Need your input Large tank owners with seperate sumps.

[islandcreation]

I was trying to figure this out and what others are doing. I have my display tank in my living room with the sump refugium in the garage. Like with everyones setup I have everything in the sump heaters, probes, skimmer, top off etc.... My breaker went off in the garage for no apparent reason and I heard my displays overflow stop working.

I began to wonder! Lets say my power went off in the garage my display tank temp would drop. My powerheads would keep 2/3 of the flow in the display but the temp was my concern. Do any of you keep heaters in the display tank? If not what do you guys do? It doesn't even have to be about a circuit going out. About if your main pump just dies? Thanks

 

[new reefer 03]

i know you want big tank owners, but my dad has a 125 and i help him keep up with that one so... that can qualify me
IMO a 120 gallon tank would be fine without a heater for 12hours+, odds are you would find the error within 12 hours? especially in california, i would think that your tank would maybe drop to room temp.so before turning your sump back on i would turn the heater on, and heat up the sump water (just incase it was a cold night). i think it would be fine, unless you are going on a long vacation.

 

[islandcreation]

i know you want big tank owners, but my dad has a 125 and i help him keep up with that one so... that can qualify me
IMO a 120 gallon tank would be fine without a heater for 12hours+, odds are you would find the error within 12 hours? especially in california, i would think that your tank would maybe drop to room temp.so before turning your sump back on i would turn the heater on, and heat up the sump water (just incase it was a cold night). i think it would be fine, unless you are going on a long vacation.

I'm in northern CA and room temp without the heater is 64 degree's. I have a 50% sps tank and can't risk it. I skimp in in using my heater unless we have to, inorder to compensate on my electrcity bill due to the halides running. I just want a better setup if possible if something did happen. Thanks

 

[Frankie]

I was trying to figure this out and what others are doing. I have my display tank in my living room with the sump refugium in the garage. Like with everyones setup I have everything in the sump heaters, probes, skimmer, top off etc.... My breaker went off in the garage for no apparent reason and I heard my displays overflow stop working.

I began to wonder! Lets say my power went off in the garage my display tank temp would drop. My powerheads would keep 2/3 of the flow in the display but the temp was my concern. Do any of you keep heaters in the display tank? If not what do you guys do? It doesn't even have to be about a circuit going out. About if your main pump just dies? Thanks

Like Cole said don't just turn the system back on if the sump temp dropped bellow the DT temp. turn everything but the return pump back on until the sump and DT are the same temp. I also keep my sump and all in the garrage. I have a back up generator for such problems so my system is never off even during a power outage. SPS will die in a sudden tempature drop or rise and you want to keep it as stable as possible at all times. You might want to invest in a generator.
If your overflows stopped working when the power out there went off then your return pump is out there also. keeping a heater in the DT will do you little good if your sump water went cold and then the power came on and dumped cold water into the DT.
What I would do is get the pump on a dedicated breaker that will trip durning a power outage so this will not happen while your out. When you get home you could make sure the two tanks are equal in temp before turning the return pump back on.

 

[islandcreation]

Like Cole said don't just turn the system back on if the sump temp dropped bellow the DT temp. turn everything but the return pump back on until the sump and DT are the same temp. I also keep my sump and all in the garrage. I have a back up generator for such problems so my system is never off even during a power outage. SPS will die in a sudden tempature drop or rise and you want to keep it as stable as possible at all times. You might want to invest in a generator.
If your overflows stopped working when the power out there went off then your return pump is out there also. keeping a heater in the DT will do you little good if your sump water went cold and then the power came on and dumped cold water into the DT.
What I would do is get the pump on a dedicated breaker that will trip durning a power outage so this will not happen while your out. When you get home you could make sure the two tanks are equal in temp before turning the return pump back on.

How did you hook up your generator to turn on when a power outage occurs or a breaker is tripped up? I always thought it was manuelly done with a generator?

 

[BLAKEJOHN]

You can get a whole house generator(natural gas) that is hooked up to the main supply box with an automatic switching box. When the power goes out the generator kicks on and switches to useing power from the generator.

 

[faust]

Look Up Generac Units, I Have A 20k Unit Due To Ice Storms. Fully Auto And You Will Never Be In The Dark Again In Fact I Supplied Power To Each Of My Neighbors During The Last Ice Storm

 

[islandcreation]

Look Up Generac Units, I Have A 20k Unit Due To Ice Storms. Fully Auto And You Will Never Be In The Dark Again In Fact I Supplied Power To Each Of My Neighbors During The Last Ice Storm

Thats a little pricey for just maybe a once a year outage that last longest for 3-6 hours if even that. Longest I've seen in northern CA was 5 hours, unless someone take out a electrical post. Thanks for the info

 

[Frankie]

Mine is manual. I have to start the generator to fire up the house. There is always someone home here so it is not a problem. I run a 220 line from the generator to the dryer plug and turn the main off when the power go's out. I do that so if it is a wire down the guy fixing it does not get zapped from me feeding that main line out. My generator can handle the entire house including my reef. Don't know about the tanks lights yet though. I have not lost power for longer then 8 hours yet so I did not try it.

 

[Reddog170]

I set my small generator up with a capacitor to trip the start when the power goes out. I built most of the unit myself so I am not sure what factory made units run but mine I have less than $150 in it. They are simple to build and can prevent unwanted power failures. he other option is to go with an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) witch can run your system off of batteries until power is restored.