sallers

After reading in this mornings newspaper ( Daily mail in the U.K) they were saying that we could face an electricity shortage during the winter, meaning a possibility of power cuts and rationed electricity etc. Now I'm sure this won't be the case but have any other people seen this and do you think we could plan something to care for our fish beforehand?

Tavel

just ask anyone in california

as far as i know, rolling blackouts only last a few hours during peak usage times. You should be just fine if you pick up a battery backup (the type used for computers). I know APC brand works fine with the electric motors in the pumps (I have them on my tanks), not sure about any other brands though.

(some motors won't work with the step-waveform output of a UPS, they need a clean sine wave.)

a decent sized one should run a filter for 6-8 hours. probably only 3-4 hours if you leave the heater on it.

you could, if you were so inclined, generate prodigious run times by scrapping together a homebrewed battery backup. you'll need a quality inverter, a quality charger, and a deep cycle lead-acid battery.

set the charger to put a float charge on the battery (deliver the same voltage as the battery holds at full charge; 12V battery = 12V float charge). then connect the battery to the inverter and plug all your junk into the inverter. it's messy, and more expensive...but you could build a massive battery bank and run for weeks without mains. hahaha!

Butterfly

Oh the evil, evil minds of fish keepers. What wouldn't we do for them
Good answer by the way.
Carol

Tavel

haha, thanks.