Emergency Measures to use NOW for Power Outages for your Saltwater Aquarium

[masterswimmer]

Power out by me on Rockaway Beach. Running on generator. Hopefully not too long

Rich, do you live in the Ozarks or something? I don't know anyone with less electric service than you :happysad:

Russ

Hope it comes on again soon.

 

[Geraud]

I just saw something on Mr Saltwater tank that could be of interest. They do not show it on the site but they now have canister filters, and 12V pumps that can kick as a return pump in case of power failure.

http://batteryaquariumfilter.com/

The video from Mr Saltwatertank: (starts at around 6m14s)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltLtL11Hb2k#t=6m14s

 

[jackson6745]

Rich, do you live in the Ozarks or something? I don't know anyone with less electric service than you :happysad:

Russ

Hope it comes on again soon.

About 100ft from breaking waves of the Atlantic ocean in an area still rebuilding from Sandy :happysad:

 

[lnevo]

Power went out tonight. Got to watch the transformer give a light show and knew it was about to happen. Stupid me needs to put a ups on the garage door opener where the generator is so I can get to it when power is out...oh well.

Anyway, they are working on it now and should be back in an hour. Return pump is going on UPS. I have an emergency air pump as well ready to go.

Just wanted to point out stupid mistakes since sometimes we prepare to be prepared and we should be prepared to be unprepared.

 

[BaaMNYC]

Power went out tonight. Got to watch the transformer give a light show and knew it was about to happen. Stupid me needs to put a ups on the garage door opener where the generator is so I can get to it when power is out...oh well.

Anyway, they are working on it now and should be back in an hour. Return pump is going on UPS. I have an emergency air pump as well ready to go.

Just wanted to point out stupid mistakes since sometimes we prepare to be prepared and we should be prepared to be unprepared.

hmm didnt consider a power back up to open the garage door. i think mine has that emergency pull lever in case theres no power. yours doesnt?

 

[lnevo]

hmm didnt consider a power back up to open the garage door. i think mine has that emergency pull lever in case theres no power. yours doesnt?

I do have an emergency lever, but I can't access from outside. I realized later that the cable is attached to a lock going outside but I don't have the key. I have no access to the garage except through the door.

Doing research though, the a UPS won't work for me as you need a strong enough UPS to handle the inrush current 2200vA was recommended and also a true sine wave (apc smartups) would also be needed. I found a replacement cable/lock assembly for $25 so that will be my strategy.

The main point I wanted to make was that, sometimes we prepare for the worst, like I bought a generator knowing if a storm was coming or some other event I would set it up in advance. I didn't go far enough to think what would happen if I needed the generator without any advance notice. Just somethingl to think about in our disaster plans...

 

[BaaMNYC]

I do have an emergency lever, but I can't access from outside. I realized later that the cable is attached to a lock going outside but I don't have the key. I have no access to the garage except through the door.

Doing research though, the a UPS won't work for me as you need a strong enough UPS to handle the inrush current 2200vA was recommended and also a true sine wave (apc smartups) would also be needed. I found a replacement cable/lock assembly for $25 so that will be my strategy.

The main point I wanted to make was that, sometimes we prepare for the worst, like I bought a generator knowing if a storm was coming or some other event I would set it up in advance. I didn't go far enough to think what would happen if I needed the generator without any advance notice. Just somethingl to think about in our disaster plans...

couldnt agree with you more.

 

[lnevo]

For the record, now that I knew where to look, I took all the old keys when i bought the house and with a bit of strength and some pliers I was able to open the emergency release keyhole for my garage. Future crises averted.

 

[ckramer215]

You can use a ac/dc converter. Plug it into your car cigarette lighter and run a cord into your house. That way you can at least run your pumps for a few hours a day if power is out for a long period of time

 

[acolaojr]

I'm no pro with electric at all,but I remember reading somewhere that there is an inverter that you hook up to a marine battery that you leave plugged into a 110 outlet that constantly charges the battery which powers your tank. Power goes out and your tank never goes down. Does anybody use this method or no what I'm talking about? Would really like to know more about how to do it incase I loose power and I'm not home to start the generator.

 

[masterswimmer]

I'm no pro with electric at all,but I remember reading somewhere that there is an inverter that you hook up to a marine battery that you leave plugged into a 110 outlet that constantly charges the battery which powers your tank. Power goes out and your tank never goes down. Does anybody use this method or no what I'm talking about? Would really like to know more about how to do it incase I loose power and I'm not home to start the generator.

Marine deep cycle battery = yes
Inverter = yes
Powerhead/heater into inverter = yes

Marine deep cycle battery plugged into wall outlet = NO!!

You can recharge your marine deep cycle battery with an appropriate battery charger.

Russ

 

[acolaojr]

Yes but I read somewhere about an inverter/battery charger in one unit. you loose power and your battery is already running the tank through this unit. Was just curious if anyone has used this or knows what I'm talking about.

 

[Jc lover]

Hey Kathy I love this topic I lost all my stock cause I didn't have no backup I wanted to ask you if we can open up a thread about a backup battery for the wp4o and the wp10 I got an email from fishstreet saying that if I get enough people to say that they would like a battery backup for these great pumps that they will start to make one ASAP

 

[Dimitrios91]

I used the 1500 watt inverter in my jeep for a couple of days, I was able to power all my tanks with atleast one heater and a power head, including the fridge and a couple of lights. But once it got to the point no gas was available, that was the end of my plan

 

[Cvaughn1062]

if anyone in ny ever needs help with power outagges I usually have some real estate in my tanks anyone with nanos could come drop off corals, I have a big generator and 2 drums of gas !

 

[KathyC]

Hey Kathy I love this topic I lost all my stock cause I didn't have no backup I wanted to ask you if we can open up a thread about a backup battery for the wp4o and the wp10 I got an email from fishstreet saying that if I get enough people to say that they would like a battery backup for these great pumps that they will start to make one ASAP

Sending you a PM

 

[cono]

The best way besides a battery backup is a generator that can support your tank and a few other things that are essential ( for those who own their home) and for people that don't own their home they should get a small generator......the one big thing I did besides get a gas generator was convert it to natural gas or propane....this was you wouldn't have to worry about gas, the only way they would cut off natural gas is there be a fire or you don't pay the bill

 

[KathyC]

The best way besides a battery backup is a generator that can support your tank and a few other things that are essential ( for those who own their home) and for people that don't own their home they should get a small generator......the one big thing I did besides get a gas generator was convert it to natural gas or propane....this way you wouldn't have to worry about gas, the only way they would cut off natural gas is there be a fire or you don't pay the bill

+1
Considering how many thousands of dollars we spend on our reef tanks, the investment in a generator is the only thing that makes sense.
While a battery back up is fine for very short power outages, any outage longer than a day doesn't bode well for our reefs

btw - for folks in some areas on the south shore..after Sandy they DID shut off the natural gas due to the amount of fires and I would expect if there is a next time, they will do it even sooner than they did last year. The new laws regarding gas stations having generator power should greatly lessen the difficulties in acquiring gasoline (I actually didn't have a problem finding gas during Sandy)

 

[Paul B]

For $200.00 I added an adapter to my generator that allows it to run on gasoline and natural gas. After Sandy I siphoned gas out of my boat to run the generator as I couldn't get any gas.

 

[Dimitrios91]

if anyone in ny ever needs help with power outagges I usually have some real estate in my tanks anyone with nanos could come drop off corals, I have a big generator and 2 drums of gas !

Just be sure to add Stabilize to your fuel (incase you're not aware), so it doesn't varnish on you. You can get it pretty much anywhere, Hardware Stores, Auto Zone, etc. Make sure you add it to your generator, and any other device that has fuel in it not being used for months.
If the fuel varnishes, it's a major headache to clean everything up to be able to even start the equipment.