Battery Backup

[Tom800]

I have a 180 gallon reef tank. I really need to have a battery back up system in the case the power goes out. my tank is nine months old and my Fish service guy never hooked up a battery back up. I have parted ways with him since and I’m starting to do things on my own now.

Looking at the below model, which was recommended to me.

Amazon.com

We rarely get power outages here, it’s been nine months since this tank was put in. We haven’t had one, but I really need to be prepared.

I have two pumps for the water return, a UV sterilizer, and a protein skimmer and pump.

Would this battery back up system be sufficient? And what would be the safest way to plug these in. Would I plug one water return pump into the battery back up and one pump into the wall outlet so that I never have to worry about if the battery back up fails, I still have a pump doing the water and if power goes out, I can always then put the other water return pump into the battery back up.

 

[KStatefan]

I use the river 2 pro and have both my return pumps hooked to it.

 

[Tom800]

I use the river 2 pro and have both my return pumps hooked to it.

If I plug in the river 2 Pro into the wall outlet and have both my pumps hooked into the river 2 pro, then I assume it is the same as me plugging them into the wall outlet, assuming I have power, correct?

I was suggesting to put one in the battery back up and one in the wall just for the minor possibility that something fails within the battery back up and it’s no longer giving power to the pumps plugged into it, so I figure if I have one in the wall and one in the battery back up I’m covered whether my power goes out, or the battery back up fails. Does this logic make sense?

 

[C_AWOL]

Ecoflows are great for that purpose. I would suggest a larger unit if possible though.
You can commonly find some great deals on new/manufactuer refurbished units on slickdeals/woot/ebay for what I would consider a much better price to performance ratio than what you posted.
In addition if possible, I would opt for one that uses lfp chemistry for longer/better cycle life over the more common nmc chemistry battery.

 

[dangles]

Can’t go wrong with an Ecoflow. I use one for my return pump. My wave makers are run through Ecotech battery backups that have been upgraded with LiPo guts. As they come from the factory, the Ecoflow battery backups are ****e and way overpriced. But if you can find a cheap used one and swap the internal battery with a LiPo one they’re a good option if you run Ecotech pumps/wavemakers.

As for what you plug into it, at bare minimum you’ll want the wavemakers on it. Return pump would be my second suggestion to keep the sump from crashing during an outage (I’ve heard of this happening but it’s probably not super common?). Skimmer, UV, heat…. nah. Waste of battery juice for the amount of time it will be the sole power source.

 

[KStatefan]

If I plug in the river 2 Pro into the wall outlet and have both my pumps hooked into the river 2 pro, then I assume it is the same as me plugging them into the wall outlet, assuming I have power, correct?

I was suggesting to put one in the battery back up and one in the wall just for the minor possibility that something fails within the battery back up and it’s no longer giving power to the pumps plugged into it, so I figure if I have one in the wall and one in the battery back up I’m covered whether my power goes out, or the battery back up fails. Does this logic make sense?

Yes power passes thru when present. Logic sounds good the important part is having a plan

 

[KQuillan]

@VintageReefer - He recommended mine and I love it.
I have a SeeDevil.