Poll: How do you plan for power outages?

[cycled123]

Right now for SW nano and 2 freshwater tanks have battery operated airpumps and icemelt in bottles for heat. I am getting 180g tank this month and my husband and I were just discussing what to do if power goes out. Electrician was just here yesterday to give us some options and to give us a quote for a dedicated outlet. I think we are going to get a 7500w generator and a 10 spot transfer switch so we can also run the furnance, well pump and fridge/freezers besides the tank. We discussed whole house automatic system but we are not planning to stay in this house forever and the power has only gone out three times for more than a few hours in 10yrs (but 1-2hr outages are pretty common). I am also looking at getting an icecap backup battery to run the gyre if we are not home.

5500 Watt generator. I can backfeed thru the dryer but I need to put a dedicated backfeed in. I hate that I dont have that now.

those that are doing this. PLEASE PLEASE flip your main before starting the genny. otherwise you can backfeed the system and potentially kill someone.

PLEASE!!!!! I can not emphasize this enough! My husband is a lineman and talks about this issue all the time when repairing powerlines after storms. He has been shocked pretty good a few times but luckily hasn't been injured or worse.

 

[Mical]

I have this connected https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBK3QK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to Apex and 1 powerbar. Without heater I'm good for over 2 hours. If that fails I have $99 generator from Walmart (and a gas fireplace)

 

[Fudsey]

Ya, sorry about this..... I live in the northeast, a generator is mandatory if you want power all the time.

I have lived with a portable gen since I moved back here. Last year, put in an automatic whole house. LOVE IT ! ! !
Wouldn't live without it. SOoooooo worth the $$

15000 watts, runs everything in the house

:)

 

[Matthew Dambra]

I have a large battery bank set up, runs the life support for 3-5days and then generators because we live in south florida its practically a necessity

 

[reeferfoxx]

I just use a 600w APC on my 30g. The 80w return pump and 30w powerhead connected. It's good for about 4 hours.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Would something like this be overkill for a 150w heater &/or MP40?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MA4YVNP/ref=psdc_348967011_t1_B0779BJ3FX

I wouldn't call it overkill. With the heater always ON, that's less than 3 hours of run time. Granted, the heater is not ON 100% of the time, but it will drain that little puppy pretty fast when it is.

 

[vlangel]

I live in Pennsylvania north of Pittsburgh. We have lived in our house for 31+years and have never been out of power more than 7 hours. I used to just have 3 battery back up pumps but now that I have seahorses they are a little more susceptible to risk so I bought a bestek 1100 watt power inverter. I considered a gasoline generator but I knew for it to be dependable that it should be started and ran a bit at least 4Xs a year. For that reason I decided a power inverter would be better for me. Its big enough to power my lights, my DC return pump and skimmer. We have a fireplace so the ponies don't need a heater. If it happens in the summer I have a 30 gallon set up in the basement which is always cool. We have 2 cars and 2 motorcycle batteries that are charged and can be used with the power inverter so I feel prepared.

 

[Lasse]

Lasse,
Can you explain? I’m new.

For explanation of the Oxydator - please see this post

How to use Hydrogen peroxide at a power break:

Take a bucket (10 litres) of aquarium water - put some hydrogen peroxide in it an let it mix. The amount of peroxid depend on its strength. Let it stand for ten minutes. Put the solution back into the aquarium in small batches. depended on size of the aquarium and load this bucket will last for a long time. in a nano - maybe only 100 ml of solution now and then.

I have a friend that manage to have a lot of freshwater aquariums going for 7 days when he get a power break with this method @Stigigemla

Sincerely lasse

 

[Sleepydoc]

@luisgo - impressive setup! Glad to hear you are making it ok. Best wishes for the recovery and rebuilding down there.

I'm jinxing myself by saying this, but since we moved into our house 7 years ago the power has been out for a grand total of 2 hours. we do have a gas fireplace in the room where the tank is, so we could heat the room and keep it from cooling as much. If Significant outages were an issue I would either have a portable generator or a whole-house generator installed.

 

[Undertaker]

I have an APC 550 with my heater and maxpect gyre 250

 

[Rakie]

When my frags grow into actual colonies I'm going to get a small generator. For now, air pumps are more than enough.

 

[Whysohigh]

17,000 watt generator running off my natural gas line. I enjoy power outages, I turn on all my lights to make my neighbors wonder if they forgot to pay their bills.

 

[Susan Edwards]

we bought a honda generator for back up. If I'm gone for the day I'll drop an airstone for a battery operated pump. Power goes off, at least there is an airstone. For my new build, I want to get one or 2 of the ice caps??? battery backups for 1 or 2 power heads. All that would work until generator is going. Generator will take care of my tanks, at least most of what is crucial as I'll have 2 tanks soon, my mom's tv and the fridges and freezer. And charge electronics. Not sure if it will also do my hubby's computer. I have a laptop so I have some power and can recharge.

We learned that if you want a generator get it BEFORE there are any disasters. With all the fires in CA, the cheap generator we were considering went out of stock, and then doubled in price! All of them did this. So we decided if we had to pay 1000 bucks, we'd buy the honda as it has a proven track record and you can get parts.

 

[40B Knasty]

Great DIY info on how to keep your tank up and running without using electricity. I have all this ready if it ever happened. @Lasse I think you would enjoy this.

 

[Don Lidtke]

UPS is used for the Apex and Seneye systems.

 

[Radman73]

One battery powered air pump
One portable generator
One power inverter
One marine battery with battery tender DIY'd to power an MP40

I need to get the Tunze's connected to the marine battery now as well as my Apex. We also just installed a solar system and I'll be looking at some battery solutions in lieu of a whole house generator. Enough capacity to power the tank, fridges, and lights/fans at night, recharge via solar during the day.

 

[Betty1964]

When the power goes out, the whole house solar battery backup kicks in.

 

[Robink]

Talk about timing on this thread. Just got home from dinner and power's out in the neighborhood.
I had a whole house generator installed this year. Previously had an apc and a portable generator. But was worried if power went out when I wasn't home as apc would only last me about an hour.

 

[cracker]

I have a portable generator . It came in real handy when Irma came thru last fall.

 

[Toolman]

We loose power often. I live on a dead end road with few houses. Power company forgets about us. I installed a whole house generator. I would not have a reef tank if I didn't get the generator first.