maintenance in my area this Friday and the power outage will go into effect between 11am - 1pm.

Do I need to worry or 2-3 hours without power will not do any harm to my livestock. Should I get a UPS battery backup and run only the power heads to be safe?
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul
 
depends on your livestock bioload. 3 hours should be fine but some battery powered airstones couldn't hurt.
 
That happened to me once, they said it would be out for 3 hours, but it ended up being 8 hours. Fortunately I had Vortech battery backups to run my pumps. If only 2-3 hours air-stones will be fine.

good luck,
Mike
 
I lost my tank in six hours last December. The power went out while we were sleeping. Only one fish lived.

I have since put a good battery backup that can easily last for over 24 hours in my tank with potential to increase by adding extra batteries (uses 12 volt car batteries). I personally would not risk having nothing on your tank. At a minimum, I would have an air stone running.

If you're on a budget, I also found a battery backup with an airstone on ebay. I ordered this just to have a back up for my back up. It was about $15. When the power goes out, it kicks on an airstone. Two of these in your tank will work well.
 
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See if you can borrow a generator! Maybe rent one from homedepot? It may be pretty hot on Friday so be sure to have a cooler with ice water bottles you can float or something if you need cooling.
 
I have an inverter that you clip to your car battery. Converts 12v to 120v.Rated @700w You are welcome to borrow it if you think it would work for you. Shoot me a PM.
 
I hear lots of horror stories with pump being off. I don't understand for some reason. I've had the pump off for hours many times with no ill effect. For example, I took a coupole of tank pics this weekend and left the pump off overnight because I forgot to turn them back on. Nothing seemed too bothered. Well I did notice a sudden algae bloom today. I just turkey bastered the whole tank and got rid of it though.

What happens to the tank that kills livestock if pump was off for 24 hours?
 
I have an inverter that you clip to your car battery. Converts 12v to 120v.Rated @700w You are welcome to borrow it if you think it would work for you. Shoot me a PM.

Thanks for the offer. I'm going to see if I can find battery powered airstone at my LFS. If I can't find it, I'll shoot you a PM.
 
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I have an inverter that you clip to your car battery. Converts 12v to 120v.Rated @700w You are welcome to borrow it if you think it would work for you. Shoot me a PM.

Did you made this inverter yourself? I am very curious to see how this work. Happen to have a pic of it?
 
I also got a notice for a blackout, but mine will be this monday...and good thing its during the day. I had a blackout during from about 10pm-2:30am a few weeks ago and was unable to run my generator. So what I did was take a car battery, a 700GPH bait pump, and an air tube and rigged it up so it provided some air while circulating the tank.
 
I am using a Tripplite 750 inverter with a Optima Marine battery. I have my Tunze plugged into the inverter at all times. If I lose power, the inverter kicks on. When power is restored, the inverter switches back to AC mode and begins charging the battery back up. I am planning on adding a another battery this month.

IMG00063-20101224-1756.jpg
 
I had a surprise power outage from 5pm to 1:30am. It took SCE forever to fix it. Was kind of worried so I ran out to Petco to get a battery operated air stone unit. It was about 15 bucks. Fish and corals survived. I was worried about losing heat so I cranked up my furnace heater. Tank dropped about 2-3 degrees but was stable. Good thing I was home. Imagine coming home and everything is dead. Have something on hand for back up.
 
Harbor freight pick up a generator....best deal around but its manual of course..but in a pinch it will run your whole tank and house neccesities $300-$500
 
SCE had power off in our area yesterday..... ended up being 4 hours.

I didnt do anything and all is fine.

air bubble circulators are what I use any time it's out more than 5 hours. should be no more than $15-$20 brand new at LFS

you'll be fine.... better safe than sorry though...
 
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