Generators - The one important piece we always miss

[Scorpius]

I bought a 2200w Ryobi generator from Home Depot that has a digital inverter. I've used it several times already for my reef tank. Best under $600 I spent on my tank.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-2-...-Digital-Inverter-Generator-RYI2200/203617901

Probably will buy this as well.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200402013_200402013

 

[Finatik]

Portable gasoline inverter generators have a motor and generator to power them. Other standalone inverters are powered by deep cycle 12V batteries. You could easily power two MP40s for that period of time, but heaters require a lot more power. You could do it if you had enough batteries, but a generator makes more sense at some point.

Unfortunately a generator is not an option for me at this time, as I live in an apartment.
No gas or propane fueled equipment allowed.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Check this out, then:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M260BAN/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_BtiZybW8VAKE2

 

[Finatik]

I also looked into the Vortech Battery Backup
BUT you can only use it with other Vortech products, so basically, the only, thing I could plug into it would be my MP40s. Not my heaters or anything else.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Where do you live? Unless you have a generator, powering the heaters for four hours is not really feasible on battery power alone.

 

[Finatik]

It seems that there are no real good solutions for how to protect our reefs for those of us who live in apartments. That's very discouraging.

 

[Finatik]

Where do you live? Unless you have a generator, powering the heaters for four hours is not really feasible on battery power alone.

NC

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

NC

Do you have a fireplace in your apartment? If so, I would try to use that for heating during a winter power outage and utilize some sort of battery backup for the MP40s.

 

[Finatik]

Do you have a fireplace in your apartment? If so, I would try to use that for heating during a winter power outage and utilize some sort of battery backup for the MP40s.

No... No fireplace.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

The power for the nano tank should be no issue at all. A simple UPS or battery/inverter combo would do. The 120 gallon FOWLR is okay as long as you can keep the water moving. The fish can tolerate several degrees of temperature change over several hours, and you can use blankets or some other insulating material to decrease the rate of temperature decline. The 75 gallon reef is really the issue, and I would guess you probably have a 150 or 200W heater on that tank. That's a lot of power draw for a battery-powered system.

 

[Finatik]

The power for the nano tank should be no issue at all. A simple UPS or battery/inverter combo would do. The 120 gallon FOWLR is okay as long as you can keep the water moving. The fish can tolerate several degrees of temperature change over several hours, and you can use blankets or some other insulating material to decrease the rate of temperature decline. The 75 gallon reef is really the issue, and I would guess you probably have a 150 or 200W heater on that tank. That's a lot of power draw for a battery-powered system.

OK... I'll keep all of that in mind. I've been lucky with all of my tanks so far, but I have this feeling that one day, this is going to be a problem for me. But THANKS for all of your help ! I really appreciate it.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

OK... I'll keep all of that in mind. Thanks for all of your help ! I really appreciate it.

I hope that helped! For the 75 gallon, one strategy you might employ is the use of blankets with a smaller (say 100W) heater that won't maintain the temperature but slows the rate of temperature decline. You could also run the big heater for 15 mins or so and then turn it off for 30 mins or so, but that is a lot of work.

 

[Brew12]

OK... I'll keep all of that in mind. I've been lucky with all of my tanks so far, but I have this feeling that one day, this is going to be a problem for me. But THANKS for all of your help ! I really appreciate it.

It won't help with maintaining temperature but if I didn't have a generator I would at least consider a product like these battery powered air pumps.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/silent-air-pump-with-battery-powered-back-up-sab11.html

 

[Finatik]

It won't help with maintaining temperature but if I didn't have a generator I would at least consider a product like these battery powered air pumps.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/silent-air-pump-with-battery-powered-back-up-sab11.html

Yes... I do have about 8 of those. That's pretty much the only thing I've had to rely on for the past couple of years.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

IF you have a car with a built-in 120V power receptacle, you may be able to run a long extension cord to run some of the equipment. I know it's a long shot, but it never hurts to mention options like that.

 

[Finatik]

What do you guys think about this ?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009...ite+1500va&dpPl=1&dpID=41ek-mR2CwL&ref=plSrch
I'm thinking that I could just keep everything on the tank plugged into one of these all the time. I'm sure it wouldn't last very long in an outage,
but perhaps it would be better than nothing.

 

[Brew12]

Unfortunately, short of industrial level battery backup systems, after about 12 hours a generator is the only effective way to maintain power that I am aware of.
I guess you could go with a bass boat style trolling motor battery/charger combo if you have the room for it. Along with an inverter this might get you a day or two.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

What do you guys think about this ?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009...ite+1500va&dpPl=1&dpID=41ek-mR2CwL&ref=plSrch

I could just keep everything on the tank plugged into one of these all the time.

I have a 1500VA UPS for backup. It will last around 60 minutes at 100W draw. Not nearly enough to power the heaters :/

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Unfortunately, short of industrial level battery backup systems, after about 12 hours a generator is the only effective way to maintain power that I am aware of.
I guess you could go with a bass boat style trolling motor battery/charger combo if you have the room for it. Along with an inverter this might get you a day or two.

I've also seen systems with photovoltaic panel chargers, but you and I both know that max output on one of those is around 100W or so in PERFECT conditions.

 

[Finatik]

Unfortunately, short of industrial level battery backup systems, after about 12 hours a generator is the only effective way to maintain power that I am aware of.
I guess you could go with a bass boat style trolling motor battery/charger combo if you have the room for it. Along with an inverter this might get you a day or two.

At this point, a day or two sounds good ! Can you recommend a particular product I should look at ?