Heating for the winter/power outages

[jag2232]

Well this is my first winter coming in terms of having a salt water tank, and I've heard about alot of people having tanks crash during the winter due to short power outages. I live in upstate NY so power outages happen several times a year, but fortunately I do own a generator that I can get up and running when the case comes. Getting to my question, what do some of you do that live in the colder climates to keep your tanks from crashing? I was figuring that I'd get one of those computer bricks that have a battery built in and just have my heaters plugged into that and nothing else for max time to keep my fish from getting too cold in the time it takes me to get home and turn on my generator, but I'd like to know if there are any other ideas that anyone has that could help prevent my fish from crashing.

 

[mr_x]

i have a generator as well. how long will it take you to get home in the event of an outage? i don't think i need more than that. after all, if my water stops circulating, a heater is only going to heat the small area it's in. it won't reach the whole system.
i guess you could use a battery backup for a heater and a powerhead or two, but those APC backup things are expensive, and don't last very long.

 

[jag2232]

Well my main concern would be if it went off while I am at work because I wouldn't really have any way of knowing until I got home and then would have to get the generator running before I could get their heat back up. I was just hoping I could get something that could maybe buy me an hour or two of time incase this situation happens.

 

[1990jpyj]

i have got an older back-up sump pump set up on my tank. i live in a basement so i just put the whole thing outside of my bedroom in a closet. it didnt take a whole lot of work. basically all i had to do was cut the wires that would have went to the back-up pump and put a plug on it to power all of tank. so when the power goes out i have about 12 hours of power if its needed. all it uses is a car batt. i got all my stuff free so it might not be that cost effective for you to go out and buy a $400+ kit and rig all this up but for what i have it for it works great.

 

[natclanwy]

Heat is probably your least concern, oxygen deprivation will set in before heat becomes an issue. A battery operated air pump will provide enough circulation to buy you an hour or two and there are some models out there that only come on when the power goes out. I don't really get that concerned when the power goes out on my tank until I pass the 4hr mark. After that I will run a cord out to my truck and plug it into my inverters, I have two Cobra 1000w inverters installed in my truck for work, the inverters are only about $80 and one is more than enough to power my entire tank with 2 koralias powerheads, Ehiem canister, Quietone 3000 return pump, 250w heater, Mag 9 skimmer pump, 2x250w MH, 4x65w PC lights. I can also run some household lights and a small TV and DVD player too.