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

[BZOFIQ]

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.

This is easy.

Just source one for each of the breaker/outlet combos you want to monitor. Wire right up to I/O or build your own notification system based off it.

I'm using 6 of these to monitor different sources of power (breaker/GFCI) combinations etc.

It's essentially a 120V relay with both NO/NC options.

https://amzn.to/3EkNYcK

 

[BZOFIQ]

DUPLICATE.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

I wouldnt feel comfortable owning a tank without a generator.

Battery backups are the next best thing but they wont last a full week without power which is why i prefer generators

The battery powered pumps are great as long as you stock up on batteries but that wont be enough to keep a system in check for more than a few days. Corals still need light and you still need to keep the temperature stable.

Of course any of the above are better than nothing and will work for most power outages since its rarely more than a few hours to a day but i like to be prepared for worst case scenarios

 

[Bccarty151]

I have a harbor freight 500 dollar 2000 max watt predator inverter generator....it runs my 425xl red sea with 2 Hydra 26's.....cor15 return pump....various 2 skimmer pump....2 gyres....500 watts worth of heaters and my refrigerator! Sips gas ....1 gallon has lasted up to 15 hours.

 

[flashsmith]

I'm in Central Florida. Doesn't get much more sticky and humid then that. I just know I have backup equipment that doesn't get used for months that starts right up.Any pro who knows anything knows how to take the exhaust off and pull the screens so they don't get clogged up. If you've ever worked on echo you know what I'm talking about. Every time we have a trimmer bog and cut out it's always the exhaust screen getting plugged. It's a 5 minute fix but to a weekender who doesn't know any better it would seem it's a fuel issue when it's always an exhaust issue. Shops charge $50 bucks to pull 2 bolts off and clean a screen. Talk about taking it dry. But the poor customer doesn't know any better.

 

[a.t.t.r]

I'm in Central Florida. Doesn't get much more sticky and humid then that. I just know I have backup equipment that doesn't get used for months that starts right up.Any pro who knows anything knows how to take the exhaust off and pull the screens so they don't get clogged up. If you've ever worked on echo you know what I'm talking about. Every time we have a trimmer bog and cut out it's always the exhaust screen getting plugged. It's a 5 minute fix but to a weekender who doesn't know any better it would seem it's a fuel issue when it's always an exhaust issue. Shops charge $50 bucks to pull 2 bolts off and clean a screen. Talk about taking it dry. But the poor customer doesn't know any better.

only time I have ever had an echo exhaust clog up like that was when the air filter wasn’t correctly maintained.

 

[snorklr]

when sandy hit NY there was no gas for weeks...stations that had it had no power to pump it, ones with generators quickly sold out and couldnt get restocked....all the generators and gas cans were gone and if anything showed up at all there were lines to buy it...we bought extra cans and brought gas back with us from north carolina...most of that went to a buddy to run his generator....the main problem with gas containing ethanol(besides ethanol attacking certain rubbers) is that water mixes with ethanol (just like a mixed drink) so the gas actually winds up with a certain amount of water in it from humidity or poor storage and handling...as gas evaporates, the water thats left behind is the source of corrosion that screws up carbs...therefore my generator is propane powered....btw my kenya tree and a hermit crab survived (not sure if the kenya tree was a good thing)

 

[MnFish1]

I'm curious if anyone has had success with insuring both fish AND coral that die. Seeing as how valuable an asset they can be, I would love to hear if anyone has a company they have worked with to recover from a financial loss such as this.

There is probably a policy with a rider out there - I would check with some specialty insurance companies like AXA, etc. https://www.tfwinsurance.com/2016/11/04/what-kind-of-aquarium-insurance-policy-do-you-need/

The best insurance you can get is a generator. The best generator you can get is one that you don't have to do anything to turn on - i.e. natural gas with a transfer switch. They are expensive - but have saved my tank multiple times. For those in apartments, there are large batteries that you can get - whether your apartment, etc wants to let you do that is another story.

 

[Koigula]

This is easy.

Just source one for each of the breaker/outlet combos you want to monitor. Wire right up to I/O or build your own notification system based off it.

I'm using 6 of these to monitor different sources of power (breaker/GFCI) combinations etc.

It's essentially a 120V relay with both NO/NC options.

https://amzn.to/3EkNYcK

I am leaning towards something like this and not a DC pump. I see lots of reliability issues with DC pumps. Thanks!

 

[Danroo]

I lost my tank to Ida. It was very sobering to lose everything I spent so much time, money and effort growing and nurturing. I got my tank through some very hard times. Dinos, cyano, GHA, velvet outbreak, etc. 2 years down the line and I felt my tank was in the perfect position to thrive with little involvement from me. Then Ida blew through and killed everything. I thought about quitting but I'm already planning the re-scape. Then I thought about how to protect myself in the event that another disaster kills everything again.

The best way to protect a tank would be to have a generator. That's a given. Any kind of circulation in the tank may have kept it alive throughout the extended power outage. 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.

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.

Does anybody else have any other ideas? One of those battery backups is going to be a future investment for me but they only last a few days. Power was out at my home for 10 days.

lol in crisis why would any sensible person think “oh he doesn’t have power, must be a junky am I right” just get whatever is convenient for you in crisis like these and don’t worry if its gonna bother them.

 

[Jasper05]

Idk what the mod rules are about this, but I have a great 1200w Pure Sine Inverter Charger with 75ah deep cycle battery for sale in classifieds if anyone is interested. You can add batteries as well.

 

[MnFish1]

Sorry for your losses.
After Matthew left me without power for a week and nuked my tank I invested in an Icecap battery backup and 2 of the battery powered air pumps. Both these options can be left plugged in and will come on when the power goes out. There’s not much any of us can do in instances of severe flooding/destruction where you aren’t able to return for days/weeks but these have helped my tank through the last few hurricanes and numerous shorter power outs from thunder storms etc.
Also, even just one pump running will save a tank, so don’t worry about backing up everything, plus the battery backup will last longer if it’s only powering one pump at 10%.

This is not completely true. It depends on the size of the tank - and the size of the pump. Any flow is better than 'none' - but not enough flow is 'not enough' to keep things rolling. I will grant you - that MOST things may survive - but the recovery will be slow in many cases.

 

[MnFish1]

lol in crisis why would any sensible person think “oh he doesn’t have power, must be a junky am I right” just get whatever is convenient for you in crisis like these and don’t worry if its gonna bother them.

I dont want to start a fight - but - can you translate what you meant here? did someone say that (about the junky part)?

 

[MnFish1]

Often enough.... last time was less than a week ago, in a wind storm.

Utilities go down all the time here. Lots of trees, storms, and above ground utilities in rural areas equals lots of outages. But on the plus side, they are usually pretty good (quick) at restoration unless the whole state gets hit hard, then it may be an extra day or two.

Being in Michigan, we don't get hit by hurricanes, so we don't usually get long extended outages like the gulf coast states see. Our outages are usually short. day or two, maybe three. from wind, snow, or ice, tornado here or there.

As others have mentioned, dual-fuel or tri-fuel generators are becoming more common and are a good idea so you are less reliant on any one fuel source.

I also run ethanol-free (REC gas) in all my generators since it has a longer shelf life than pump gas.

To me the thing is 'anxiety'. -it usually happens at the wrong time - and when I'm not home - and then there's always the 'when is it coming back on'.

 

[MnFish1]

That's a MUST on all power equipment!

Should have mentioned it.

I must be losing it today - maybe more than other days - what does this mean?

 

[c_healy]

Here's a before and after shot.

Before (so beautiful, so awesome):

After (so ugly, so sad):

You could also look into a couple inverter style generators. Would be enough to keep some essentials running and probably won’t cause your neighbors to complain.

 

[MnFish1]

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.

I have one if you want it - its new - from Neptune - I decided its not worth the trouble having failure after failure. I just never reinstalled it...?

 

[MnFish1]

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.

Curious - how big is your tank? 3 liters of Kalk a day??????

 

[Danroo]

I dont want to start a fight - but - can you translate what you meant here? did someone say that (about the junky part)?

“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.” OP clearly has power issues and a generator is gonna be used in these situations when the power goes out in multiple scenarios. I just overstated people’s weird reactions on his situation.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I must be losing it today - maybe more than other days - what does this mean?

It's in response to previous post which I quoted.

If you want to store gasoline powered equipment for months or years at a time and not run into issues with gummed up carburators/flooded motor, it is always better to just close the fuel valve and allow the engine to run out of fuel and come to a stop instead of simply pressing or switching engine kill/off switch.

Past weekend I pulled my Yamaha/CAT branded powerwasher which I havent used since 2019, started on second pull.....first pull I forgot to engage choke. The above mentioned method never failed me.

You can ignore the whole thing if you use your equipment on regular basis (daily/weekly)