The Uke

My power went out for an hour last night and got me to thinking what I could due to keep the water in my tank warm enough during a long power outage... excluding buying a generator. Ideas?

tomchitown

i see you're in michigan ... maybe cut you heat up a few notches to raise room temp

0morrokh

Um aside from buying a power generator, not much that I know of. During a few longer (several hour) power outages up here I've sometimes poured water thru the filter manually to keep it circulating and the filter bacteria alive.

Lucy

During a power outage this winter I used those hand warmers that you shake to activate. I put them in zip lock bags attached them to the sides so they didn't float around. I also wrapped the tanks in blankets.

Oxygen is a problem too. Several members have battery operation aerators.

kendrid

I'd get your water change bucket, fill it with warm tap water (maybe 5 degrees above what you keep the tank), declorinate it and do partial water changes if the temp gets too low.

Llama

Adding to this, if there's a power failure, how long before the bacteria in a filter die? (Its a cannister filter if it makes any difference)

coffeebean

i would like to know that as well

Redvelvetsword

They make powe backup units for computer systems that you can use. The are refered to as a "ups". The ups plugs into the wall and the different pieces of equippment plug into it. It keeps a charge when the power goes out. It should last a good while and they only cost about $150.00 I think.

About the bacteria, I'm not too sure.

Hope this helps.

CWO4GUNNER

I can attest from experience that the canister filter does take a hit. I left min off accidentally for an 1.5 hours and ammonia spiked to almost .25 for about a day so I'm sure more time without circulation it just goes down hill from there.

I think the treated hot tap water is a good idea if you could put a temporary separator in your tank keeping the fish on one side you could pour it in and mix. Air could be circulated every 30 minutes with an inflatable boat bellows foot pump which is cheap, easy to use and free of contaminants (oils) unlike other manual piston pumps. I would also stretch a new big plastic trash bag between to opening and lid to keep the heat from rising and escaping. Of course the best way is a small portable generator depending on how much wattage is needed. even 1 large aquarium can be easily heated for 12 hours on a quart of gasoline with a small Honda generator.

Dozey

This really isn’t a viable solution IMO. Here is a link to APC UPS 200W models. The higher up models are in the price range that you’ve suggested. But at $100 the top model only provides 14 minutes of backup power. And the 200 watt models may very well support nothing more then a heater in a larger aquarium for no more then 14 minutes.
http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=21

The 400 watt models can also be purchased for $100 but only provide up to 7 minutes of backup power.
http://www.apc.com/products/family/i...?id=21#anchor1

Here you can see products that would certainly give you provide decent back up power for aquariums ranging from 1 hour up to 10 hours of power. But these models range in price from $6,000 to $17,000+
http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=180

Computer power backups for PC’s in this price range are really only designed to give you a few minutes to save your work and shut down your computer properly.

dg512055

We lost power for 12 hours during the Feb ice storm in the area. I had a cheap power inverter from Wally-World and a nice big deep cycle battery that was fully charged. I brought in the battery and inverter and plugged in the filter and heater, and everything ran til the power came back. I did leave off the air pump and lights to extend run time.

Llama

Its all a matter of wattage and watt-hours.

My filter has a rating of 8W 230 V. .: It'll drain 153W hours every hour from a 12 V battery.

So unless we're talking heavy duty batteries (and they do exist), its unlikely that you can get a battery to supply you with enough power to last more than a few minutes.

aquarist48

Battery powered air pumps are a must in cases like this. I have one in my tank and one in the filter box as well. When the power goes out they automatically come on.

As far as using a computer back up power pack...not worth the money for the few minutes that it's going to work (IMO).

You can remove the filter media and place it inside the tank itself. Especially if you use a HOB or canister filter. By doing this and having the Battery back up air supply your good bacteria will still get oxygen that it needs to survive.

As for keeping it warm. I suggest a generator. It's the only way to go. Wrap the tank in blankets will help some.

DE88ROX

Nice to see another Michigander in here. Nice to see there are still some us left in this state. :-)

Anyway. For power failures, you can buy a battery back-up. We use them as a sole power source for all of our PC's at work that we have on "crash carts" that we wheel through out the shop for machine diagnostics. when they're not in use we simply plug them in. At home it stays plugged in all the time then kicks in when the power goes out.

I can't think of the brand name we use of the top of my head right now, but its something like this.

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=21

The Uke

Plan on staying put.... unless they close my plant and want to send me to Fairfax, Kansas. Wife wants me to go to Kansas but I think I would just retire.

Thanks to all for all the input!