Power Outage Question

flex13 · Apr 23, 2018

Is running your wave maker enough or do you also have to run you return pump? I will have 2 MP40 in the middle of the tank so there is not allot of surface break. Let say its for a max of 1 hour outage.
I live in Miami sometimes we have short power outage. For Hurricanes I have a portable generator.

mfinn · Apr 23, 2018

Depending on how many fish vs. tank size you could go longer without a pump running.
I've had power outages for several days and have had to shut off my generator for 4+ hours, and never lost anything.
So if you have a single MP40 running you should be ok for as long as the backup battery lasts.
If you are really concerned about lack of surface/o2 exchange, you could move the MP40 a little closer to the top of the tank.

SandJ · Apr 23, 2018

We are still trying to figure out what to do in the case of power outages/hurricanes so I am following along to see the answers.

This was not your question...but something to consider with power outages...you may want to make sure nothing can enter the power head while the power is out. Sometimes fish, crabs or snails can make their way into the power head while it is off and then the power head comes back on :(

We just moved to an area where the power flickers ALOT before finally going out (frequently). So this is something new we are having to address with our tanks.

flex13 · Apr 23, 2018

I see, my concern is when I am not home or on a long trip. I guess for long trips move them a bit up or just set them up like that from the beginning. The tank is 130 gallons. I will start setting it up in the next couple of weeks. Just preplanning everything and making sure its redundant. Getting a head ache lol