MudHog

With the recent winter storms that have come across the US, alot of people have seen power outages. In recent, there has been alot of talk about computer based battery backups for aquariums. The below link will quickly show how little time these things last. They aren't designed to operate a computer, they are designed to safely save and close programs in the event of power loss.

http://www.apcc.com/products/runtime...m?upsfamily=23

Even APC's biggest battery backup for 120V AC with a 300watt draw would only last 26 minutes. 300w can be a single heater depending on the aquarium size. This doesn't factor in the filter or lighting.

some other options:

1. a series of 12v car batteries and a 12v power inverter. The only down side to power inverters is the amount of power lose in the inverting process.

2. solar power to recharge the battery which is dependent on the weather. The battery bank would need to be sized for the duration of time at night. During the day the solar grid would charge and run the system.

3. Various hand warmer packs that hunters use. These could be put in some sort of container and possibly dropped into the tank(verify the container won't allow water inside itself otherwise it may contaminate your aquarium) or they could be wrapped around the outside the tank. Some of these things are designed to last a few hours.

4. Lighting a fire outdoors and heating up water and putting into bags to transfer heat.

5. The ultimate option would be a basic home generator. The little Honda EU2000i which is a 2000w generator is super quiet and burns little gas. The down side to this one would be the need gas storage ahead of time.


What I'm really trying to do here is to get folks to realize those UPS battery back-ups will not last long and other means may need to be considered.

bandito974

Thanks for the INFO, I wondered about that myself, If need be I can always run to the sporting good store and by a portable aireator like what they use to keep live bait on when you go fishing!

susitna-flower

Good points Mudhog, the other thing about the generator is that you can keep all the tank systems going, not just the heat. This is why I suggest adding up all the wattage you need to keep going, before purchasing the generator. A honda 2000 is moderately priced, and like you said runs all day on not much gas, but is limited to 2000 watts of power output, and when fully loaded uses more gas than if it had only say a 1000 watt load.

MagpieTear

If within your budget (It's not mine) natural gas generators are the way to go. I have just enough to keep the furnace going, and the fridge. Next house will have a generator big enough for a lot of the goodies. But it will also be in someplace a lot warmer than Pittsburgh too...

MudHog

That's correct on determining the total amount of watts to run your equipment.


Concerning whole house generators or stand-by generator, that's a different ball game. That goes more by amps instead of watts. Watts divided by Volts = Amps or vice versa, Amps times Volts = Watts. To size a home generator, you generally take a ammeter to your service panel and turn all the things on you want to run and check your amp draw from the power grid. Then you size your generator accordingly.


Filters, lights and air pumps will be your least wattage items. Your heater/s will be your most. Takes alot of watts to generate heat. This is all based on a plane jane aquarium. Start getting into higher wattage lights (planted tanks), then your light may overtake your heater.


How to check the wattage, look for the UL label on the device. Once found, you will find the wattage, normally looks like "16W", on the label. Simply add up everything and this will tell you to total wattage needed to run your entire tank. I can't say what Canada or UK labels look like, so this information is strictly for US.

MudHog

Forgot to add one more thing, NG (Natural Gas) generators are your best best for stand-by generators. Reason being, NG is the last utility to be turned off during a major weather storm. Second best would be diesel. Downfall to diesel is that you need to have fuel storage handy to be able to operate the generator.

Dino

Hand warmers come in sizes up to 60 hours.
They must have access to the air to work.
Dropping them into a tank would not be the way to go.
Attaching them to the sides of the tank is a much better option.
Preferably as low as you can, as the heat rises.