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

[Ranjib]

I use a DIY 400-watt solar panel, with 200Ah lipo batteries for backup. I maintain a set of low consumption air pump, circulation pump for rainy day usage. Those pumps can also be hooked up to various portable chargers (mobile power bank, off-the-shelf solar power bank, normal batteries, power tool [ryobi] batteries etc). I have multiple layers of external monitoring (adafruit.io, google wifi, shelly/kasa cloud) to inform and verify power outage when I'm not home. Like earthquake drills, I have trained my family (wife and 6-year-old kid) how to do a basic gear shift (hooking up solar inverter outlet with key equipment) in case of emergency. All my gears are labeled for such operations (color-coded).

This is a major concern of mine (power outage) and I try to get a defense in depth like strategy in place,

 

[littlebigreef]

Yep, it's called a generator.

 

[Kongar]

I have a portable generator capable of powering the whole house, as well as plenty of stored gasoline. But I DO have a battery backup as well - even though I've never had to use it. It's a marine battery with one of those inverter thingies. I keep the battery on a battery tender, and use it for:

1. Trolling motor when fishing
2. A 12VDC backup for my pellet stove
3. Either a last resort, or a lazy man's back up for the generator (I don't feel like firing up the generator - I'll just use this battery thingy)

I already had the battery, the inverter thingamajig only cost like $100 bucks on Amazon

We lose power a lot so ya, I'm well prepared.

 

[burningmime]

It's in place on the back of my shelf with some plans to install it someday.

 

[tomboys]

As someone from the UK, this thread has just opened my eyes at just how bad America's power grid is.

 

[Kongar]

As someone from the UK, this thread has just opened my eyes at just how bad America's power grid is.

I wouldn't say it's bad - rather, inconsistent. Some areas are very modern and the power never blips. But the USA is a big place, and there's a lot of homes in the middle of nowhere. For me, I live in a populated area (Mass) but a bit out in the woods. You've got miles of country road to get to my house, and a single stretch of power lines to get here. Snow, winter storms, and general overgrowth take out the lines every now and then. It's rare to lose power for more than a couple of hours. But ya - not everywhere has the convenience of underground wires, and it shows up with power outages mostly due to line damage.

It's just part of life here in New England. Most people have backup sources for electricity and heat.

 

[Sharkbait19]

No battery, but I have a generator if power goes out.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I just purchased 2 of these for the new tank. I'll be able to have my mp40 and a gyre going I think. Maybe 1 return pump. Not sure! Currently have 3 big, 2 small battery air pumps I set up if power goes out. If longer, we have a portable generator.

 

[Treefer32]

I had a breaker flip on my then 125 g tank while I was at Disney in Florida. At the time the Apex Fusion power notification wasn't a thing. I had a fellow reefer checking the tank every other day. He checked it Monday and all was fine. On Wednesday when he checked it again he got a call as I was parking in the disney parking lot. "I'm really sorry to report to you but I got here and your breaker had flipped and all your fish are dead. I'm removing what I am able to and restarting everything."

He had got to it in time to save the corals from a massive ammonia spike, but, it had to have shut down after he had left Monday night. I had lost power for 12 hours and the fish were fine. So, I anticipate 24 hours was probably the point at which they started suffocating one by one.

I still don't have a power back up solution, but, I have the Fusion heartbeat monitor, I've built a lot of redundancy into my electrical. I have one EB 8 on its own circuit with GFCI and a second EB 8 and the Apex computer module all powered on a separate circuit on it's own GFCI. Plus a Wyze Cam and the network router on a completely separate circuit. Should a single breaker flip it SHOULD not be catastrophic as I should be aware of it.

I agree a backup air pump is a great idea and I need to find a good one that has auto switch on if power lost.

I've considered a generator and since we have a camper now too. Debating getting the home plugin installed for one so we can use it through the house. But, still deciding on the investment being worth it. It's worth it when it's needed and when it's needed is when its too late to purchase one.

 

[hlaalu]

I have a power inverter on standby so if needed I can plug it into my car and power a few pumps. Can't post an amazon link but they are 20- 30 bucks.

 

[sfmacguy]

4 Tesla Powerwalls. Living in California, we got tired of the rolling blackouts. Now we can go about 3 days with no sun and still be up!

 

[BroncoFreestyle]

Off grid solar kit and battery’s
1 type 35 and 2 65 wired in parallel connected to 200 w solar and 1800w inverter, run the Tank for a good while looking to invest in a generator as a backup.

 

[Robusto]

I just bought a generator. I had a computer UPS, but it wasn't large enough and it fried. I lost everything after power was out for over a week after a hurricane.

 

[Young@Heart]

Well not sure how you are classifying expensive. But I have a APC UPS on the system - it is only connected to the main return pump. It is almost time to replace the battery (as I understand it the batts are only rated for 2 years). If I ever do put in a larger system, it will be a separate circuit with a UPS. Power is pretty reliable around here (knocks on wood).

 

[Robert1994]

"Super expensive" whole house stand by generator . After all, this is Hawaii.

 

[Mr Krabbs]

In Florida it's not "Will the power go out?", it's when... especially the frequent 1-5 hour outages when they're upgrading or repairing the electrical grid or another transformer in the neighborhood blows in a heavy rain.

I'm running Ecotech battery back-ups for the pumps for the short outages and a gas generator that will run the house for the longer outages to run everything.

 

[DHill6]

ETM battery backups for each mp10, battery powered air pumps with back up usb power sticks, 3 of those. Thermal blanket to wrap tank in if needed. Thinking about adding another battery back up solution to arsenal.

 

[Spieg]

Well not sure how you are classifying expensive. But I have a APC UPS on the system - it is only connected to the main return pump. It is almost time to replace the battery (as I understand it the batts are only rated for 2 years). If I ever do put in a larger system, it will be a separate circuit with a UPS. Power is pretty reliable around here (knocks on wood).

Look into lifepo4 batteries as a replacement to the lead acid battery it has now. They last much longer between replacement.

 

[Philip Chin]

No battery backup but do have a whole house generator

 

[DHill6]

Funny this popped up today. I had an outage yesterday. Ecotech batteries didn't keep L1 pump going. (nothing goes right when power goes out). Fired up the Honda for 8 hours and the tank didn't skip a beat.

Also, last year I lost power for over a week. That prompted me to give away my crappy, very loud, generator. I bought a nice Honda, which is extremely quiet. My neighbors don't hear a thing. Money well spent

Which Honda model?