Lost Everything To Ida - How to Protect Your Reef Investment?

a.t.t.r

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That's a MUST on all power equipment!

Should have mentioned it.
I used to do small engine repair. Storms season starts I would slash prices for the most common issue (carb cleaning needed). No one would take you up on it until the day before the store hit at which point I would just tell them no or charge a priority repair fee. Oh and those same people came back every year never listening to me telling them to not leave gas in the carb.
 

terraincognita

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Does anybody here have an insurance policy that cover the contents within a tank? After tallying up the price on all my corals, I wish there was some kind of insurance that would cover this stuff. It would be nice to be able to get a chunk of money to help get my reef back on its feet.

Just to answer this one, I searched for about an hour last year, there is no kind of insurance in any type or form that will cover your live stock in any incident. 0.

As an entrepreneur it made me wonder why not and if it's a viable business at all.

And when you really think about it just would be impossible to manage. And you'd most likely be a constant loss. Which in capitalist America would never exist.
 

BZOFIQ

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I used to do small engine repair. Storms season starts I would slash prices for the most common issue (carb cleaning needed). No one would take you up on it until the day before the store hit at which point I would just tell them no or charge a priority repair fee. Oh and those same people came back every year never listening to me telling them to not leave gas in the carb.
Precisely why on the fuel shutoff on the Honda EU2200 there is a position to close fuel and a separate position to shut it off. Running it dry (fuel valve closed until the engine sputters) is a must before storage.

My Husqvarna backpack blower doesn't have a fuel shut-off, I use non-ethanol pre-mix exclusively on that piece of equipment as there is no way to run it dry.
 

ninjamyst

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Possible to just use battery powered airstone?? I have a couple of those. Ones that accept D batteries and ones that are rechargeable. I also have a solar power generator that's for camping. The solar is key since I can use that to recharge the power generator which in turn charges the airstones.
 

flashsmith

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I live in a Hurricane prone area. Having a generator is all well and good. Try to find gas for it after a couple of days. That's the issue. I sold my generator years ago because of a lack of being able to get gas for it during an emergency. Luckily I haven't had a need for one for years. Going forward I'm using my trolling motor batteries from my boat and solar panel to recharge one while using the other. I think that's the way to go. Trying to get anything after a hurricane is very trying to say the least. Just look at the all the die hard anti gluten folks.. When a storm comes all of a sudden they aren't anti gluten anymore
 

LJLKRL05

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I live north east of Baton Rouge and we lost power for a week from IDA.
I have one of these battery powered air pumps and it lasted 4 days on two D cell batteries:


I got mine from Academy sports.
It says it will last 30 hours or so on two batteries but mine went way longer.
They can be a life saver, but if you lose power in the south, your house will get way too hot pretty quick.

My tank is a 210 and I ended up moving my livestock to a friend's house who had power and I am in the process of cycling mine to get everything back in it.

I also have a generator, but I went out of town so I had to take the tank down before I left to save everything.
 

lagnew904

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I live in an apartment and I have a Yamaha generator. In the event of emergency I'll run it and I don't care what anyone says. Pretty sure the apartment building would get sued heavy for telling someone they can't provide power to their medical equipment. (Cpap, Oxygen generator, Nebulizer)

However If a generator is absolutely not an option. You can build a UPS with 2 batteries like stated above. Or you can buy 4-5 plug in ones and keep them all charged and swap them after depletion. This would be inefficient but would work.

I also have a solar charging battery station that would run about 24 hours per charge.
 

lagnew904

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As a Floridian, It's a routine to keep both the car and truck filled every week during hurricane season. The truck is to get to work or evacuate if needed.

The car's tank is 15 gallons of extra fuel storage for the generator. Lucky so far its never came to that.
 

flashsmith

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On a side note. I own a lawn/landscaping business. We use hundreds of gallons of "mixed" gas a year. I also run year round and buy the cheapest gas I can find and use the cheapest 2cycle I can find. I have handhelds that are 6 years old with literally zero maintenance on them other than spraying the carb once a year that run like new. Fuel issues aren't really an issue anymore as manufacturers now use the proper seals in carbs and such. You're wasting money buying special gas and high end 2 cycle. I have backup equipment that may sit for months at a time that fires right up with ethanol fuel left in them. If you do have issues just drain the bowl under the carb and spray it out with carb cleaner. Works every time.
 

QuarantinedCorals

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Thank you. I'm both excited and upset that I get to start over fresh.
You can take all the information you've learned and apply it to a blank canvas, bitter sweet moment I imagine brother. Best of luck.
 

a.t.t.r

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On a side note. I own a lawn/landscaping business. We use hundreds of gallons of "mixed" gas a year. I also run year round and buy the cheapest gas I can find and use the cheapest 2cycle I can find. I have handhelds that are 6 years old with literally zero maintenance on them other than spraying the carb once a year that run like new. Fuel issues aren't really an issue anymore as manufacturers now use the proper seals in carbs and such. You're wasting money buying special gas and high end 2 cycle. I have backup equipment that may sit for months at a time that fires right up with ethanol fuel left in them. If you do have issues just drain the bowl under the carb and spray it out with carb cleaner. Works every time.
Actually. Fuel issues have become worse with tightening epa regulation jets have become smaller. Modern carbs foul much faster. You have no issues because you are using them often and the fresh gas is constantly dissolving the layer of varnish that builds up on it.
Leave your equipment unused and fueled for two months in a humid environment and you will have issues. Now you are right. Ethanol based fuel is less of an issue on seals now but that isn’t what causes most issues. It is the storage.
 

GarrettT

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The heat in Louisiana is brutal, especially this time of year. Even with a generator, how would you have protected everything from the heat? You have a chiller?

Money, money, money :confused:
 

BZOFIQ

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The heat in Louisiana is brutal, especially this time of year. Even with a generator, how would you have protected everything from the heat? You have a chiller?

Money, money, money :confused:

Yes, chiller on hand. Either generator I have will be able to handle.
 

GarrettT

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However, I live in a condo and generators are frowned upon. Maybe if it came down to it, I would just pay any violation fees that are a result of running a generator to keep my tank alive. Would probably be cheaper than replacing everything in the tank. Ida, this really is an exception and a non issue. I lived in an apartment in Baton Rouge during Katrina and there were a lot of people running generators through their front door. This was a 3 story apartment.

No one is going to hold you responsible for running a generator during a natural disaster like Ida. I lived in Baton Rouge when Katrina hit. A ton of people were running generators through their front doors. This was in a 3 story apartment complex.
 

Koigula

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I too am going this route so I or whoever is home doesn't need to panic to connect a generator immediately.

Here is work in progress on the new build.

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Precisely what I thought and that was one of the many reasons I got gen #2 past weekend.
Looks great! I have a storage room in basement utility room so I spread it out a bit. I have two 20 amp circuits off a home panel. A local breaker is a good idea but I try to get 10,000 steps a day anyway.

The weak point on your whole system might now be the 20 cent IC on the neptune brain. I only monitor and do timed dosing events with Apex these days. My older apex brain died (black labels with switches). Just did manual dosing until I got the new model.

Ecotech is tought to supply power to, Every device is a different voltage so I went with team Tunze mostly.
 

BZOFIQ

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Looks great! I have a storage room in basement utility room so I spread it out a bit. I have two 20 amp circuits off a home panel. A local breaker is a good idea but I try to get 10,000 steps a day anyway.

The weak point on your whole system might now be the 20 cent IC on the neptune brain. I only monitor and do timed dosing events with Apex these days. My older one died. Just did manual dosing until I got the new model.

Ecotech is tought to supply power to, Every device is a different voltage so I went with team Tunze mostly.


Thank you.

Pretty similar setup & approach here on the new build. Multiple breakers with remote GFCI to each bank of outlets.

This panel is in my "control room" and is only about half of the behind-the-scenes system, maybe less. The new build along with WC, Quarantine and other systems will rely on 3 separate classics, mostly doing monitoring/reporting (email/text) hence a lot of the BOBs to report on status of outlets / power supplies / battery backups, etc. No Apex 2016 or EB832 anywhere in sight.

One can source classic orange brains for $60, I couldn't say no. Besides, the old black label with EB8 & EB4s on the current system never failed me, once I figured out the best way to approach things. Can't say the same thing about the 2016 model I had on the workbench for a year.

Water movement will be provided exclusively by Tunzes which can be powered by either 12 or 24V bus (no need for box of separate power supplies here as you know). Had to forego the second Abyzz because there is no way to run off the battery so the secondary pump is Vario-S with A200 running as primary.

Technically, I can do different voltages as my extensive battery solution can provide 12/24/48 volt at the same time.
 

Koigula

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I do need a spare EB8. I am afraid they are discontinued and the new EB832 version is too hobby grade for me. I need to look as my new EB832 is my back up. It arrive DOA and had to RMA it. Eb4 would work too.

I was as complex as 36v (Ecotech lights) / 24v Tunze / 12 v Osmolator. PULS psu used actually go up in value but I just keep them as so reliable. One feature of the PULS is they have a closed loop relay. This is ideal for the breakout boxes. If a PSU fails it would provide a text. It never has failed.

I go more and more basic in reef keeping and get great results with patience. I went back to 8x54 ATI ficture with 1 plug and an Orphek OR3 for some pop. Transitioning back to T5s is so easy for SPS. Alk demand never stopped and actually gained a bit in transition.

I run kalk off a 5 gallon carboy at 3 liters a day and suppliment with 2 part as I am maxed out near evap rate. Basically 1 BRS 50 ml/day doser and 1 light plug now, 3 flow power heads and 3 sump pumps. That is why my control board is empty. I like simple and old school SPS!!

One feature I would like it to monitor house breakers. I essentially do that by Apex heartbeat on one circuit and PULS PSU closed loop pn 24v PSU. I would consider a Sicce DC pump on back up too but afraid they might last 3 years or less.
 
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