Power Outage!

[Joe Fish]

I just found out that I'm having a scheduled power outage tomorrow from 9am to 2pm. What the H, right? It gets better! I'm not going to be around!

How long do would be the longest time a tank should sit still? I have a UPS that should work for that outage. I'll just have to take down my firewall.

 

[zoalover34]

i think they have battery powered air pumps.. maybe there is a battery operated fan you could get and clip on the top of the tank to get some water movement?

 

[TRe]

lol the fan wont work for water movment but a battery powered pump will work fine.... a few years ago after hurricane wilma i lost power for 2 weeks and kept things goin with a bunch of battery powered pumps (like the ones used in a bait bucket) not sure about the UPS
HTH

 

[Joe Fish]

Well, I can run a few computers off of it for i'd say 15 to 20 minutes. Maybe I'll just run the return pump off the UPS? No lights should be ok for a little while? I think my timer has a battery backup battery so it shouldn't loose the times I have set.

 

[TRe]

definitly dont worry bout the lights but id say just hook up what ever pump u have thatll consume the least power to keep it going as long as possible

 

[brooklynfish]

How do you have a scheduled power outage?

 

[TRe]

it means there guna be working on the lines in his area.... now that i think of it that happend over here like 6 months ago and it was only for like an hr or 2 and nothing bad happend to any of my fish (corals will be fine anyways since we ship them all the time with little oxygen)

 

[Lorna]

I have a bunch of battery powered air pumps with airstones that I use. I lost power last winter for about 7 hours and didn't use any supplemental power and things were fine but I was pushing it I think.......these air pumps are about $15 at Meijer or other pet stores..the ones I have are programmed to come on when power is interrupted and go off when power is resumed. They plug in and have batteries.

 

[Joe Fish]

Power is restored and no major issues. I just had a friend stop over my house and take a look. The UPS I have is more than enough to run the skimmer, return, etc. I just need to get a dedicated one for my tank.

I might just look into a smaller one like you have Lorna. Instead of a big thing I use for my server.

I did get a leak in my skimmer though. It got cracked when I moved and up until now it has been just fine. I think I lost about 1 gallon or so it wasn't too bad. Hopefully the salinity didn't change too much though... I guess it's time to start looking at a new skimmer.

 

[Lorna]

I am seriously considering investing in a gas powered generator that will power more than just my tanks in the event of a failure. I think I just have too much invested in these not to spend a few hundred on a good generator that will serve multiple purposes......As my husband just informed me....the used car in the living room has turned into a new toyota corolla

 

[Joe Fish]

That's definitely something to consider when you put as much money into a tank as we do. They aren't that expensive either and they would server multiple purposes.

I think your tank would be worth a tad more than a new corolla!

Anyway, I got back and I skimmer didn't crack... Somehow the sump overflowed. I have enough room in my sump to hold all the extra water, but somehow my ATO float value rose up when the water did and it got hung up. So i had my full 5g ATO bucket empty on the floor and the tank. Salinity didn't change so I guess not much went into the tank. I think the power must have turn on/off a few times.