Powers Out

[jmarches]

I sat there and stirred my 42 hex tank with a knitting needle every 15 mins or so. I made more bubbles than my power heads ever do.

I'd worry more about O2 than temps in this weather. It's not that cold outside. But what do I know, I'm no expert?

Anyways where do you get a battery operated air pump and how long do they run for?

 

[yznhmr]

off to HD to buy a simple generator tomorrow.. least that way i have a plan.. not the best plan (have ot be home and hook it all up..) but better than no plan at all.. dont think you can run out and get something when it happens.. get it now.. (or at least pray..lol) Im thinking a couple long ext cords from the fish room through the crawlspace to the garage.. maybe mount the generator off the ceiling with a vent pipe out the wall ,over sized gas tank above it.. .. hmm electric start one.. so easy the wife could do it.. hmmm.. all for less than $1000.. couple extra cords , one for the fridge ( gots to keep the beer cold....)

 

[desjardiniidj]

I had a power out for about 8-12 hours(not sure how long, I came home from work and the power was off). The only thing I did was close the windows so the temp wouldn't drop. Everything made it with no problems. I didn't know my room could get that dark! At minimum, I'm used to a moonlight lit walk into my room. A generator is on the "gotta get it" list, JIC.

 

[Carlos]

For future incidents, get a computer backup battery unit (1500+) and hook up a small maxi jet to it and run it 24/7. Do not plug anything else to it. Put the small pump inside your main tank and just let it be.

If power goes out (even when you are not home) that battery should keep that MJ running for many hours before it gives out.

I recommend a MJ because it only uses like 20 watts of power. You want a pump that moves a lot of water using very little wattage. The less wattage the pump pulls, the longer that battery is going to last.

I agree that a generator is a handy thing to do but sometimes, if that is not an option, backup battery with a small pump is the next best thing.

BTW, if you have a Deep Sand Bed, your time before fish start to suffer oxygen depravation is even shorter as DSB will suck up the oxygen rather quickly.

HTH,

Carlos

 

[BlackHawk77]

Thanks for all the advise, everyhing made it through. Good thing I didnt have a tank crash because I have 4 new fish from Jeff's coming in this morning.

 

[desjardiniidj]

Glad to hear that everything made it.

 

[zoebeaglezoe]

we should get a group buy together for generators I have been wanting one a lot lately since I started buy more expensive fish.
you can also hook it up them up directly to electrical panels so you dont have to run extension cords

 

[Aquatic Guru]

Anyone still out of power???

 

[jdhanover]

Didnt lose power...but basement flooded due to a broken window in the window well. 4 hours of cleanup. Woulda been worse except i went downstairs to do fish tank water testing. felt the squish-squish, saw the problem and was able to put a spare piece of acrylic on the window to temporarily stop the gusher.

Need to get the computer battery backup suggested though. Thinking about it - should one put a timer on the PH with, say on/off cycles of one hour on, 1/2 hour off to extend the life of the battery should there be a long outage? Thought I heard the computer batteries don't last long but they do automatically kick in.

 

[maxima k2]

My power went out last night at 10ish, just came back on 20 min ago. I had to go to Menards this morning and PU a generator, I figure the cash spent on it could save me from starting over before I really got going. I would reccomend that anyone in this hobby get one. Last night I set mt alarm on my cell to go off every 2 hours so I could get up and stir/ siphon and pour the water in the tank. I was one lazy guy at wok today. I think my tank went a total of 4 hours with out any intervention, but I only have 4 fish in a 230g. The only thing that I ran on the generator was the fridge, return pump and a 250 watt heater and everything seems to be OK. Also, when buying a generator take in to consideration noise and fuel consumption. Mine is rated at a 50 percent load it will consume 5gal of fuel in 6 hours. Luckily I had a small load and it ran from 8am to 5pm and still have about an hours worth of fuel left. So take it from me get one before you need it. I bought the last reasonably price one at Menards and I could hear other customers asking "where are the generators?" The next step up was $100 more.

 

[Chicago]

here is what i have used in the past for emergency before buying the going out of sale kamrt generator..

using your power drill.. hopefull it is charged.. attache a painters mixing wand.. may use these to mix up new salt water.. carefuly put in tank and go.. wil give great gass exchange and oxygenate the water alot in just one minuite repeat every hour or so...