Battery Operated Heaters?

[runway1]

I'm currently having a power outage and my biggest concern is temperature. Does anybody heard of a battery operated tank heater?

[malkore]

no, because heaters are such a high wattage, normal wet cell batteries would be drained too quickly, and you'd need a large quantity.

you'd even need a large UPS backup system to handle a larger heater. I'm guessing you've got 200-250w heater on your 55gallon? That's a fair amount of juice.

best thing is leave the tank lid on, and wrap the tank in a blanket to insulate it.

[runway1]

Yeah, I have one 250w and another for back up of 150w. Yup, now that I think of it, that would be far too much for batteries.

Looks like I should consider a generator as backup. Especially since I'm upgrading to a 120 gallon. Thanks!

[Feron]

A good sized ups (good enough to keep a couple pcs and monitors on for 10 minutes) would be good for a normal power outtage.
That said, obviously it's variable!
I have an old school (hah 4 years old ) APC 720 watt ups attached to a 'fallout' power strip in my setup.
The strip powers only the heater and a single maxijet1200.
(I have the whole setup through a controller, but it's all staged properly for a power outtage)

I got impatient and turned the power back on after ~30min of waiting for the ups to die.
For my area (metro atlanta) the power will be back on within a couple hours, so 30 min is enough.
Newer model ups units offer a much better bang for the buck in terms of power output, so with the modern equivalent of the unit I have, I'd imagine a couple hrs of output maybe...MAYBE... (obviously, do the math right..)

That said, if your area is prone to brown/black outs that last a long time, a gas generator makes alot of sense if you are dumping 5k into a tank hehe.

[CMD26]

I've recently had some issues with power outages in my area due to the snow storms and I actually got a great tip from my LFS. Of course this only works if you have a gas stove...anyway, boil regular water and fill plastic soda bottles with it. If you float a few of these in the tank they will keep the temp up pretty nicely. I got by for 18 hours by wrapping the tank in blankets and switching out some hot water bottles every few hours. Managed to keep my tanks temp above 76 the whole time.

Course I didn't sleep all night but what's sleep when fishies are involved right? =P

[BillD]

You could consider a deep cycle battery, and power inverter. Less costly than a high endUPS and a lot more available power.

[Feron]

Originally Posted by CMD26

I've recently had some issues with power outages in my area due to the snow storms and I actually got a great tip from my LFS. Of course this only works if you have a gas stove...anyway, boil regular water and fill plastic soda bottles with it. If you float a few of these in the tank they will keep the temp up pretty nicely. I got by for 18 hours by wrapping the tank in blankets and switching out some hot water bottles every few hours. Managed to keep my tanks temp above 76 the whole time.

Course I didn't sleep all night but what's sleep when fishies are involved right? =P

Awesome idea!!!
Never woulda thought of it (and I have a restaraunt grade gas stove no less).