POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

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franmorr1966
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POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by franmorr1966 » Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:12 am

Hi again. My fish just made it through nearly 3 days with no air stone, heat, or filtration. I realized that battery air pumps are available and plan now on getting a backup system in place. The good news is that I performed several water changes to the tank during this time, and all inhabitants have survived and have bounced right back to their old selves.

So my question is this: Other than just buying a battery operated air pump, is there anything else I can do, other than a whole house generator, in which I can keep the heater, filter and air stone still hooked up during power outages? Someone was telling me about buying a car charged car battery and installing a conversation kit which I could plug the equipment into. But the filter and heater are going to suck up lots of energy. Any suggestions?

Thank you.

Fran

franmorr1966
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by franmorr1966 » Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:09 pm

So, let me share and shed some light on my own question:

Well I went to Tractor Supply, they didn't have power inverter kits, so I was suggested to hit an auto store. So, ADAP knew exactly what I was talking about. The inverter kit is 800 amps (or 1200 amps) and I'm going to buy the largest battery. ADAP also does complimentary battery charges which answered another question I had. This setup is going to run me $200. The guy says it should run the filter and heater non stop for nearly 72 hours. I'm thinking of unplugging it every 6 hours to save wear on the battery and I have a battery operated air pump for the air stone. Maybe many of you were already familiar with this set up. For me it's new and it sounds cool.

I guess another question I have is knowing how many amps a heater uses and a filter uses. I suppose it would say it on the packaging, but I don't have either in front of me right now. I'm pretty certain the heater packaging is long gone. Anyone have an idea? I have an Aqua Clear 300 and either a 250 or 300 watt Acura. Thanks.

Fran

UVvis
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by UVvis » Fri Sep 02, 2011 9:51 am

Fran,

For the question of actual power usage. What you really need is to measure the actual consumption of your tank in wattage. Then, also consider that the battery to inverter isn’t going to be 100% efficient, and battery capacity in Amps decreases over time. From there you can do the math and find out about the lifespan you battery back up would give you. Intermittent cycling, as you mentioned, will help keep the bacteria populations alive and help you run at a minimum level for a longer period of time.

Some other things to consider.

Pre cut some insulation to surround your tank (foam board or whatever). While it limits visibility into the tank, it also slows thermal exchange. This can help slow the rate of heating/cooling of the system when offline. Plus, you can store the section in your attic or somewhere where it can be out of the way, but help in keeping your home insulated a bit.

Back up air. Compressing air is easy, you can charge a holding receiver with a bicycle pump if need be. Air driven filtration is efficient energy wise and can maintain flow in the tank when the power is offline. Even dive cylinders will keep a sponge filter going for a while.

Floating a nalgene bottle of hot/cold water can give you a way to adjust temperatures in your tank slowly, depending on where you live. I always have the ability to boil water, so, I always have a way to heat a tank. Chilling can be difficult and more energy intensive. But, if you have ground water at a good temperature you can always make a flow through heat exchanger loop to maintain a temp to some level in your tank.

franmorr1966
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by franmorr1966 » Fri Sep 02, 2011 5:53 pm

Thank you for your ideas and input. Have you ever heard of using bubble wrap as an insulator?

Thanks again.

UVvis
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by UVvis » Sat Sep 03, 2011 5:33 am

franmorr1966 wrote:Thank you for your ideas and input. Have you ever heard of using bubble wrap as an insulator?

Thanks again.
Yes, a heavy duty version is pretty common in the pool industry to float in a tank. With most bubble wraps, you get an R value of like 1.5 to maybe 2 at the best. Some of the styrofoam and rigid foam board will give you a R values of 3 to around 6 or 7 depending on thickness and is relatively dirt cheap. The bubble wrap would be better than nothing. Better insulators might give you drastically more time on your battery back up system depending on weathe.

franmorr1966
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by franmorr1966 » Sat Sep 03, 2011 7:59 am

Well thank you for the valuable information. I'd never heard of rigid board, so I'll have to look into that. Thanks!

glenna
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by glenna » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:27 pm

yeah, there sure has been a lot of active weather on this side of the country, hasn't there.
I live in North Carolina and the Spring tornadoes had me doing some scrambling. I had thought about it prior to that, but just had not acted on a detailed plan. Our power went out during those Spring storms, but for maybe six hours. We also get ice storms in the Winter which are also known to knock out power.
This is what I ended up doing. IT is not a perfect plan and there will still be some scrambling, I imagine, if I ever had a long term power outage.
I have a gas powered generator that I can use to keep the bare bones of all of the tanks going, as well as the fridge (this would be filter and air pump, heater if Winter). I bought a number of power strips and extra extension cords to make sure I had a power strip per room as I have tanks in a few rooms in the house. I have a gas stove and a gas grill hooked up to the house so could heat water if needed to heat tanks in the Winter. Summer would be tough for an extended power outage as cooling is a problem. I like the idea of using tap water as a cooling source, but my tap water is still warmer than most of my tanks at this time of year. I also have a battery air pump for each tank and have precut hard board insulation boards (they are pink, thick boards that I cut and duct taped together) to wrap around each tank 3/4's of the way (leaving the front open for monitoring.)
I have some gallons of fresh water in the garage for drinking, in case the water supply gets off line but I have WAY too many gallons of aquariums to do any effective sort of water hoarding for tank changes in my current situation. I really do not have any good plan for that.
I guess really cutting back to bare minimum feeding would be in order - less feeding, less waste.
I know there are not a lot of new ideas here, but this is all I got!
glenna

franmorr1966
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by franmorr1966 » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:57 pm

Glenna you pose some very good ideas. I liked learning about your setup. I too did not feed during the outage. We were lucky that it stayed so cool during the storm week. The tank dropped 6-7 degrees. I did order the power inverter and I will purchase the battery when the inverter arrives. I like the gas generator idea for the fridge though.

cider
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by cider » Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:30 am

hi rhode island,
sorry , i have been off the forum for while ,just reading and catching up .
saw this and i had the same concern..so i purchased 2 Black & Decker batteries, the kind people use to start up dead car batts,inflate tires ,ect. the cost was under $100 each and they have saved my fish and filters on 3 occasions; the last time was this past summer hurricane ,we lost power for 2 full days .
First, a power strip with a sharpie to write what plug is for what.
summer is warm enough to unplug the heater, but with winter on the way, no go.
the batteries can also be used to for AC oops accidently posted not finished. so charge the battery in the house anywhere, check the charge once in a while as it will loose some power just sitting in the box. easy,jsut press button light indicator for power.
when power outtage happens just plug the strip (minus light as you wont need that) into the front of the battery . woosh ..everything starts up ! When battery power gets low, you can charge it very easily in your car cigarette lighter insert. I had to do that a few times during the last outtage,and its ok for filters to be off for a few hrs, but keeping the tank and lid warm during that time is crucil so the posts above that explained that is great .
I live very close to you and we are expecting 1' of snow today.... not even Halloween yet ! So i checked my batteries and juiced um up to top capacity.
Battery opperated air stones are essential ,they run on 2 D batteries and usually come with a stone and line . If ya run out of D's u can cheat a little by using C's with a cardboard shim so long as they make contact with metal .
if you cant get battery air pumps,there is a store in CT that will ship overnight , Aquatic Wildlife , in Manchester , ct for phone number, u can check out their website www.aquaticwildlifecompany.com they ship equipment and fish in US. I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH THEM, i am a customer and drive 50 min to buy my fish from them as they an aquarium only store , not a chain.
HTH and hope we dont get too much snow ....yet . good luck , this is the best way for me , although i would love a generator, just cant go for that yet.
G
cider

cider
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by cider » Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:30 am

deleated cuz double post oops
sorry
G
Last edited by cider on Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
cider

cider
Posts: 130
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:01 am
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by cider » Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:42 am

followup--it is Black and Decker ELECTR0MATE 400, aprox the size of a car battery ,but it is not, and IMPORTANT : the cigarette lighter to battery charge wire is hidden in the back ,looks like a black label with writing but is also a door , that is where the cig lighter chager is to connect and recharge the battery when gets low. i dont let them completely drain as it takes less time to go to a full charge this way.

I run one on my 54g corner tank and the other on my 20g
good luck whatever you choose. all great ideas here .

G
cider

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DainBramage1991
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by DainBramage1991 » Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:40 pm

For smaller or single tank setups, a decent quality computer UPS with a good output could be a good, fully enclosed, plug-n-play option that can be left in place at all times. Depending on capacity and load, a UPS could provide between an hour and a day (or more) of backup power. The higher the capacity of the UPS, the better, obviously.
I'm considering adding one to my setup when budget allows.

monicalovefish
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Re: POWER OUTAGE BACKUP IDEAS

Post by monicalovefish » Wed Mar 28, 2012 9:31 pm

You know, I've always wondered about this...does the bacteria die in the canister filter because it suffocates? Luckily, I haven't had any huge blackouts and no hurricanes hit yet but I was curious about this one only because I'm wondering if the media would survive better out of the canister filter. This is one area I'm really, really unfamiliar with. I know the basics and use them but don't understand what causes the die off exactly.

Monica

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