Greenmaster
Aquarium Advice Addict
Okay but what happens if the power goes out while you are at work or school ext..
Power outage
- Thread starter dkpate
- Start date
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OP
OP
dkpate
Aquarium Advice Addict
Doesn't it just automatically come on? Oh well, there is always someone at my house LOL.
Greenmaster
Aquarium Advice Addict
The Aquarium Air Pumps: Azoo Battery Backup Pump does but it doesn't heat your tank
Greenmaster
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ya you explained it right... what I would do is a step above that... I would have an outlet that would automatically switch to batteries if the power went out... a tank could die if your not home to switch it or you sleep for 8 hours...(or longer cause your alarm doesn't go off)
OP
OP
dkpate
Aquarium Advice Addict
I wake up instantly when the filters quit! Once when one just died, and once today with the power outage. Guess I am a paraniod sleeper LOL.
Greenmaster
Aquarium Advice Addict
Do you work or go to school? or ever leave the tank unattended for more then an hour or 2?
Yes, but you are thinking SW. I have had FW tanks last a week with no power just fine. I mean you have to remember that many people dont use heaters and have perffectly healthy fish and breed them. You just need water changes and the fan is not a bad idea. And even with SW they can last a while without it all. I mean when you look at all the things that would need to be done to a tank with no power that when it does. There are cloudy days in the wild were there is next to no light. There are days were it is cooler and then there is the thing i said about the wide variety of temps they can take and thrive in. And the temp would not just drop from 80 to 75 degrees in 2 minutes, it would be gradual. You would need to watch the tank and do water changes as needed (which would be more often). I mean you can simulate everything and still have a tank at the end. The only thing you cant simulate is light without the sun. Which corals and plants will be fine with for a while. I have read were people have had outings and didnt bother worrying about lights tell about a week or close too it.
If you start worrying that much your worrying too much then.
Greenmaster
Aquarium Advice Addict
oh the backup would be only for one pump and one heater to keep it close to normal... the light I wouldn't even consider it.
OP
OP
dkpate
Aquarium Advice Addict
Tunes~ Not all of is live in FL where the weather is nice all the time LOL.
Green~ I work nights, and my husband is home when I am not, (yeah crappy schedules) and my parents live right next door. If the power was to go out there, I would be able to call their cell phones and they could go switch it on for me.
Green~ I work nights, and my husband is home when I am not, (yeah crappy schedules) and my parents live right next door. If the power was to go out there, I would be able to call their cell phones and they could go switch it on for me.
Greenmaster
Aquarium Advice Addict
lots of things can die if the temp drops too much... and where I live if the power goes out in the winter the house gets cold fast and so does the tank
Greenmaster
Aquarium Advice Addict
my tank isn't setup yet and I'm not sure what I will have but I do want an UPS of some sort for one pump and a heater
Greenmaster
Aquarium Advice Addict
here it's like 60F or colder at night... some times in the day though (if it's not raining) if can get up to like 86F I'm in BC just above Washington.
Greenmaster
Aquarium Advice Addict
those are summer temps... in the winter it can get down to like 10F
Well winter i understand. That i would suggest a generator or something but you have me there. If it is 86F outside i would not worry about temps at all. And depending how long it is out i probably wouldnt worry about it for a while. But now you have tweaked my interest so i am gonna have to ask around and do research.
Greenmaster
Aquarium Advice Addict
usually it's around 60-70F... rains a lot here house is usually at 72f
go out and buy a $50 (max) ups made to power a computer for like 5 min (just so u could properly shut down), go on youtube and search aquarium ups or homemade ups. all you have to do is replace the small battery in the cheap ups with one of the deep cycle batteries. sure the larger battery wont fit in the ups and it may not look the best but it will be an AUTOMATIC back up that is easy to make, and depending on the battery you can easily get 4 hours out of it. hook up a couple batteries in parrallel and your lookin at over 10 hours....hope this helps!
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
This is what you want...
Xantrex Technology Inc. - Mobile Office - PowerSource 400 - Product Information
If you're just running pumps/powerheads/filters, it will run easily for 8-10 hours. If you hook up a high load to it, like a heater, then you're looking at a couple hours depending on how warm the tank is and how warm the room is and where you are in your heating cycle. I have one for a saltwater tank and it's nice peace of mind for when the power goes out in the middle of the night for an hour or so. At least I have some time before I have to go and fish out the generator from the garage. I also have another hooked to my computer that I use as a backup to the one hooked up to my tank.
The normal computer UPSs don't have enough amp-hours to really be worth much - you might get 20-30 minutes out of it. Most UPSs are meant just to allow an orderly shutdown of your system, and are not a means for auxilliary power. Last time I checked, the Xantrex units went for around $150 or so.
[Edit: Oops... just clicked the "buy now" link at Xantrex and it looks like that unit is discontinued. No wonder... they were selling for about $150 and for what you got it was a steal. Looking at their site, I'm not sure what is replacing that unit, but you want something that has a 30-40 amp-hr battery capacity/rating. That will give you a reasonable amount of standby time.]
Xantrex Technology Inc. - Mobile Office - PowerSource 400 - Product Information
If you're just running pumps/powerheads/filters, it will run easily for 8-10 hours. If you hook up a high load to it, like a heater, then you're looking at a couple hours depending on how warm the tank is and how warm the room is and where you are in your heating cycle. I have one for a saltwater tank and it's nice peace of mind for when the power goes out in the middle of the night for an hour or so. At least I have some time before I have to go and fish out the generator from the garage. I also have another hooked to my computer that I use as a backup to the one hooked up to my tank.
The normal computer UPSs don't have enough amp-hours to really be worth much - you might get 20-30 minutes out of it. Most UPSs are meant just to allow an orderly shutdown of your system, and are not a means for auxilliary power. Last time I checked, the Xantrex units went for around $150 or so.
[Edit: Oops... just clicked the "buy now" link at Xantrex and it looks like that unit is discontinued. No wonder... they were selling for about $150 and for what you got it was a steal. Looking at their site, I'm not sure what is replacing that unit, but you want something that has a 30-40 amp-hr battery capacity/rating. That will give you a reasonable amount of standby time.]
