Planning for winter power outages

[Kodgeman]

Power went out briefly yesterday - and it got me thinking - belatedly - about what I could do in the event of a longer blackout. Can't believe I haven't thought about this before...

I searched the forum and found a number of threads - I'll be heading out at the weekend to buy a small battery powered pump, I can tell you. The main problem I'd have in the winter is the temperature dropping, and I didn't see any "cheap" solutions for keeping the water temperature from droping. Wrapping the tank in a thermal blanket would help, but if the power is out for hours I'd be in trouble. Well, the poor fish would.

Anyone come across a temporary power source other than a generator that would keep a heater running for a day or two? Some kind of powerpack?

[WhiteDevil]

I use a COBRA battery jump pack that has a 110v on it, but it doesnt last for 2 days thats for sure, even with a 50w heater on it. Yamaha makes a very very quiet generator that you can literally have running at full throttle next to you and all you hear is a low hum.

[hockeyhead019]

You could always use an inverter off of a car battery (that's what I did for my FW tank over the summer when we lost power for three days lol) just make sure that the inverter is rated rather high for wattage output that way you can start any motors (filters usually) in your tank. You can buy a charger for the battery that way when you don't need it you can just let it sit and charge it up every now and then and when you need it to attach the inverter and plug whatever you need in (the inverter usually only has about two outlet plugs)

[i_am_511]

My power was out for like a day or 2 and i used a battery power air pump but it didnt push out very much so i used the power inverter that you can plug into your cigerate lighter outlet in your car bad part i had to have the car running so i didnt kill the car battery. But running the car for 20 30mins at a time isnt gonna burn alot of gas. I ran 1 filter and air pump here and there...I have gas so the oven kept the house temp

[mermaidwannabe]

Foster & Smith sells a pump that has a rechargeable battery and reverts to battery power in the event of an electrical outage. Once the power returns, the electricity then recharges the battery. I just got two of those.

We just recovered from a two-day massive power outage, BEFORE my pumps arrived. I kept the water agitated (slightly) using three birdbath agitators, and I kept the fish room dark so the fish would remain inactive and require less oxygen. I also refrained from feeding them for one day, so they would expel less waste.

When our power was finally restored, I tested the water and there was only a slight ammonia and nitrite spike, though nitrates were up there quite high. A couple of water changes later, and everything is back where it should be.

To learn more about the measures I took to try to save more beneficial bacteria, you can read my latest entries in the Aquarium Journal forum.

We were lucky, this time. Had it stayed out much longer, there would have been serious trouble.

Next time it happens, I'm prepared. The revertible pump is up and ready.

-- mermaidwannabe

[HeatherB]

Over last winter we had a power outage due to all the snow- I had 4 tanks up and running. I monitored the water very closely..the temp dropped a little bit, but I was able to hook the filters and heater from at least my community tank up to a generator about twice to run them and to bring the temp up.

It's a shame they haven't done any kind of battery powered heater- like the battery pumps- switch on when they lose power etc.

I also this winter- will remember to watch the weather. When they are calling for snow- I will do a water change. Half of my worries was that it was waterchange day and I had no warm water to change the water. I think that could save your tush alot-do a large water change before you are for casted for snow..

[Kodgeman]

Thanks for the tips. Local store doesn't have a battery pump, but the Foster & Smith site is interesting. I'll have to see if they ship to Canada. Found a few other possible sources in the States, but nothing Canadian yet...

I checked out some of the powerpacks at Canadian Tire - a sales associate said they just received a skid of Eliminator PowerBox 800s, so he thinks there may be a sale on these next weekend. Funny thing is, on the website the latest product review is from someone who bought one of them to power aquariums when the power is out...

HeatherB, your comment about water changes before the snow made me smile - I'd be doing daily change some weeks in January and February!! But you have a point, if a big storm is forecast it is something I'll be sure to do.

Thanks!

[korith]

You can get a ups meant for computers or small electronics to run a small air pump. I have the air pumps for my tanks hooked up to a ups, if the power ever goes out, the air pump can run for a few hours or even a day without any issues. It doesn't solve keeping the water warm but it will keep the water agitated.

[Sarkazmo]

Really, the only way you can do this efficiently is with an inverter hooked to your running car or a genny. Unless you want to drop several hundred to a few thousand on 20 or so 12V car batteries, a charging system, and an inverter for your basement. Really your best bet is a $300-$500 generator and three or four 5 Gallon gas cans.

IF you have gas in your home you could get a gas stove, like a Warm Morning stove and heat the room(s) the tanks are in. Then you could use a 12V car battery and inverter to run the pumps for quite a long time as they don't use much in the way of wattage, but heaters are a different story, and fighting a cold room will just make them stay on 24/7. I don't think you could do this with a Kerosene heater though as the brunt gas is unlikely to be good for the fish.

With a genny though you could run a couple heavy duty extension cords from the genny to your tanks, use a couple power strips, and power everything, charge your cell phone, run a radio/small TV, even run your computer. As long as you've got gasoline, you've got power.

Sark

[hockeyhead019]

Sark I think that's kinda over kill lol... I could be wrong since I don't think it was ever specified what exactly the OP needs to be running but you could do this with one car battery and an inverter. Sure you may pay a pretty penny up front for a deep cycle battery and a 12V charger for it but other than those two things and an inverter you should be fine, you just have to prioritize what you need to run. I.E. you really don't need lights, you NEED a heater and filter to keep water moving

Find out what kind of wattage your filter sucks up when starting (since you'll have a spike when you start your filter) and buy the appropriate inverter which can handle that kind of spike and then you can plug in your heater second.

Granted it works best for smaller tanks (usually below 30 gallons) but you would just need a bigger inverter for bigger tanks

Of course there's the bigger inverter the faster you drain your battery etc but I'm sure you'd be able to come to a working medium without buying a generator