Backup Battery - for power outages

Hi,

I'm wondering if you have any experience using a backup battery to run essential equipment in your tank during an emergency.

I had a disaster in my tank that sparked my interest in this area. ups battery backups are common in the computer industry, but I have never heard of them being used in aquariums. Thanx for your input.


My story:

I teach 6th grade. I put a 29 gallon tank in my classroom. the kids love it. we had a 5 day break over memorial weekend and I had set up my automatic feeder before the break. hoping to back to a normal tank as I have done in the past.

But, as soon as I walked in on the first day back, I see the lights are off in the tank. As I got closer, I realized that there was no power to my tank equipment at all. For some reason the circuit breaker to the outlets in my classroom had tripped. I'm not sure why. I also don't know how long the power was off, but when I turned it back on the water was very cloudy, debris floating all around, Temperature down to 70 (usually its at 75) the fish were lethargic, some had red gills and my bamboo shrimp was lying on the floor about 10 feet from the tank! The ammonia was at 1.5 ppm.

As soon as it was recess, I did a 50% water change and dosed the following:
Seachem Prime - to dechlorinate and detoxify the rest of the ammonia
Seachem Stability - to boost the biological filter
Seachem Stress Guard - To help the fish deal with the ammonia exposure
Seachem Clarity - to clear the cloudiness

in less than 2 days the tank was back to normal, the fish looked better, params are healthy, clear water etc

But I want to avoid such an aggravation in the future, hence my interest in the ups battery backup...... So thanx for your input

 

Most ups stations would only give an average 20 to 45 min run-time on an average load. If it was only running an air pump then that could run for a fair bit longer. What I suggest is a battery backup operated air-pod. In the case of such a power failure this would be the fail-safe.

 

^ exactly what I was going to day. The computer ones are really only designed to give you enough time to safely shut your computer down, they're not a long term thing. Battery powered air pumps and a sponge filter I think are the way to go. Only issue with this for you is that you would actually have to be there when the power went out to switch it on, or over to the battery powered one instead of a regular air pump.

Is what you're describing different Dadio?

 

^ exactly what I was going to day. The computer ones are really only designed to give you enough time to safely shut your computer down, they're not a long term thing. Battery powered air pumps and a sponge filter I think are the way to go. Only issue with this for you is that you would actually have to be there when the power went out to switch it on, or over to the battery powered one instead of a regular air pump.

Is what you're describing different Dadio?

There is a unit called air-pod that runs on electrical and when power outs happen it automatically flips to battery run mode that I use and am very satisfied with it. There is anther one as well that has great reviews found here .

 

I need one of those too, lol. We get tons of power outages here. Thanks Dadio for the clarification!

 

Dadio - Thanx for your response/advice

What do you think about these 2 options?





These are battery powered air pumps, that also have a power out sensor, they kick in when they sense that there is no AC power, the rest of the time they are off.

They work differentlythan the ones that actually replace a regular air pump, but are more affordable

What do you say?

 

Second one has sensor and runs both ac/dc so hat is your best bet if your going for cheap. Always remember though it costs more to replace all your fish or stock when events like this happen so I suggest to pay as much as you can.

 

@ Dadio

The air-pod unit you mentioned is available on amazon for $33

Wondering, do you use it all the time as your regular air pump? or you only use it during a blackout?

How satisfied are you with its performance?

Is it loud?

 

What size UPS were you thinking of using? I use a refurbished UPS connected to a small tetra pump and sponge filter.

 

I didnt have a specific one in mind.

How does that UPS work for you? how long can it power your air pump without AC power?

I'm looking for an option that can keep a filter running for at least 48 hours without AC power. So i'm considering the options...

 

So, I ordered this piece, It wasn't expensive:



It plugs in and also has 2 size D batteries. it remains off when it senses the AC power coming in and it turns on as soon as the AC power cuts out.

I plan to use it alongside my regular air pump. I will connect both pumps to my air filter using a 3 way Y valve. I'll also put a one way check valve on each of the lines from the pumps before the Y valve.

What I hope to achieve is that the regular pump will power the filter and when a power outage happens the battery operated one will automatically kick in to power the same filter, without me doing anything. the check valves should stop air flowing into the pump that is not operating at the time

Hope it works.

I will try itout and let you know how it goes.

 

That battery backup air pump is probably your best bet without spending a lot of money or taking up a lot of space. There are computer UPS units that are big enough for your needs. I have a UPS system that will run my entire network (modem, routers, switches, etc) for a few days, but it wasn't cheap and it uses external marine deep-cycle batteries. It would probably run all of my tanks for several days, but I don't use it for that. I have a generator that runs most of the house if/when we lose power (which is probably your best option if your budget allows), but the computer equipment doesn't like the power it produces, so the UPS is more of a fail safe/power conditioner. Anyway, that air pump will give you at least something to keep water moving and aerated in the event of a power failure. Good choice.