FL Reefers, what's your hurricane contingency plan?

[00Barracuda00]

I'm new to the hobby and in the planning stage. I'm a little concerned about a tank crash due to an extended power outage. Last hurricane, my house lost power for maybe 3 hours in the middle of the night. We got really lucky. The rest of my family, however, moved in with us the next day and didn't go back home until their power was turned back on almost 5 days later.

I imagine a couple of UPS for the main return pump and limited power heads? What's worked for you in the past? This seems to be a really popular hobby in the state, I refuse to believe that people just take a complete loss whenever hurricanes crash into us.

 

[George Lopez]

I ran a Martine battery with a power inverter running my power head on a timer switch from home depot turning on and off every half hour with an emergency bubbler on the same switch turning on when the power heads would turn off.

I also had my cooling fan (computer fan on a thermal switch) on the inverter pushing the whole time. My house got to 102°F and the tank only got up to 82 (high but much better than it could have been). Everything survived thankfully.

Went 3 days with almost no loss of charge on the battery.

 

[George Lopez]

I have enough rock for filtration flow, oxygen and cooling are your main concerns just reduce feeding during extended power loss of course.

 

[uncle luke]

Honda Inverter generator.

 

[VinnieF]

Nothing yet but I’m looking to get a generator. We were out of power for two weeks last year.

 

[lauderdalestunner]

Generator and a drop in Magic wand chiller I purchased over 15 years ago and never had to use. Knock on wood.

 

[00Barracuda00]

Generator and a drop in Magic wand chiller I purchased over 15 years ago and never had to use. Knock on wood.

Hurricanes are the only reason I'm even considering purchasing a chiller in the first place. I'm hoping it will be one of those purchases that's better to have and not need, than need and not have.

 

[cracker]

I purchased a generator. 65 K my power was out for 3 1/2 days after Irma. I was able to run more than just the 2 tanks. The tanks aren't the only thing needed during these long term power outs.

 

[lauderdalestunner]

65KW generator would be nice. Then all your plans would be covered with impact windows. When Wilma hit we got lucky with a major cold front after the storm here in south Florida

 

[cracker]

I really need to get the generator out & fire it up.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

Battery powered air pumps for when the power first goes out, then a generator for longer outages. We were able to run the whole tank on a portable generator as well as a window AC unit and lights and the fridge and tv.

 

[00Barracuda00]

Battery powered air pumps for when the power first goes out, then a generator for longer outages. We were able to run the whole tank on a portable generator as well as a window AC unit and lights and the fridge and tv.

How many air pumps? What size is your tank?

 

[George Lopez]

How many air pumps? What size is your tank?

One pump four every 50 gallons is usually recommended, and try to get the stone under some rock for filtration.

 

[SneakyTortuga]

Hurricanes are worst case scenarios but even with the bad lightening storms we’ve been getting the last few weeks I’ve lost power on 2 separate occasions . I think investing in a power head that has an automatic battery backup is a must for those times that you may not be home And you lose power. It may be a larger up front cost but in the long run it has the potential to save you some serious $$$

 

[phlibbyreefer]

have a large portable generator in my shed. my home breaker box is wired with a connection for the generator. runs everything except my a/c compressor. Should get us through a few days.

 

[cracker]

That would be nice to have it wired into the house. No need to drag power chords here & there. would just have to be frugal with what Ya plugged in.

 

[CraftDaddy]

I used bubbler in my 90g last year for about 9 hours until I was able to get outside and set up the generator. While using the bubbler I made sure to manually circulate the water as much as possible.

 

[Wendriel]

I live in Cape Coral, I'm looking at dual fuel generators, originally sized 4500 to 6500 watts, now loonking into 9000 to 12000. The higher wattage units will run for up to 20+ hours on a tank of propane at 50% output while the smaller ones run for 4 to 6. A few hundred dollars for a significant increase in fuel efficiency is worth it to me. I plan on adding a panel so i can hook the house up to it and choose which rooms get power.

 

[cracker]

I could use a few more 5 gl cans.

 

[bobman]

After Irma I lost power for 6 days in my seahorse/reef tank. I used a battery powered air bubbler and I didnt lose anything. Some corals were not happy but they pulled through. There are a few thing you can do if your only option is battery power. Once you lose power turn off every thing and only turn it on for about an hour a few times a day to preserve battery. Also limit the amount of food you feed the more waste you create. The more waste the higher nitrates will climb since there is no surface agitation. Nitrates are acidic which will lower PH. Then as oxygen drops the more c02 is present which is also acidic further dropping PH. Only use low powered equipment.

Also learn your tank well. So many people have everything automated today that when they loose that automation they dont know what their tank needs and IMO was one of the biggest contributors to tank crashes after hurricanes.

This year I got a generator and a small window unit AC to keep the room the tank is cool. Its not as efficient as a chiller for the tank but the family also needs to have some relief. Make sure you are stocked up to max on ro water. I would not worry to much on rodi so in a pinch you have good drinking water to. Fill a brute trash can with rodi and that should be enough to get by. For me I was on a well so no power no water. Luckily I have a swimming pool so we could flush toilets and when the heat got to bad just hop in the pool to cool down. I am in middleburg fl just a mile up the road they were pulling people off roof tops. Lucky for me my place is on high ground but if you are in a flood zone you need to take that into consideration also.

Lastly it is a good idea to have a bucket of salt handy so when power is restored (hopefully sooner than later) you have salt and water on hand to do a few large water changes.