Question for those with generators

[spoonman]

For those of you that have generators to backup your fish tanks: What size generator do you have (watts) and what do you run off it? I had a power outage last night for only an hour, but it got me thinking of buying a generator to cover my fish tanks (29 and 75 salt, 140 and 240 fresh). Please post the generator size and what you hook up to it. I would like to power the tanks and a couple lights.

[meegosh]

I run a 7500w DuroMax (I think that's the brand) and it powers two older fridges, sump pump and Fluval 406 and a 300w heater. No lights on the tank, just a few standard light bulbs.

Basically you need to figure how many watts all the stuff you want hooked up run on. Then buy a generator that is rated for higher than that (so it doesn't run at the higher end all the time).

Cost a pretty penny but is well worth it. Just saving all the food in your fridge(s) will pay for itself in a long power outage. Combine your stock's value and you could be well over the initial price of the generator.

[spoonman]

Looking up the specs on my tanks, they take very little power. The mag9.5 is 93 watts and the powerheads (4) are about 6 watts each. That is only 117 if I'm not running the lights off it. The average refrigerator is 700 watts. Add a couple lamps to that and you could probably get by it about a 3000 watt generator. Anyone else running a generator? Lets have the info!

[Andrew McFadden]

I have a 7500 continuous and I run a freezer, well pump,refrigerator ,most of the lights in my house, two sump pumps, 2 rena canister filters, heater, a ton of medical equipment. I'm not home right now so I don't remember the name brand ill have to look later on when o get home. I could probably run a lot more more I try not to push it to much. Hope this helps

Edit I forgot in the winter it will run my furnace.

[foster53]

I have a 7500 watt briggs. I can run the whole house basically fridge, furnace, television, as many lights as needed, the computers, and 6 Rena canister filters,9 Aquaclear hob's, and the blower in my fish room that supplies about 70 tanks!! My next move is a 14,000 automatic start permanent generator so I can run the AC unit for our house.

[Phranque]

You'd be surprised at how little your fish tanks actually pull..... I use a car battery with a two-plug 800w power inverter, and that's more than enough to run both my 29g FW & 28g SW LED nano cube for a few days. The biggest juice suckers by far are the heaters.... if those don't need to run, my set-up will last almost a week.

[meegosh]

Remember you can wrap your tanks in styrofoam or blankets to keep them insulated during power outages. That will help keep the heat in and run your heater less.