Full Power Outage

[Anna K]

Good morning all!

We lost power on the farm this morning around 4am cst. No storm, no bad weather. Heavy fog. So, we assume it was a drunk driver that lost control and took out a power pole or two. Luckily, our co-op power company had a crew on standby and were out to fix the issue no later than 4:30am. We finally got power back around 2.5 hours later, and it got me to thinking about people with bigger tanks than mine (20G right now), and what do y'all do for a power outage?

Because of my snake business we have (2) ups systems and an actual generator. The UPS systems are for Starlink and then my incubator, and we've become such a pro with the generator that we have extension cords and our own little system setup that can span the entire house and shop. Eventually I know we'll upgrade to a full house generator, since on average we lose power about 12 times a year, but I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I had a larger tank going.. or several.

For those that have the monster tanks (monster to me in 75G or larger lol), what do you do when you lose power? Do you have a backup option in case you do? If you don't, do you plan on a generator/back up plan going in the future? Do any of y'all have insurance to cover your tanks? How long can a tank go without the heater for saltwater?

 

[VintageReefer]

I use LiFePO4 battery power stations with ups functionality. The station on my 75g will run my return pump for 57 hours providing filtration, circulations and oxygenation.

It can recharge via solar panel if needed, then it can theoretically run indefinitely as long as there’s a few hours of sun every 2 days

For small outages temp isn’t an issue as long as ambient room temp is decent. If it was a long outage or my room temp dropped, I have a gas generator which could easily power the tank and heater

Also have a natural gas tankless water heater - infinite hot water on demand. It just needs a small battery station to power the front display panel. Then I could fill up gallon containers with 120+ degree water and float them in the display or tank, rotating / swapping with new ones as needed.

 

[edsbeaker]

Everything you would want to know.

Storm Season among us. Power outage readiness!!!

Good afternoon everyone, I wanted to make this thread to give myself and others who live in Florida and other outlying states who are affected by hurricanes and other storms which can leave us without power for days to weeks at a time. I am still newish to the hobby and I haven't had my tank up...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[AydenLincoln]

I have a portable air pump and a small portable battery! The most important thing during a power outage is heat and water flow/oxygen. Everything else is not essential. Only when it’s more than a few hours without these things do things start to die/be negatively affected. That being said I have both accidentally left my heater off for a day and forgotten to turn the ATO on and burnt my heater and neither killed or crashed my tank. So in my opinion and experience our tanks are a lot hardier than we give them credit for.

 

[sfin52]

Good morning all!

We lost power on the farm this morning around 4am cst. No storm, no bad weather. Heavy fog. So, we assume it was a drunk driver that lost control and took out a power pole or two. Luckily, our co-op power company had a crew on standby and were out to fix the issue no later than 4:30am. We finally got power back around 2.5 hours later, and it got me to thinking about people with bigger tanks than mine (20G right now), and what do y'all do for a power outage?

Because of my snake business we have (2) ups systems and an actual generator. The UPS systems are for Starlink and then my incubator, and we've become such a pro with the generator that we have extension cords and our own little system setup that can span the entire house and shop. Eventually I know we'll upgrade to a full house generator, since on average we lose power about 12 times a year, but I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I had a larger tank going.. or several.

For those that have the monster tanks (monster to me in 75G or larger lol), what do you do when you lose power? Do you have a backup option in case you do? If you don't, do you plan on a generator/back up plan going in the future? Do any of y'all have insurance to cover your tanks? How long can a tank go without the heater for saltwater?

2 yrs ago lost power for 4 days. Mason jars and buckets. Shake the water pour into buckets and pour back into the tank. Zero losses 90gal system. Aslo had battery air stones.

 

[ScottJ]

Ever since the '91 ice storm when we, and a large part of the area, were down for over a week, I have wanted a whole house automatic back up generator. Two big ice storms, the big north east black out, and too many big wind storms surrounded by giant trees later, that desire only grew. A couple years ago, we finally invested in a 16kw auto generator!

Power hasn't gone out since.

 

[DJF]

tank runs on battery 24x7; charged by solar, off peak ac, generator if needed.