Air Stone for backup air pump and other backup ideas

[Keith P]

After all the storms and power outages we had lately, I am re-evaluating my emergency preparedness.

I have a UPS battery backup that I plan on putting on a relay. The relay will allow the UPS to power devices ONLY when the power is out.

I will have a dedicated pair of heaters, one for my display and one for the sump.

I will also have an air pump that aerates both the sump and display. Is there a specific type of air stone that will be best? Can they become clogged by reef stuff? We don't have outages too often in my neighborhood, so this air stone may be sitting for a long time before it gets used.

 

[masterswimmer]

Keith, saltwater will cause calcification in the best of situations. An airstone left unused in your tank is more prone to clogging and calcification than an airstone that is being used, for obvious reasons.

Make sure you have a check valve on the tubing. A siphon would not be fun to come home to.

 

[NL146]

I have a UPS battery backup that I plan on putting on a relay. The relay will allow the UPS to power devices ONLY when the power is out.

Not sure why you'd do this. The battery is only employed when there's no power to the ups. This means the battery/batteries would only come under load when the source power is cut.

 

[Keith P]

Not sure why you'd do this. The battery is only employed when there's no power to the ups. This means the battery/batteries would only come under load when the source power is cut.

Correct. This way my backup devices will only run when there is an outage.

Unfortunately my battery back up will NOT run my main return pump (i've tried 3 different UPS backups), so I need to take extra measures to protect my tank and sump separately.

I may try a different return pump to try to avoid this whole mess.

 

[bruce922]

Back up options are great. I really had no backup options or ideas for that matter when I lost power and needless to say I paniced bigtime. Now I have everything that I need to beat a power loss, or at least I think I do.

Bruce