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I'm wondering if you're in NJ? I am. Had a tank full of mbuna, for us, power went out 3-4 days, had 3 canisters that stopped during the power outage. I pretty much gave up on them since the temperature also dropped into the 40's. Power came back after 3-4 days and all of my fish were alive... What? Didn't expect that but I think for a tank or tanks any small generator that can support a couple of filters and heaters would do.
Curious to read what others use.
No, im in new york. Im glad to hear your fish made it. I was lucky, i did not have fish yet during sandy. 2 weeks! That would have sucked. I think the champion 1500 will do, but i will have to see how much power i need.
I have a 10k generac cause I have electric everything and a well for water at my house so if we loss power we loss everything. It can run most of the house and of corse my fish tank.
Better get one big enough to run the furnace, fridge, and lights. If power goes out during cold weather the aquarium won't keep the house warm. Several large gas cans too; gotta feed the generator fairly often, and you don't want to run out of fuel in the middle of the night. May have to drive a bit to refill them, depending on how widespread the outage is.
If heating the house and tank aren't a problem you could get by with battery powered air pumps. I have a dozen of those on hand, they worked well enough when the power was out for 3 days during warm weather. Didn't even kill any of the alkaline batteries (2 D cells each) using them that long.
6000 or 6500w. Enough to power my fridge, the neighbors on the first and second floor, selective lighting, tv, and cable box. Along with a 10g RCS, a 10g nano SW, and a 55g with a canister.