Cheap but effective battery backup for your aquarium: Do you have one?

Do you have a battery backup plan in place?

  • YES (tell us in the thread)

    Votes: 161 37.3%
  • NO

    Votes: 249 57.6%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 22 5.1%

  • Total voters
    432

revhtree

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It's gonna happen. You will lose power at some point. MOST of us will never experience a catastrophic power outage where we lose our whole reef tank but preparing and mitigating can sure give you peace of mind and offer assurance IF it did happen. But do we have to have a super expensive home generator in place or can we protect our tank inhabitants with simple battery backups? Let's talk about it today!

YES a generator is best but let's talk batteries!

1. What is a cheap but effective battery backup solution for your aquarium?

2. Do you have a battery backup plan in place and if so tell us what?

image via @dactylo
DSC02156.JPG
 

Goaway

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It's gonna happen. You will lose power at some point. MOST of us will never experience a catastrophic power outage where we lose our whole reef tank but preparing and mitigating can sure give you peace of mind and offer assurance IF it did happen. But do we have to have a super expensive home generator in place or can we protect our tank inhabitants with simple battery backups? Let's talk about it today!

YES a generator is best but let's talk batteries!

1. What is a cheap but effective battery backup solution for your aquarium?

2. Do you have a battery backup plan in place and if so tell us what?


image via @dactylo
DSC02156.JPG
Dear LORD. I wish I was that big of a nerd.

1. No
2. No
3. I need to get one. NEED too. You can never tell how long electricty will be out when lightning takes down phone poles. Or, any bad storm really.
 

Gedxin

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1. Yes, I've got a 850w UPS connected to my return pump and heater. It'll only work for 30-60 minutes but that's long enough for me to implement...
2. I have a 1500w car battery inverter that I can attach an extension cord to and power the aquarium for extended periods of time. It's a decent "I'm home to fix this issue" solution

Ideally I'd like a better long term automated solution that could work for a day without my involvement, but that's not a priority yet given the ongoing pandemic perma work from home .
 

BCSreef

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1. Yes, I have a small generator for long outages.
2. Yes, a battery backup too for short outages and when I am away. A bit expensive (~$1,000).
3. I have a basement sump with a 2.9 amp return pump. I have 2 large (110AH) AGM batteries (for solar and wind storage) with trickle charger, 2000W pure sine wave inverter and transfer switch. I have tested the system and it will run the pump for at least 7 hours.
 

Stoney

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Seems like a lot of reefers overlook the battery powered air pump. They dont put out as much flow, but enough to save your tank. They're also only $15 each, pretty much free compared to the cheapest battery backup solutions. I've got penn plax b11's over a decade old still working perfectly.
 

tomboys

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Still setting up but we intend to get a UPS, even though we haven't had a power cut in about the last 5 years and I haven't known one that lasts longer than about 5 minutes in the last 20 years.
 

Rybren

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Seems like a lot of reefers overlook the battery powered air pump. They dont put out as much flow, but enough to save your tank. They're also only $15 each, pretty much free compared to the cheapest battery backup solutions. I've got penn plax b11's over a decade old still working perfectly.
They are my first line of defence as well. I also have a generator for longer outages.
 

tomboys

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Seems like a lot of reefers overlook the battery powered air pump. They dont put out as much flow, but enough to save your tank. They're also only $15 each, pretty much free compared to the cheapest battery backup solutions. I've got penn plax b11's over a decade old still working perfectly.
I was considering getting one of those as well as a UPS.
 

Stoney

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Another issue with battery backups is you'll never have enough for the heaters. I've been through dozens of power outages and the main problem is always heat, not flow. That's why I gave up getting a big enough battery to power water pumps and just got a couple portable generators for the longer outages.
 

Spiderwoman

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Seems like a lot of reefers overlook the battery powered air pump. They dont put out as much flow, but enough to save your tank. They're also only $15 each, pretty much free compared to the cheapest battery backup solutions. I've got penn plax b11's over a decade old still working perfectly.
I have one of those for each tank too
 

Gtinnel

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I have a whole house generator, which is not cheap but well worth the investment.

I have considered getting a basic computer UPS to provide power to my apex system for the 10 seconds or so that it takes for the generator to start up. Sadly I don't have room in my stand so I haven't actually got one, but maybe someday.
 
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