A couple people have told me where you have the holes drilled in the tank is important because in case of a power outage you don't want the water going into the floor. 2 days ago the lfs said that isn't what determines whether the water goes into the floor or not. shrugs shoulders. ....and of course he didn't want to explain it to me because he never wants to explain things to me. What are the other things that will prevent the water from going into the floor in case of a power outage. Also, I know there is a piece of equipment that cost betwen $30-75 (can't remember which) that keeps the tank going in case of power failure. Does anyone know the name or the link where I can see this? How powerful does it have to be? Which one do you suggest? The cheapest best one for a 120 gallon. Thanks.
Concerned about power outages...
- Thread starter AngelLeah1981
- Start date
If you're really concerned about shorter term outages you could try a battery back up power bar and only plug your most essential equip into it. You can pick these up at any computer store for about 50 to 150 dollars. They're made to keep a computer going in the event of a power outage for various ranges of time (mine runs both my comps for a half hour in the event of an outage)
The problem is, the LFS wants to drill her tank on the bottom. I don't see any way that it would work in the event of a power outage with that setup. Even check valves often fail.
Given that, what happens if the pump simply burns out or fails in some other way?
Personally, I'd try to find another LFS if the manager doesn't want to explain why he does things a certain way.
I believe that if you're willing to spend on a good tank, it's better to get a "reef ready" setup with a built-in overflow that will simply stop overflowing in the event of a power outage and not flood your house and leave the fish flopping on the bottom of the tank. Just my opinion
Given that, what happens if the pump simply burns out or fails in some other way?
Personally, I'd try to find another LFS if the manager doesn't want to explain why he does things a certain way.
I believe that if you're willing to spend on a good tank, it's better to get a "reef ready" setup with a built-in overflow that will simply stop overflowing in the event of a power outage and not flood your house and leave the fish flopping on the bottom of the tank. Just my opinion
If you are getting your tank drilled for a sump then you need to have an overflow box installed surrounding the drain pipe and make sure the sump can handle the excess water run off of an unpowered system.
The overflow restrics the water from draining out of your tank by only allowing excess water levels to "overflow" into the chamber and then draining down the pipe into the sump, where it will then be returned through the return pipes via the return pump.
When the power goes out and the return pump stops working there will be no water entering your tank and therefor no water overflowing into the drain. What you need to worry about and what TRe talked about above is the back syphon on your return pipes. As the sump is at a lower level, once the return pump shuts off gravity will take place and the water in the return pipes start to fall back down into the sump creating a syphoning action on your tank until the syphon is broke. You can minimise the back syphon by drilling a small hole just "below" the max water level. This allows air to enter the pipe and breaks the syphon.
TRe I think you ment to say "just below" the water level... it would create a spray effect if it was above
You can also instale a check valve which restricts the waterflow to one direction... although they can be unrelyable once algea and/or minerals start to build up inside them.
The overflow restrics the water from draining out of your tank by only allowing excess water levels to "overflow" into the chamber and then draining down the pipe into the sump, where it will then be returned through the return pipes via the return pump.
When the power goes out and the return pump stops working there will be no water entering your tank and therefor no water overflowing into the drain. What you need to worry about and what TRe talked about above is the back syphon on your return pipes. As the sump is at a lower level, once the return pump shuts off gravity will take place and the water in the return pipes start to fall back down into the sump creating a syphoning action on your tank until the syphon is broke. You can minimise the back syphon by drilling a small hole just "below" the max water level. This allows air to enter the pipe and breaks the syphon.
TRe I think you ment to say "just below" the water level... it would create a spray effect if it was above
You can also instale a check valve which restricts the waterflow to one direction... although they can be unrelyable once algea and/or minerals start to build up inside them.