power outages

[donkey77]

what does everybody do if theres a power outage, and it doesn't come back on for a few hours,

[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.

[reef-keeper]

I have a generator.

[mseepman]

Whole Home Generator here. It was way cheaper than I thought it would be and it powers my cold food storage too along with my furnace and a couple key lights throughout the house.

[globaldesigns]

generator, this way fully operational on tank and can use on home stuff also if needed.

[jagermaier]

Oxygen is the biggest concern for power outage so I have my mp40's on a Vortech battery back up. Temp won't drop fast enough to worry about as the fish and corals will adjust.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by jagermaier

Oxygen is the biggest concern for power outage so I have my mp40's on a Vortech battery back up. Temp won't drop fast enough to worry about as the fish and corals will adjust.

Depends on time of year. Where we live, power outages tend to happen in late fall and winter, and the house will cool more quickly. 5 or 6 hours is no big deal, but after 12 hours there could be harm to your livestock, especially your fish. So you will definitely want to operate your heater after 5 hours, IMO.

That's why I like a battery inverter, to operate pumps (intermittent and low setting) and heaters. And it has enough capacity for 12 hours and more, depending on what you have. I can add an RV battery (or car battery) to mine to more than quadruple its capacity if I need to. I had to go through this a couple years ago, when our power was out for more than 24 hours. Everything survived just fine, and fish and corals did not suffer in the slightest.

I actually use this equipment during the summer at our lake cabin, charged by our solar panels. Then I just bring it home in the fall, and use it as a power back-up for my reef tanks. So no extra cost for me.

[jagermaier]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Depends on time of year. Where we live, power outages tend to happen in late fall and winter, and the house will cool more quickly. 5 or 6 hours is no big deal, but after 12 hours there could be harm to your livestock, especially your fish. So you will definitely want to operate your heater after 5 hours, IMO.

That's why I like a battery inverter, to operate pumps (intermittent and low setting) and heaters. And it has enough capacity for 12 hours and more, depending on what you have. I can add an RV battery (or car battery) to mine to more than quadruple its capacity if I need to. I had to go through this a couple years ago, when our power was out for more than 24 hours. Everything survived just fine, and fish and corals did not suffer in the slightest.

I actually use this equipment during the summer at our lake cabin, charged by our solar panels. Then I just bring it home in the fall, and use it as a power back-up for my reef tanks. So no extra cost for me.

Obviously for long outages especially in winter heat becomes a concern. Water retains heat fairly well so if you cover your top so should be good for most power outages that are only a few hours long. I have yet to experience a power loss longer than that!

[reef-keeper]

I went to a generator after we had a 16 hour power outage. That was 10 years ago and haven't had a power outage since. KNOCK ON WOOD!!!