What happens if I lose power????
- Thread starter sh8wn9
- Start date
blue_eyes53813
Well-Known Member
This is something I think about daily. I have bought battery powered air stones... Otherwise I have no idea what I would do. The only real true thing to work long term would be a generator. And they are pricey
chipmunkofdoom2
Well-Known Member
I doubt the battery powered heaters would last very long. I have what's known as a UPS, which stands for uninterruptable power supply. They're typically used for computers, but I plug all my reef equipment into it (except for the lights) and when the power goes out, everything continues to function. I haven't tested how long it will last, but if it's a robust power supply and you only use it for your heater and pumps for circulation, then it should last quite some time.
Jeremy0322
Active Member
I have actually been looking for a cheap one of those, my dad has one on his computer and it works decently, but with the new tech coming out i would assume they would have much longer battery lives right now.
It takes quite awhile for a large volume of water to cool off. Usually as long as the temp stays above 72 you will not have any major problems. Of course, if you loose power for several days, this becomes a big problem. Also, heaters draw a lot of power when they are on, so they would deplete a battery quickly.
Lighting is something the system can do without for a fairly long period. Even a week or so without light usually isn't a big problem.
Circulation is the key item. For a few hours the tank can get by, but after than you need to do something. Battery operated air pumps are a good low cost choice, but you will need to change batteries after about 12 hours at best. A standby generator would be ideal, but it's very expensive.
Battery backup power supplies like you get for a personal computer, might run a powerhead, but they usually will not last long in that mode. The are designed to provide a few min of power to normally shut down a computer, not power something for hours.
Lighting is something the system can do without for a fairly long period. Even a week or so without light usually isn't a big problem.
Circulation is the key item. For a few hours the tank can get by, but after than you need to do something. Battery operated air pumps are a good low cost choice, but you will need to change batteries after about 12 hours at best. A standby generator would be ideal, but it's very expensive.
Battery backup power supplies like you get for a personal computer, might run a powerhead, but they usually will not last long in that mode. The are designed to provide a few min of power to normally shut down a computer, not power something for hours.
chipmunkofdoom2
Well-Known Member
Yeah, mine is a no name piece of crap! I use it on my reef cuz I'm too scared to use it on my computer, hahah.
evallarta1
Member
Like Davek said it can take a while for the water to cool off. Covering your tank will help keep it from loosing heat along with wrapping the tank. Also if you do lose power dont feed your fish. Its just going to add to the problem. Your fish can make it about a week without being fed.
BentMyWookie
Member
I just ordered my battery pump today. Someone on another thread suggested using a paint mixer attached to a cordless drill for circulation every now and then.
I think if my power went out for an extended period and it was extremely cold, I would warm up water with my camping stove and pour it into a nalgene bottle and toss it into my tank. Anyone ever try this? I know a frozen water bottle works well to lower tank temp so id guess the opposite would be true.
now if the power went out for an extended period of time and there was a severe heat wave I would probably throw sealed frozen foods from my freezer into my tank, if the outtage went on long enough were the freezer thawed it would get interesting (although if there really was an outage this long I probably would be more worried about other things). I might try using a spray duster in a can (the kind for dusting keyboards) if you shake it really hard and expel the can upside down the can will freeze over (the spary will also come out frozen and is pretty dangerous fyi) and throw the can in.
LOL My work forces me to be away from home for several days a week so I spend lots of time worrying about my tank. Ive even thought about setting up a webcam pointed at my tank so I can check up on it via the web... I need to save up and get a reefkeeper!:bouncer:
I think if my power went out for an extended period and it was extremely cold, I would warm up water with my camping stove and pour it into a nalgene bottle and toss it into my tank. Anyone ever try this? I know a frozen water bottle works well to lower tank temp so id guess the opposite would be true.
now if the power went out for an extended period of time and there was a severe heat wave I would probably throw sealed frozen foods from my freezer into my tank, if the outtage went on long enough were the freezer thawed it would get interesting (although if there really was an outage this long I probably would be more worried about other things). I might try using a spray duster in a can (the kind for dusting keyboards) if you shake it really hard and expel the can upside down the can will freeze over (the spary will also come out frozen and is pretty dangerous fyi) and throw the can in.
LOL My work forces me to be away from home for several days a week so I spend lots of time worrying about my tank. Ive even thought about setting up a webcam pointed at my tank so I can check up on it via the web... I need to save up and get a reefkeeper!:bouncer:
Reddog170
Active Member
I built a simple generator for just that reason. I took and old lawnmower removed the blade replaced it with a pulley then took and alternator and mounted it so that a belt from the engine would run it. I then wired it to a marine deep cycle battery and use a power inverter. I tested it and it will run my entire tank and as long as I have gas I have power. The total cost was only around $75. Hope this helps, Shaun
r2d2
Member
I think a power generator is not that expensive and it will solve any power problem. You can find something about $100 on ebay. Last week I saw on amazon a 900W generator for $120 including shipping.
With 900W you can run your filters, powerheads and heaters with no problem, all you need is to have a full tank and an extension cord (guess you dont want that noise inside your living...)
By the way, I dont have one but planning to buy it soon.
Greetings
With 900W you can run your filters, powerheads and heaters with no problem, all you need is to have a full tank and an extension cord (guess you dont want that noise inside your living...)
By the way, I dont have one but planning to buy it soon.
Greetings
They actually make a battery powered air pump that plugs in as well. My dad has them because he doesnt want to lose his fish in the case of a power outage. You put the batteries in, hang it on the tank, and then plug it in. It sits there and does nothing... until the power goes out. The minute the power stops... the batteries kick on... and tada! Air.
Ps, generators are dangerous to have running in your house... and dont forget to have gas for them on hand!
Ps, generators are dangerous to have running in your house... and dont forget to have gas for them on hand!
michael_cb_125
Well-Known Member
"Please Reef Gods, dont let my tank freeze" 
I am glad that we have a few generators!!!!! Our house drops to 55 at night right now, WITH POWER!!!!!
If we lost power, I would hate to think about how cold it would get in there.
~Michael
I am glad that we have a few generators!!!!! Our house drops to 55 at night right now, WITH POWER!!!!!
If we lost power, I would hate to think about how cold it would get in there.
~Michael
We almost lost a tank once due to a power outage, and bought a generator shortly thereafter. The price of generators has come down a *lot*. Amazon has a 1,200w one right now for $125.00. You can buy one that will run nearly an entire house for about $600-$700 (5,000+ watts).
This is very true. You *must* be able to place the generator outside while running. During our December ice storm, there was more than one person who died from carbon monoxide poisoning because they were running a generator inside. The crazy thing about that ice storm was that we actually had to drive about 30 miles to find a gas station that was open. It was eerie - entire towns shut down. You should have seen the line at the Dunkin Donuts when we finally found one. LOL
This is very true. You *must* be able to place the generator outside while running. During our December ice storm, there was more than one person who died from carbon monoxide poisoning because they were running a generator inside. The crazy thing about that ice storm was that we actually had to drive about 30 miles to find a gas station that was open. It was eerie - entire towns shut down. You should have seen the line at the Dunkin Donuts when we finally found one. LOL
A generater would be the way to go. I have yet to buy one but I will before this summer. I only had to get a generater once for a weeks time. Of course it was when fuel was over $4 a gallon here and it took approx. 5gl a day to run. Did I pilug in the fridge? NO just my tank. Lost all of our food but tank was good.
We have (3) maxijet 1200 powerheads on the 75g tank we are currently setting up. There is another used on the skimmer. These powerheads only use 20 watts of power a piece so we set up a backup system using a deep cycle battery connected to a trickle charger to maintain it and a small inverter (150w). Of course we'd have to move the skimmer out of the sump and onto the tank since the small inverter won't run all of this plus the return pump in the sump. We already had the trickle charger and inverter lying around so all that was required was a nice size battery. We haven't run the set-up long enough to see how long it will run on just one battery, but all 4 powerheads are only using 80 watts so it should be able to run for a while. With this system if the power is off to long we can bring in the two batteries from our pop-up camper as well. We don't have to worry about keeping fuel around for a generator this way. We figure as long as we can keep the water circulating we can live without the heaters and lights for a while. We may go ahead and increase the inverter size to handle a portion of the lighting anyway. If things get really bad we can always use the 500 watt inverter that's in our van running the van engine often enough to charge the battery. Probably would waste a lot of gas, but better than losing everything in a tank. Right now all our other tanks are FW and they've already survived a couple of 2 week long power outages in the past several years.