Power Outage

[ryan820]

Here in Parker (at 6500') we have had heavy snow all night and still at nearly noon, it's coming down pretty hard. So we lost power from 830 until about 1100. I stupidly have NO means of maintaining my tank during a power outage. I honestly never really gave it any thought but clearly, I need to remedy the situation. With power back on, I'm asking the people here.

What do you do to ensure your tank will survive a power outage?

At what point do things become dire? Few hours? Days? How long can a system maintain your coral and fish before death takes it's toll?

My tanks temp went down and I took the UPC from my computer stuff and hooked upt he power heads instead-- figuring gas exchange and flow are better than nothing. That last me about 45 minutes at best. Otherwise, everyone was fine. They got scared when everything came on at once but nothing too serious.

Any input? Thanks!

 

[Off The Deep End]

I have a generator that i can run in the event of a long power outage, otherwise i have 2 APC battery backups ran togeather that will sustain my whole system for 30 min or so for the breif power outage. I also designed my sump to have no chance of overflowing during a power outage.

 

[Cake_Boss]

I'm hope and pray the power company will get it back on quickly.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[othercents]

I'm hope and pray the power company will get it back on quickly.

Same, I don't worry about power... but APC is a good option. One APC with secondary batteries could keep a reef aquarium running for quite a long time depending on your load. For example my datacenter is setup so that the servers stay running for 10 hours on battery.

It would be nice if there was a controller that could interface with an APC, so the APC could tell the controller when it is on power or on battery. This would allow the controller to cycle off and on devices when the APC starts to reach 50% battery life or lower.

David

 

[dv3]

i don't have a plan but if i did i would get one of those battery operated air pumps that detect when the power goes out ...i don't think you really need more than that if your looking at at less than a day ...

 

[spstimie]

Picnic mustard bottle, air line, air stone, hydrogen peroxide, and lead fishing weight. Hydrogen peroxide separates into Water and Oxygen when activated. Fill the mustard bottle half way with H2O2, Drop in a lead fishing weight. Close the bottle, put the airline on the bottle tip, hook up the airstone, and place it near the bottom of the aquarium. The bubbling H2O2 send O2 into the aquarium. The larger the lead weight, the faster the reaction. I have seen these run for well over 24 hrs.

This will work, but I like my vortech backup.

 

[ryan820]

Picnic mustard bottle, air line, air stone, hydrogen peroxide, and lead fishing weight. Hydrogen peroxide separates into Water and Oxygen when activated. Fill the mustard bottle half way with H2O2, Drop in a lead fishing weight. Close the bottle, put the airline on the bottle tip, hook up the airstone, and place it near the bottom of the aquarium. The bubbling H2O2 send O2 into the aquarium. The larger the lead weight, the faster the reaction. I have seen these run for well over 24 hrs.

This will work, but I like my vortech backup.

Love the idea!!!!

 

[Off The Deep End]

Picnic mustard bottle, air line, air stone, hydrogen peroxide, and lead fishing weight. Hydrogen peroxide separates into Water and Oxygen when activated. Fill the mustard bottle half way with H2O2, Drop in a lead fishing weight. Close the bottle, put the airline on the bottle tip, hook up the airstone, and place it near the bottom of the aquarium. The bubbling H2O2 send O2 into the aquarium. The larger the lead weight, the faster the reaction. I have seen these run for well over 24 hrs.

This will work, but I like my vortech backup.

WOW! Thats using your think tank!

 

[mikejrice]

This will work, but I like my vortech backup.

I second that! As far as heat, most fish and coral can survive fine in water as low as 60 degrees as long as the drop is gradual and it's short term. IMO it's actually better to let your water drop because lower temps mean higher O2 saturation and less chance that your fish will deplete it faster than your back-up devices can provide it. To keep it above 60 you should immediately wrap your tank in blankets even if you don't know how long it will be out. Leave space for air to get in and out of course. If the blankets don't do it for you and you have any means of providing heat through a gas source (stove) you can heat up water and put it in bottle to float in the water.

 

[Cherub]

Picnic mustard bottle, air line, air stone, hydrogen peroxide, and lead fishing weight. Hydrogen peroxide separates into Water and Oxygen when activated. Fill the mustard bottle half way with H2O2, Drop in a lead fishing weight. Close the bottle, put the airline on the bottle tip, hook up the airstone, and place it near the bottom of the aquarium. The bubbling H2O2 send O2 into the aquarium. The larger the lead weight, the faster the reaction. I have seen these run for well over 24 hrs.

This will work, but I like my vortech backup.

fish tank macgyver in the house!

 

[Cake_Boss]

fish tank macgyver in the house!

+1, that's how great ideas get spread

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Brenton S]

Well you could try using an old stationary bike and hook it up as a man powered generator?
just hope the power is back on quickly for me.

I like the makeshift air pump idea as well

 

[robert.talarico]

I second that! As far as heat, most fish and coral can survive fine in water as low as 60 degrees as long as the drop is gradual and it's short term. IMO it's actually better to let your water drop because lower temps mean higher O2 saturation and less chance that your fish will deplete it faster than your back-up devices can provide it. To keep it above 60 you should immediately wrap your tank in blankets even if you don't know how long it will be out. Leave space for air to get in and out of course. If the blankets don't do it for you and you have any means of providing heat through a gas source (stove) you can heat up water and put it in bottle to float in the water.

Yes, O2 saturation is better at lower temps and also at lower salinity levels.

 

[cremer9]

can you go to wall-mart and buy one battery operated air pump how long would that help..

 

[zerillit]

The amount of time you have depends on the tank load. I have 2 Vortech pumps, one with battery backup. It knows when the power is out & runs one of them at 50% capacity. I've had a painter blow the power circuit to my house (when I was gone), power outages because the city's transformer blew, and of course the occasional storm outage. My point, you never know when it's going to happen & if you're going to be able to get home quick enough. The refugium has an air stone on battery so things don't get stale down there and pollute the tank when the power goes back on. Thousands of $ in animals are worth a few hundred $ "insurance". I also have a generator that I haven't had to use, but it's there in it's box just in case. Bought everything after a big outage where I had to scoop water out of the tank & put it back in like a water fall to keep it aerated. Very tiring at 2 am.

 

[projectx]

I have 2 APC's split the pumps between the two of them. No clue how long they will run but if need be I have a few more APC's around the house that I can put in if they dont make it till the power comes back on

 

[lorilynne]

We must live fairly close - power outage affected me as well. (West end of Hidden Village, bordering Pinery)

I stuffed quilts/blankets behind and over my tank (75g corner-pentagon with 15g sump). I also added a (lame) battery operated airstone.
FWIW, I also had an azoo battery backed air pump, but it was too weak to even make bubbles with fresh batteries.
Chad (from GBR lfs in Lone Tree) said my (overcrowded) tank could go 8hrs without harm (except to my blood pressure!!)
I still plan to buy another battery operated air pump.

As Murphy's Law would have it, I had a new Lyretail Anthias in a 20g qt tank...which lost heat so rapidly, I moved her into my main display. So far so good.
Another saltwater friend in Parker brought over his gas powered generator, but at that point the power had already come back on.

I will say, that as soon as the power came back on, everything looked great - all polyps extended, fish active, etc. What a scare though!

Random question....Friday night at 10:45 our doorbell rang... and it was a police officer... asking if we owned any COWS... because there were COWS wandering loose on N Pinery Parkway... !!!.. Did you hear anything about it?? I am still puzzling over it!!

LL

 

[ryan820]

We must live fairly close - power outage affected me as well. (West end of Hidden Village, bordering Pinery)

I stuffed quilts/blankets behind and over my tank (75g corner-pentagon with 15g sump). I also added a (lame) battery operated airstone.
FWIW, I also had an azoo battery backed air pump, but it was too weak to even make bubbles with fresh batteries.
Chad (from GBR lfs in Lone Tree) said my (overcrowded) tank could go 8hrs without harm (except to my blood pressure!!)
I still plan to buy another battery operated air pump.

As Murphy's Law would have it, I had a new Lyretail Anthias in a 20g qt tank...which lost heat so rapidly, I moved her into my main display. So far so good.
Another saltwater friend in Parker brought over his gas powered generator, but at that point the power had already come back on.

I will say, that as soon as the power came back on, everything looked great - all polyps extended, fish active, etc. What a scare though!

Random question....Friday night at 10:45 our doorbell rang... and it was a police officer... asking if we owned any COWS... because there were COWS wandering loose on N Pinery Parkway... !!!.. Did you hear anything about it?? I am still puzzling over it!!

LL

So THATS where my cows were?! Man! I looked all over for them. lol

Nope, didn't hear anything about cows... don't even know where they would have come from.

Yes we must live very close. I live in Hidden Village, too, but on the East end, on Hilltop and Trailway. I'm the one that lives in a house shaped like a barn!

Do you know what caused our power outage, because I've only ever experienced one once before and it was for only 30 minutes, where this one went on for a while.

I've tried going to the GBR LFS a few times... even emailed the guy! And it was NEVER open. So I gave up. I instead go through Stewart with Mile High Aquatics. His stock is in his basement (its HUGE) and he lives in Parker as well. I really enjoy visiting him because his DT is incredible and he's always been really helpful.

We should meet up some time. It would be nice to know someone really close by with a tank to share experiences, swap things or tank sit. That is, if you're interested-- no pressure if your not. I of course offer up my services if you ever need any help. There are loads of nice, friendly people on here but CO covers a big area. LOL It would be nice to know someone more locally.

 

[saltySamurai]

great trick with the hydrogen pyroxide!

I too live in Parker, and about a year ago we lost power while I was out of town. Our next door neighbors were house sitting (they're not aquarium enthusiasts). At about 4 hours, I was contemplating driving back from Salida. Finally, things were restored at 4 1/2 hours. The next week I picked up a used generator for $100 off of Craigslist and did some wiring so that switching to aux power could be done by anyone who could start a lawnmower and plug in an extension cord. The way I figure, $100 is cheap insurance for what I have in the tank, not just replacement cost (which would be substantial), but time and love poured into it. It's a basic (ie LOUD) generator, about 1800 watts - I can run my return pumps and heaters for as long as I have gasoline. Living in Parker, I doubt I'd ever really need it - I figure the power would have to go down for 6 hours before a generator would really be needed. After 10 years in Parker, I don't recall losing power that long, but I'm sure if I didn't have a generator it would probably happen next winter! I am concerned about losing heat in the winter, with all heat off in the house and of course me not being home that one time the power goes out. When I wired up stuff, I made it so that I could give a sheet of directions to anyone or be able to walk them through over the phone - very simple setup. I'm babbling because I'm sick and on drugs, so I hope this made sense! It did to me!

 

[ryan820]

Thanks for the insight, Salty. I had the same thing in mind regarding a generator. I think I could sell the idea to my wife, too, as it would keep other systems in the house running, too! I'd like to have the generator hooked up to the house so things like heat wouldn't be sacrificed for us either (it got pretty chilly the other day because the power went off after the thermostats went into day mode, meaning it was already cooler when the power cut). Who provides your electricity? We are on IREA here and though I've only ever seen one power outage before, this one had me concerned because of the heavy snow we were getting. I have to give them credit, though-- even tough it was out for a few hours, the weather was pretty lousy and they still got it back on.