Upcoming Power Outage- suggestions?

N

newbiemike

New member
My building is having a a scheduled power outtage next week for approximately 8 hours. Does anyone know of any battery operated powerheads or heaters? I'll probably leave my balcony door open, keeping the apartment quite warm, so the water temp shouldn't drop too much, but I'm concerned about water movement for the corals. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

-Mike
 
Buy a power inverter, plug it into you car, and run an extension cord up to your balcony and inside. Not real convienient in an emergency but at least this is scheduled outage.
 
The battery pump is very inexpensive. I'll be ordering one of those. As far as the extension cord, I live on the 7th floor, so I don't think that one will work : - )

I wish they had a battery powered heater!!!
 
If you haven't already done so, do a trial run by shutting down all power to the tank at the breaker. Make sure there are no problems with sump overflow, etc.

Battery powered air pumps are available at fishing and bait shops. most take D cell batteries. You need 3 or 4 pumps, and at least one battery change during the 8 hours. The pumps are cheap, around six dollars.

I use my scuba tank, with a yoke air adapter. An 80 c.f. aluminium tank is less than $150, and will provide very strong air flow for 12 to 15 hours, even longer at moderate levels. Reasonably cheap insurance.
 
Walmart (or similar store) sells battery powered airators ($8) each. A couple of them in your tank will go a long way. The batteries last over 24hrs. They are located in the fishing/hunting section. Fishermen have been using them for years to keep bait/fish alive. Watch out for your temp. You might want to freeze some water jugs (milkjugs) to add if the temp starts to climb. Other than that everything should be fine. It is only 8hrs.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7516197#post7516197 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Agu
Get a couple of these and after the power outage leave them set up.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Product...eders+Waterers/T1/F02+0291+0045/Itemdy00.aspx


I've heard they'll run up to three days with fresh batteries. Fortunately I haven't had to find out first hand :D .
Click to expand...

My Apt complex went though a similar schedual powere outage while they upgraded some of the electral.... I had two of these, put them on the tank and went to work. When I came home I couldn't even tell the power had been out..everything looked great...I even called to make sure that they had done the project I was so unsure if the power had been out. They said the power had been out for about 6 hours..
 
I actually have an inverter/charger that is wired in, it auto switched from mains to battery when the power goes out (very small delay, pumps don't even shut off at all) and goes back to mains power when it is restored. You can that way get large capacity sealed deep cycle batteries to keep the tank up for sometime on battery power only. It can be a bit expensive though. you can get a smaller 70w inverter for dirt cheap and use a fully charged car battery to keep a medium circulation pump running if needed. I wish my concern would be keeping the tank warm enough this time of year, mine would be getting the darn thing cooled off if the house temp started rising (which is why right now I have no lighting on inverter power)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4637304151&category=50437
this is what I purchased. pretty handy i can keep the skimmer, return pump (from basement), and both powerheads on. and still have 400 watts of spare capacity for a heater or to keep one of the halides fired if I wanted.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7516242#post7516242 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ceak
Rent a generator for a day...
Click to expand...

i second that, put it out on the patio (if you have one) and run it for a majority of the time. that way won't be subjecting your tank to too much stress at all.
 
My vote is with cardgenius. I picked up a small UPS (enough to power my power heads and a small 100W heater), took it apart and removed the batteries that come with it. I've got two 265Ah deep cycle marine batteries (connected in parallel) connected to the UPS. Power goes out, the power heads stay on for days if need be (don't laugh, when my power goes out - it can be out for a long time)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7516197#post7516197 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Agu
Get a couple of these and after the power outage leave them set up.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Product...eders+Waterers/T1/F02+0291+0045/Itemdy00.aspx


I've heard they'll run up to three days with fresh batteries. Fortunately I haven't had to find out first hand :D .
Click to expand...

I have this unit and it works great! We had 3 hurricanes last year, and I only lost 1 fish from them. For eight hrs. you will be fine, I'm sure it will be on before, 8hrs is the max? Anyways it does last 3 days or so. Get 2 units.
 
I used the battery operated air pumps on my 55 gal and 15 gal nano tank. Unfortunately, I lost a wrasse and a coral beauty. Power was out for 2 weeks though. (Thank you hurricanes and Florida Power and Light) For 8 hrs you should be fine.
 
Looks like I'll be picking up some pumps too. Didn't have my tank for the last round of hurricanes two years ago. I'll need something that'll last at least 48hrs though. If my wife and kids have to evacuate, i'll be stuck at work with no way to check on it. :(
 
The pump from dr fosters worked like a charm. As soon as the power kicked off, the pumps kicked on. I hid them amongst the live rock and actually kept them in the tank. Thanks everyone!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7516399#post7516399 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cardgenius
Go to your local thrift store or pawn shop and buy a couple battery backups that they use for computers.
Click to expand...

I'm sure there is a savings here, but perhaps the possibility of a much greater loss. A UPS is a battery and the condition of a battery is dependent upon the conditions in which it has been used and stored. Do you have confidence that people who pawned their UPS had them fully charged up and that they are reliable? There is no way to know if they had sat unplugged in a hot garage for 2 years. A UPS is insurance. It needs to be something you can count on. FWIW...
 
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