Indoor safe generator?

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catmel

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Apr 20, 2008
Messages
660
Location
Findlay, Ohio
Hello :)

Does anyone have a good back up power source for their aquarium? After several storms last year and this year I was thinking of purchasing ( or putting on our wedding registry..heheh) a backout power generator. The only problem is almost all that I can find are not for use indoors because they produce carbon monoxide fumes from the exhaust.

For those who do, what do you use thats safe for indoors for backup power incase of power outages? Any brands / links would be great! Or of course other suggestions. Especially when I start to get more coral, I want to protect against this since we had a good amount of power outages last year.

Thanks as always :)
 
All gas generators need an outdoor exhaust, you can't get away from that.

The only indoor power source would be a battery backup. There are 12V battery power source with inverters that will provide 110V power for a while. If you get a large one, you can power your equipment for an hour or 2. Some one also posted his DIY battery backup using several 12V battery (deep cycled) & an inverter. If you have a bank of battery, you can power things for quite a while.

This is an example of a HD powerbox with solar charger ... good for camping & such as well.
http://www.4lots.com/awesomexantrexxpower1500withpro100plugandplay.aspx

<An example I Googled .... At $1500, it is overpriced, I saw something similar at our local Canadia Tires for about half that.>
 
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I have two systems. One is made by Husky I bought fro Home Depot for $90.00. It is made to jump start cars with dead battery. But it has a 400 watt inverter built into it. With this I ran my Mag 9.5 pump for about 4 hours. After that I connected it to a good car battery, then ran it 4 more hours until the power came back on.

The other is a 1000 watt inverter on a deep cycle marine battery. I keep it charged with a small solar cell or a battery charger. I have yet to put it to a full test but it gives me some peace of mind knowing it's there.
 
my uncle has a very large indoor/outdoor generator. desil powerd and the exhaust is routed outside aswell as an exhaust fan over head of the generator and 3 carbon monoxide detecters between it and the stairs... the basement also has no one living in it... likely more work than its worth for something as small as a fish tank

-Brad
 
im a liecensed electrian the best thing you could do is to just get a regular generator with a 220volt plug and then back feed it into your house a 5500 watt will run the average 1200 sq foot house. depending on how many other things you have running in your house but i run 2 tvs a microwave 2 fish tanks lights sump pump furnace fridge with no problem if you have an electric dryer you can use that plug to back feed into your panel. just make sure your main breaker is off before you backfeed generator. any questions let me know.
 
Interesting. Sounds like I have a bit more research to do. Thanks for the links / info! :)
 
Melinda...I made it through IKE w/o any coral/fish loss. Power was out for 6 days. I used the little battery powered pumps w/airstones to keep the water oxygenated. I wrapped the tanks in blankets to prevent heat loss. If it cool loss, float bags of ice. Anyway...no way to use a generator indoors. Most people just run power cords inside. When you calculate voltage..you have to also realize, you're going to pull an extra load w/ an especially long extension cord
 
Gotcha. its good to know alternatives as well. Thank you :)

What did you use for filter during that time? Was your life rock ok enough to keep the ammonia down as long as you feed very little?
 
well..lol, the difference was I knew this one was coming. I did a PWC the day before it hit. Whatever you do...do not feed during the outage. This will keep the ammonia down. I use a HOB filter ..AC 50 on both my 20 and 10 gal reefs (even more impressive since small systems can go south fast - patting self on back, lol). Float your bio media, if any, in the tank during the outage. This will preserve the bacteria. Also...if off for more than 36 hours or so, I'd replace the carbon and mechanical media, if any. This just lowers the chance of anaerobic (dead) bacteria from flooding the tank when you turn it back on. This may kill your livestock, so don't forget that step. But, you'll be happy to know, the day the power came back on I had o ppm of ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. So what I did worked for me. Don't worry about not feeding the fish. They eat every day out of a survival instinct, but can easily go a week or so without eating w/o doing any harm to them. The little battery bubblers are a lifesaver. They automatically come on when the power is lost, so you don't have to be there when it happens. This may be the difference between life and death!
 
Good to know! I saw a small one at the store a few months back. I'll have to look into buying a few. I appreciate the help :)
 
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