power outage

[mattgumaer]

I just had a bit of scare when my power went out for a little over an hour. I have a 180 gallon tank with no battery back-up. I went and bought a portable generator and within about 15 minutes of getting home, the power was back on.

The power does not go out often at my house. I have a reasonably heavily stocked mixed reef both in terms of fish and coral.

I have a couple of questions: 1) how long can the tank be without power before I need to worry?; and 2) I have a Vortech MP40 and MP60 in the tank; if I bought a battery back-up for one or both, would the tank be ok for at least as long as the the pumps ran on battery power?

Any thoughts/insight would be greatly appreciated. I know of thousands of dollars worth of livestock in the tank and I'd hate to lose it by being bone-headed.

Matt

[fishgate]

You have the generator now so no worries! I think I'd get the generator ready if the next outage goes more than 15 minutes or so.

[seldon]

I'd guess you'd be OK for an hour or two without power out circulation. With a pump on battery backup, you could probably go 24-48 hours. Any longer and I would want to get per back out on the generator. Ecotech lists the approximate times the vortechs will last on their battery backup.

[bull shark]

When I had my 180 I went 24+ hrs w/o power in NorCal during "winter." Temp dropped 15 degrees, but everything survived.

Now with my 300, I had 2 Vortech battery backups, but the batteries need to be replaced so I changed to UPS on the return and circulation pumps. Not the most ideal situation, but if the outage is at night it allows me to wait until daylight to set up the generator. Ideally, I'd like to get a whole house battery that is tied into my PV system.

[laverda]

One of your vortex pumps on a battery back up can keep things going good, if it is agitating the surface for oxygen exchange. My batteries will keep my return going for 4 hours at least. I also have a tunze aimed along the surface on a solar charged battery that should run a day of the sun os out. By then I should be able to get home and fire up my generator.

[Vinny Kreyling]

There are also battery operated air pumps that turn on with a power failure to keep the water moving + gas exchange.

[sleepydoc]

The major issues with a power outage are:
1. Oxygenation
2. Heating/Cooling
3. Filtration
They generally occur in that order, although it depends on how heavily stocked your tank is, what the ambient temperature is and what the filtration requirements are. The other consideration is how long it will be until someone can attend to the tank. (i.e. do you need something that can kick in automatically or not)

The two easiest ways of oxygenating a tanke are a using a power head with a battery backup to keep the water circulating and disrupt the surface tension and a battery powered air pump (https://www.amazon.com/Penn-Plax-Silent-Battery-Operated-Pump/dp/B004PBIKHU). Of the two, the air pump is probably the more effective means, but configuring it to come on automatically when the power is cut is more involved.

After that, temperature regulation is the second concern. Livestock generally tolerates lower temperatures better than higher temperatures. This combined with the fact that warm water holds less dissolved O2 than cold water means rising temps are a bigger concern.

Heaters take a lot of juice and aren't practical to run off a battery for any length of time unless you have a Tesla Power wall. The good news is it's easier to keep a tank warm than it is to cool it off. Wrap the tank in blankets and keep the ambient room as warm as possible. Minimizing air flow over the water to reduce evaporation will help, but you will inhibit oxygenation, so I wouldn't recommend that.

Cooling a tank takes more work. Battery operated fans blowing over the surface will help. If you have power outages on a regular basis you can keep some plastic bottles of DI water in the freezer (use DI water rather than tap water in case they leak) and float them in the tank to cool off the water. If you are going to be without power for any length of time than a generator is really the only option.

Likewise if the power is out long enough for filtration to be a concern than you should be looking at generators.

If power outages are a regular occurrence for you than a generator is really your best option. Either a portable one, or a fixed generator with an auto-transfer switch that can power the entire house.

[Vinny Kreyling]

Sleepydoc,
The pump you referenced does turn on when the power goes out & off again when power comes back on.

[cincyjim]

Penn-Plax Silent Air B11 Battery Operated Air Pump

This Silent Air B11 Battery Powered Air Pump is a great back up air pump that will aerate your aquarium during a power outage or any interruption of your AC power. Perfect for any aquarium, the Silent Air pump provides continuous aeration of your tank keeping your fish safe. This air pump provides your tank with needed air whenever the AC power is interrupted. Penn Plax Inc. has been in the business of making quality and innovative pet products for over 50 years.

[sleepydoc]

Sleepydoc,
The pump you referenced does turn on when the power goes out & off again when power comes back on.



Well, I obviously didn't read the description! I think Penplax had an older version that didn't monitor the AC power; wasn't aware that the newer version did. Just ignore what i said about the it taking more work to rig the battery powered pump to turn on when the power is cut! [emoji15]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ohmygod]

I get a black friday deal for a generator from Homedepot, and get 2 batteries for my ecotechs