power failure!

[birdy]

Well I live in Kansas City and we are in the middle of a huge ice storm, my power went out and I was wondering what everyone does in a power outage situation. My tank is just cycling with live rock right now so nothing is going to die but I would like to know what to do once I do start to get livestock. I have those battery operated air stones in my Cichlid tank.

 

[fshhub]

get a battery back up, or if you can afford one, a generator, i can't afford one, but IMO, most outages here are only minustes or an hour or so, so i got a b'up system in any case, i would definitely get something in place for future pproblems

 

[fishman1]

How dig is your tank

 

[fishman1]

try this again How big is your tank

 

[jodeman]

I have a question while this thread is up! How do you folks that run a sump or a fuge below your tank keep it from flooding your floor during an outage? (they do work on a syphon type system don't they )

 

[lu]

I know how you feel about the power going out. I live just west of Wichita Kansas and have been praying every hour or so that our power doesn't go out.I guess you could say at this moment I could panic...LOL Where would you get a battery back up for a fish tank? I've never heard of one...(no, I'm NOT blonde)

 

[cyn]

I feel for you all, I used to live outside of KC and don't miss the weather at all. As for your question, keep the water moving! Run a slow siphon into a bucket at one end and gently pour the siphoned water back in at the other. This provides oxygen and water movement. With only LR, I do not believe you have to be as agressive as with inverts and fish, but you need to keep the water well oxygenated and moving. If the power stays out for an extended period, you will also have to worry about the temp. falling. I am not sure how to keep the temp up without power. You could look into renting a small generator, but by the time the power is out, usually the rental places are out of generators. Sorta dammed if you don't and if you do.
Living in the midwest, and wanting to keep a reef, I would definatly invest in a generator! I live in S. Texas and will be getting one for hurricane season, just to be safe.
HTH,
cyn

 

[mlm]

Use can use the battery back system like they sell for computers. You keep the sump from overflowinf by drilling a hole in the tubing under the water line. When the water line drops to that hole the siphon is lost and the water stops flowing.

 

[rickt4du]

Buy a power inverter and hook it to a car battery.. I ran a pump and heater for 2 days.
Have a great day!

 

[bj]

I just bought a new computer and with it came a power strip called "Nextgrid". This power strip can be attached to a battery backup pac that will run a computer for 20 minutes. Now I do not believe you could run all of your equipment off of it, but perhaps your pump anyway. The battery pac was $89 and then there was an upgrade that tripled the run time for $199. <a href="http://WWW.NEXTGRID.com" target="_blank">WWW.NEXTGRID.com</a> They have link sites to sellers of the battery pacs. I do not know what the strip itself cost as it was included in the computer price. The strip has 8 outlets and you can choose which outlets use the battery and have the others work independently of the battery

 

[tellico tornado]

No no no you guys have it all wrong! Just stand over the tank with a straw and blow bubbles in the water! that will keep it oxegenated and provide heat since most of you are full of hot air anyways! he he he sorry i couldnt resist!
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[ky]

2 of my three sumps are in the basement. A tank will drain only as low as the water return pipes are. I have 3/4 inch PVC going the length of my tanks with three outlet valves. The water outlet pipes are submerged only about 2 inches. That means that if there is a power failure (I live in Michigan, so there are plenty of them. We got 12 inches of snow last night and are expecting .5 inches of ice tonight), the water in the tank will go down only 2 inches, then the vacuum will break. My sumps (ecosystem on each) can handle that added water with no difficulties.