power outages

[Reef Pilot]

I use an inverter battery box (the kind you can buy from Canadian Tire) to power in-tank pumps on and off, and a heater. Had this carry on for almost 24 hours once, a couple years ago with no ill effects. Having a canopy and covered tanks help keep the heat in.

[mike31154]

I have two battery operated air pumps that automatically kick in when the power goes. And although I use VorTechs for water movement, I don't have the battery backups for them. I've been meaning to rig something up with an old car battery, just haven't got around to it. It's pretty simple really & I have the little connector that goes to the backup connection on the controller. I guess because I'm not away that much and when I am my daughter looks in on the tank every day, I don't need anything too complex capable of running things longer term during an outage.

In the almost 7 years the tank has been running, I've only experienced several outages lasting more than a couple of hours & I was usually home for those. There have been plenty of short outages, come home to all the digital clocks flashing, but that's not an issue for the tank. The gfci outlets running my pumps & lights generally don't trip so when the power comes back, everything starts up normally.

There was a longer outage about 5 years ago where I had to pull the battery out of my car, hook up an inverter to run essential items like a pump, heater a few lights & my skimmer. Some day soon I'm going to have solar panels & a battery bank to supplement the power in my home. I already have a small wind generator, but haven't installed that yet either.

[Craigdillman]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

I use an inverter battery box (the kind you can buy from Canadian Tire) to power in-tank pumps on and off, and a heater. Had this carry on for almost 24 hours once, a couple years ago with no ill effects. Having a canopy and covered tanks help keep the heat in.

Do you have a name of the thing you use ive been looking for one and their are couple to choose from ?

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Craigdillman

Do you have a name of the thing you use ive been looking for one and their are couple to choose from ?

I have the predecessor older model to this one.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en
If you wait for a good sale in the fall, they are sometimes 1/2 price or less. I think I paid $99 for mine, but that was a quite a few years ago. Comes with battery cable hook-up (very important feature), so you can add extra capacity (like your car battery).

There are many similar brands and sizes to choose from other sources, and less money. Much more competition now with these.

[Craigdillman]

ok thanks! good to know never thought of the adding battery feature

[Craigdillman]

http://www.duracellpower.com/backup-...rpack-600.aspx

Was looking at this one but the moto master might be a bit cheaper

[donkey77]

wow great responses
thanks everyone

[neoh]

what do I do in the event of a power outage?

panic of course.

Generators are good to have. They are kind of like a gun. It's better to have one and not need it, then to need one and not have it.