Power outage

[squamptonbc]

Silly me put off buying battery back up for my pumps and now we have an outage. Sub station went off line and not ETA from power company.

 

So far 90 mins in.

 

No store carries battery powered air pumps so those are not an issue and being in a condo, neither is a gas generator.

 

I have not dealt with a power outage of any length in all my years of fish keeping, so any tips?

 

14 gallon, all softies and 2 fish and some crabs and snails.

[Cencalfishguy56]

Silly me put off buying battery back up for my pumps and now we have an outage. Sub station went off line and not ETA from power company.

 

So far 90 mins in.

 

No store carries battery powered air pumps so those are not an issue and being in a condo, neither is a gas generator.

 

I have not dealt with a power outage of any length in all my years of fish keeping, so any tips?

 

14 gallon, all softies and 2 fish and some crabs and snails.

ive had it happen a couple times, both times I just got a cup and would create movement and dump and poor to create O2 every thirty minutes or so and everything did fine

[Reef Queso]

Go get a UPS from walcrap for $40.... For next time of course...

 

They last about 3 hours running a pump and filtration. 4 battery backed outlets. The more you plug in the less your backup time will be.

 

I also have a $200 UPS on my tv, ps4 and modem. The

[Cintax]

If you have a MP10, a sacrificial wallwart with a 1.3mm centre positive barrel jack and a 12 volt SLA battery you can make one in about 10 minutes.

[Clown79]

You should be fine. I've had up to 5hrs with no issues.

 

Definitely order battery run pumps and lots of batteries.

 

 

But you can easily stir aggitate the water with the turkey baster.

 

For cooling issues, keep a few water bottles filled in the freezer. You can pop these in if the temp rises in the tank.

 

Keep empty water bottles that you can fill with hot water to increase the temp.

 

A blanket over the tank can insulate the temp as well.

 

Don't worry about lights, corals can take it. The temp and oxygen is the worry.

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I built my own battery backup system using a SLA battery, an inverter, and an automatic transfer switch. Basically, you hook up the power coming out of the wall to the transfer switch (the "From Utility" leads), you attach the inverter to the transfer switch (the "From Inverter" leads), then you hook up an outlet or female plug to the output side of the transfer switch. When the power goes out, the switch fails over to the inverter. When the power comes back on, the switch goes back over to the utility. Simply attach a battery maintainer to the battery and always leave it plugged in and you're good to go.

 

I have a 50Ah battery, which runs my return pump and MP10 for almost 24 hours in the event of an outage. With enough battery capacity, however, I could run these things for a week or more. I plan to upgrade to a new battery to give me 2 days of run time in case the outage is more severe, so I can find a generator or alternate power source.

[Cintax]

I will be posting a DIY guide to building your own backup for Ecotech pumps this weekend. I was waiting on a part to complete the fan controller on mine.

 

How did things turn out?

[BeardedReefer]

I built my own battery backup system using a SLA battery, an inverter, and an automatic transfer switch. Basically, you hook up the power coming out of the wall to the transfer switch (the "From Utility" leads), you attach the inverter to the transfer switch (the "From Inverter" leads), then you hook up an outlet or female plug to the output side of the transfer switch. When the power goes out, the switch fails over to the inverter. When the power comes back on, the switch goes back over to the utility. Simply attach a battery maintainer to the battery and always leave it plugged in and you're good to go.

 

I have a 50Ah battery, which runs my return pump and MP10 for almost 24 hours in the event of an outage. With enough battery capacity, however, I could run these things for a week or more. I plan to upgrade to a new battery to give me 2 days of run time in case the outage is more severe, so I can find a generator or alternate power source.

 

 

I am doing the same with my battery back-up, except I will be using a solar panel and trickle charger. I wasn't sure about which inverter or the transfer switch to use. Thanks for the links @chipmunkofdoom2 . This will fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle for me.

[no694terry]

the surge protector i run my 90gal fowlr quit one time after a storm. I didnt notice for like 4 days. Tank was fine other than a nasty film build up on surface of display tank and my YWG was breathing pretty heavy

[Cintax]

I built my own battery backup system using a SLA battery, an inverter, and an automatic transfer switch. Basically, you hook up the power coming out of the wall to the transfer switch (the "From Utility" leads), you attach the inverter to the transfer switch (the "From Inverter" leads), then you hook up an outlet or female plug to the output side of the transfer switch. When the power goes out, the switch fails over to the inverter. When the power comes back on, the switch goes back over to the utility. Simply attach a battery maintainer to the battery and always leave it plugged in and you're good to go.

 

I have a 50Ah battery, which runs my return pump and MP10 for almost 24 hours in the event of an outage. With enough battery capacity, however, I could run these things for a week or more. I plan to upgrade to a new battery to give me 2 days of run time in case the outage is more severe, so I can find a generator or alternate power source.

 

DIY UPS. Nice.

[squamptonbc]

I did the cup and pour method every 20 mins or so, and used a silicone cooking spatula to agitate the water a bit more.

 

Total outage was about 5 hours, everything seems fine. Luckily its still in the 70's during the day, so water temp isn't an issue, but if it happened in winter, would have been more of an issue.

 

Buying a battery back up, I actually ordered one in July then cancelled the order as my wife got irritated over it, but now I am getting one for sure.....

[Christopher Marks]

UPS battery backups designed for computers, combined with an air pump and/or powerhead is oftentimes the easiest plug and play solution. We have an article that discusses some other details of managing a power outage: http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/_/advanced/surviving-extended-power-outages-r17

 

At MACNA I saw Cobalt Aquatics is making a very interesting ultrasonic air pump: https://www.cobaltaquatics.com/collections/featured-products/products/phantom-ultrasonic-air-pump-31-5-deep

 

It's very compact and doesn't make much noise at all, it would be ideal for emergency uses like this, combined with a UPS battery. In talking with them, it sounds like it's a low power pump, they mentioned the possibility of a USB powered version that could simply be plugged into commonly available USB battery packs.

[chipmunkofdoom2]

 

 

I am doing the same with my battery back-up, except I will be using a solar panel and trickle charger. I wasn't sure about which inverter or the transfer switch to use. Thanks for the links @chipmunkofdoom2 . This will fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle for me.

 

 

Glad to help. The transfer switch was one of the harder parts to nail down. In my own system, I ended up going with a simple AC-coil 10A 3PDT relay, which is a bit cheaper than the transfer switch to which I linked. However, more wiring and knowledge is involved with a relay.

 

Not to threadjack.. the specifics of your system were a bit unclear from your last post.. but if you intend on running on the inverter 24/7 (which I wouldn't recommend), I would at the very least get a PSW inverter. Long term, a MSW inverter might be harder on your equipment. My inverter is MSW, but the way my system is designed, I'm only running on the inverter in the event of an outage.

 

@Christopher Marks, a battery-powered pump is sufficient for as long as the battery backup systems we're suggesting are.. however, these devices (to the best of my knowledge) don't come on automatically in the event of an outage. Depending on what you attach to the computer UPS, these may not last long either. Even server-grade UPSs aren't designed to run loads long term, only long enough to switch to a backup power source. Another poster in the thread quoted their UPS as lasting 3 hours. Better than nothing, but most people are away from their tanks much longer than this due to the work day, staying over at friends' houses, taking day-trips out of town, etc.

 

Again, not to say computer UPSs or battery air pumps don't work.. but computer UPSs are of limited use and usually have a price tag of above a hundred dollars. Battery powered air pumps are manual solutions and may leave your reef unprotected if you're out of the house when the outage occurs. If DIY is out of the question, I would probably at the very least pony up the money for an Ecotech battery backup (and an Ecotech pump, if you don't have one). To each his own, but for me, a battery backup system has to be automatic and it has to last more than 12 hours or so.

[Cintax]

For a battery powered air pump; I just bought one designed for a minnow bucket.

[BeardedReefer]

chipmunkofdoom2: I would really like to see the wiring diagram and pictures for the set-up you have. If you have the time, it would make a great DIY post since the power off back-up situation is what I would like to accomplish.

 

Thanks again @chipmunkofdoom2 for your reply and information.

 

Sorry about hijacking this thread so badly @squamptonbc.

[squamptonbc]

No worries, I found the information useful and interesting.

 

 

 

chipmunkofdoom2: I would really like to see the wiring diagram and pictures for the set-up you have. If you have the time, it would make a great DIY post since the power off back-up situation is what I would like to accomplish.

 

Thanks again @chipmunkofdoom2 for your reply and information.

 

Sorry about hijacking this thread so badly @squamptonbc.

[seabass]

I have a generator now, but I experienced a relatively long power outage a few years ago. I know that my tanks are fine for a few hours, but as hour three approached, I started to worry how much longer it might be.

 

Our Walmart is open 24hrs a day and sells batteries and these battery powered air pumps: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hagen-Marina-Battery-Operated-Air-Pump/19229621They work in a pinch. Something to think about if you haven't planned ahead.

[squamptonbc]

I actually looked at the stores for battery air pumps but nobody sells them so may order a couple online along with a battery back up to be safe. This was the longest outage in years but you just never know.

 

I am in an apartment so generator isn't an option. If we were not in an apartment , I would certainly consider one.

[Reef Queso]

Check walmart in the camping section where they stock the fishing supplies they usually have a battery powered air pump