Power loss emergency plans?

[Reef Hero]

depending on where you live, you might want to worry, for me, i cant recall a time in the last 8 years the power went out for more than an hour.. london is probably similar.. if you lived in the country tho.. a plan would be needed.. as a last resort worst case for us guys with no plans you could use hot water in pop bottles from the sink to keep the heat up.. and you can oxygenate the water by dumping some water in the tank with a pitcher or a cup or something.. or go get a power inverter for your car.. and a long enough extension cord to run your return pump for a few minutes each hour if it goes out.

The hot water idea only works if you can make hot water without hydro and the vast majority of people will not be able to do so.....

 

[theyangman]

I can boil water by staring at it long enough with my laser heat vision like superman. I have secret powers like that.

 

[Reef Hero]

[quote author=Reef Hero link=topic=7148.msg72784#msg72784 date=1386793940]
Man i gotta get out of lucan..... a 4-6 hour power outage happens often for me.....i dont even bother firing up the generator until about 4 hours into outage.....
Anyways, anyone who thinks they are immune to a long term power outage is wrong. I find it funny actually how people think that just because they live in the city and have not had any outages before will never get one.....ever heard of a tornadoe or flood? Im not telling you to run out and buy a backup power source but just be warned that in the event of a major long term outage good luck finding a generator...

It isn't about believing I am immune, but you gotta look at previous history and track records to see if these are 5% chance things or 40% chance sorta things right?

Power outages are also the same thing. How often does it happen and for how long? You yourself are a prime example Ben. You are so used too it that you don't blink an eye until hour number 4. I can count on one hand how many times in my entire lifetime that I have been without power for longer than 1 hour. So is it worth it to get a generator for the 1 time it might happen in the next 10 years? Probably not. Considering my tank would have to be without power for at least a few hours to begin to have any real detrimental effects.

Plus the way my tank is right now, a power outage aint gonna do dick all to kill what already is dying in there! ha ha ha ha!
[/quote]

Yea but the thing is tony that a long term power outage only has to happen once, not multiple times, for your tank to suffer greatly. At this point, and im not trying to bash you, but you dont really have much coral to worry about. For me, i have spent waaaay too much time and money on my tank to not be prepared.

 

[theyangman]

[quote author=theyangman link=topic=7148.msg72785#msg72785 date=1386794351]
[quote author=Reef Hero link=topic=7148.msg72784#msg72784 date=1386793940]
Man i gotta get out of lucan..... a 4-6 hour power outage happens often for me.....i dont even bother firing up the generator until about 4 hours into outage.....
Anyways, anyone who thinks they are immune to a long term power outage is wrong. I find it funny actually how people think that just because they live in the city and have not had any outages before will never get one.....ever heard of a tornadoe or flood? Im not telling you to run out and buy a backup power source but just be warned that in the event of a major long term outage good luck finding a generator...

It isn't about believing I am immune, but you gotta look at previous history and track records to see if these are 5% chance things or 40% chance sorta things right?

Power outages are also the same thing. How often does it happen and for how long? You yourself are a prime example Ben. You are so used too it that you don't blink an eye until hour number 4. I can count on one hand how many times in my entire lifetime that I have been without power for longer than 1 hour. So is it worth it to get a generator for the 1 time it might happen in the next 10 years? Probably not. Considering my tank would have to be without power for at least a few hours to begin to have any real detrimental effects.

Plus the way my tank is right now, a power outage aint gonna do dick all to kill what already is dying in there! ha ha ha ha!
[/quote]

Yea but the thing is tony that a long term power outage only has to happen once, not multiple times, for your tank to suffer greatly. At this point, and im not trying to bash you, but you dont really have much coral to worry about. For me, i have spent waaaay too much time and money on my tank to not be prepared.
[/quote]

WOO HOO! I am in the clear!

 

[AdInfinitum]

a 4-6 hour power outage happens often for me.....i dont even bother firing up the generator until about 4 hours into outage.....

Same here...


I had the 125gal with fish and a couple of nems for a three day power outage.  Middle of winter, no heat or hot water in the house either, no generators available locally.  I had the fireplace going in the family room with the tank and I was warming up bottles of water on the bbq.  Tank got down to the low 60's but everything ended up surviving, no idea how....No corals at that time...

 

[Neopimp]

Lol there's looking at the positive lol.


I follow yangs thinking.  It's a risk and I will probably regret it if something happens but toe that if is very small.  Besides I'm sure glen would lend me his generator

 

[Reef Hero]

One thing i have learned that as long as corals are happy they can survive severe temp swings as long as they dont ocurr often or last for an extended period of time. Recently i received a shipment of chalice and their water temp was 53 degrees farenheit.....they are doing fine but didnt look the greatest when they first arrived. Also all kinds of proof out there that corals can survive for quite a while out of water....

 

[Pistol]

Generator, apex, children trained on what to do if necessary.

 

[pulpfiction1]

generator on the balcony but would be useless if i was at work or just away for any length of time

 

[dale]

my sump is high enough i can siphon out of the sump and dump it back in the display...
and i have a generator

 

[KBennett]

I don't have a backup yet and my biggest worry is the temperature difference between tank and sump after an outage.

When the power comes back, I'm worried that it'll shock the system.

 

[dale]

take from sump and dump in display... circ and o2

 

[spyd]

I don't have a backup yet and my biggest worry is the temperature difference between tank and sump after an outage.

When the power comes back, I'm worried that it'll shock the system.

Spend the money on a UPS. They really aren't that expensive and will give you a 2 hr peace of mind in case of a power failure. It will circulate the water from your sump to your display and provide oxygen. No brainer IMO for the $200 it will cost. Just get one with a "Pure" SineWave as some pumps require it to run properly.

This is the one I have for my return pump:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=86642&CatId=234

 

[Hozer]

I am looking at all these UPS.. what would you suggest that would not cost more than 200$??? and what sizes should i look for if i want to keep my Return /a couple power heads flowing for an hour or so?

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

i should have lots of run time with those.  from tiger direct as both my return pump and skimmer are the dc powered pumps. ..that is cheap. 200 bucks.  should get multi units instead one bigger one

 

[Pistol]

My generator runs my whole system and my furnace, sump pump and fridge. I've had to use it 3 times this year.

 

[blaked]

My  friend has a computer battery backup. Powers his heaters and mag 18 for at least 2.5 hours.

 

[Victoss]

I have a UPS I'm planning on using for the new tank and was wondering what you guys generally keep on the battery backup (minimal in mind). Return and heater?

 

[Boga]

I do not have a real backup. If the power goes down for more than few hours, I will probably run something from my car (if I am at home)

I guess it will vary winter to summer on what we keep on backup. During Summer (if I am at home) I would add an air pump with a stone and circulate one power head in DT. During Winter time, I would go for a heater, set at lower temperature and a small powerhead. And probably the aquarium monitor/controller would be also connected, so I can determine the impact of the event. And keep the phone charged so you can check TFT forum.

And if it is Winter and if I am at home, I would cover the main tank glass panes with foam, or bubble wrap, so I can minimize the heat loss.

Those that have a BBQ connected to natural gas can use it for heating water if needed.

If energy is limited, we should not waste it on reactors, skimmers, lights .... maybe just one small UV LED to POP the corals .

Happy blackout reefing!

 

[Reef Hero]

I do not have a real backup. If the power goes down for more than few hours, I will probably run something from my car (if I am at home)

I guess it will vary winter to summer on what we keep on backup. During Summer (if I am at home) I would add an air pump with a stone and circulate one power head in DT. During Winter time, I would go for a heater, set at lower temperature and a small powerhead. And probably the aquarium monitor/controller would be also connected, so I can determine the impact of the event. And keep the phone charged so you can check TFT forum.

And if it is Winter and if I am at home, I would cover the main tank glass panes with foam, or bubble wrap, so I can minimize the heat loss.

Those that have a BBQ connected to natural gas can use it for heating water if needed.

If energy is limited, we should not waste it on reactors, skimmers, lights .... maybe just one small UV LED to POP the corals .

Happy blackout reefing!

LOL
Thanks

I usually have my internet up too if I can because it's the same circuit as my one tank circuit.... So maybe see you on here in the dark lol
It's all or nothing for me..... I run my whole tank on generator and my sump pump too. I'm too afraid to run my digital entertainment equipment or tvs from my generator and don really want to buy an inverter just to watch tv when power is out haha.... My tank lights up my basement pretty good too so I'm good there
And I run my gas fireplace in the basement for heat....it's a beast.... 52000 btu!

And I should add that our gas water heater requires no power.... Check there as well it's back to the primitive in Lucan!


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