Redundant Equipment Suggestions

[raylinds]

After doing a search I saw plenty of posts about power backup, but nothing on keeping backup for critical equipment.

I was lucky that the house I bought came with a Generac generator that automatically kicks in within seconds of a power outage, so I am covered there.


I plan on having a second heater in the sump for backup and an extra return pump. Is there anything else I should backup for emergencies?

 

[journeyman]

Backup return pump if you have a sump may be a good idea.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[bshow24]

If you mean having multiple pieces of equipment in case 1 fails, I'd say heater/cooling (if cooling is needed) and return pump would be the most important. Everything else our tanks can live without for a couple days.

 

[dkeller_nc]

I keep:

an extra return pump
several extra heaters (sized for different tanks)
an air pump and air stone
a couple of extra small reactor pumps
an extra MP10 (I have 6 in use, allows instant replacement) plus 2 extra "wet sides"
an extra Apex head unit - I've had one of these fail, and was very lucky to have one on hand, since it runs everything in 2 tanks

This is, of course, in addition to extra mixed seawater, full trash can of RODI, and extra GAC, all of which have saved my tail on occasion.

 

[raylinds]

I keep:

an extra return pump
several extra heaters (sized for different tanks)
an air pump and air stone
a couple of extra small reactor pumps
an extra MP10 (I have 6 in use, allows instant replacement) plus 2 extra "wet sides"
an extra Apex head unit - I've had one of these fail, and was very lucky to have one on hand, since it runs everything in 2 tanks

This is, of course, in addition to extra mixed seawater, full trash can of RODI, and extra GAC, all of which have saved my tail on occasion.

What is the air pump and stone for? Great advice about the RODI water and seawater. What is GAC?

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Granular Activated Carbon

 

[billdogg]

I keep several battery operated air pumps on hand, with fresh batteries right next to them. If the power goes out I can drop a couple airstones into each tank and keep the water oxygenated for several days if need be. Thankfully, the longest the power has been out here in 17 years is about 10 hours. If it's winter, kerosene heaters help to keep the tanks (and us) warm. If it's summer, there are several 2 liter bottles of water in the freezer to keep it cool (while I sweat lol)

In addition, I keep a few power heads, replacement impellers for the return pumps, various heaters, and assorted boxes of "spare" parts.

 

[dkeller_nc]

^Yep. That's one use for airstones/airpump. There are several others; one is if you accidentally get a bacterial bloom from stirring something up, overdosing carbon, etc... The bacteria don't actually cause the critters to die, but the lack of oxygen from the bacterial respiration does. And if you catch it quickly enough, a simple $10 air pump and air stone is vastly more effective at keeping the oxygen level up than water movement pumps while you remove the bacteria from the water column with mechanical filtration.

Speaking of which, a means of rapidly clearing water with mechanical filtration is also a life-saver. You can use felt reef socks as long as you have a few on hand, but since I was into freshwater for many years, I kept the canister filters around - highly effective, and you can add GAC to them to clear the tank water and remove any chemical nasties at the same time.

 

[raylinds]

^Yep. That's one use for airstones/airpump. There are several others; one is if you accidentally get a bacterial bloom from stirring something up, overdosing carbon, etc... The bacteria don't actually cause the critters to die, but the lack of oxygen from the bacterial respiration does. And if you catch it quickly enough, a simple $10 air pump and air stone is vastly more effective at keeping the oxygen level up than water movement pumps while you remove the bacteria from the water column with mechanical filtration.

Speaking of which, a means of rapidly clearing water with mechanical filtration is also a life-saver. You can use felt reef socks as long as you have a few on hand, but since I was into freshwater for many years, I kept the canister filters around - highly effective, and you can add GAC to them to clear the tank water and remove any chemical nasties at the same time.

Great information, thanks. Sounds like cheap insurance!