Power outtage!!!!

[saltwaterkid]

Ok, I almost had a heart attack today when I came home from work. We had some nasty thunderstorms here in Michigan and I guess it knocked out our power. Our neighborhood always loses electricity and I always tell myself to go out and look for an inexpensive generator. I obviously never do. Well, our power was out when I came home and I didn't know what to do. I guess it was only down for an hour previous to me getting home. My tank seemed to be alright. All the corals were still open and the fish were swimming around like usual. I didn't want to take any chances though. Too much money invested in the tank. I knew all I really had to do was get my powerheads working. I went up to Home Depot and rented a small 2500W generator for $35 a day. Well, as you can see my power is back on after being out for 4 hours. I'm sure I jumped the gun on getting a generator but there is always that "what if". I was able to power everything on my tank including 660W of lighting. I also couldn't help plugging in a small TV so I could watch the basketball game. Would you believe that the second my power came back on, my tv cable went out? What were the odds of that happening? Anyways, here is my question. I've heard of battery operated powerheads and I can't remember where I saw or heard about them. Anybody know what I am talking about? Instead of investing in a $1000-$2000 generator, where can I get these battery operated powerheads? Or if somebody knows where I can get a cheap generator to purchase, let me know.

 

[tangs_in_pacifica]

IMOHO,
It might be better to just buy a cheapo computer UPS system. This would run a small powerhead for a few hours or longer, dependant upon the Powerhead and power capacity of the UPS unit. Go to compUSA, or somewhere like that and give it a shot.
HTH

 

[pufferlover]

I just posted about those the other day on one of the forums. They sell for about 10 bucks and run for about 6 hours on 2 d cell batteries. They plug into socket and come on when power goes out. They are made by Penn Plax and where I order them from they are 10.95 or 9.85 of 4 or more are ordered. I have them on all 10 tanks and it gives me piece of mind if nothing else. If you need to know where to get them contact me thru my homepage or profile link and I will tell you where they can be had.

 

[saltwaterkid]

Grr...power went out again right after my email message. Of course I hooked up the generator again and 5 minutes later it came back on. Our power doesn't usually go off for only hours at a time. It's usually a day or two. And this could happen 10-15 times a summer. It's very ridiculous. So you think it would be cheaper to just buy a couple UPS's and keep buying batteries?

 

[mr . salty]

If you have multiple/short power outages,it may be better to get the UPS. They can be hooked up to power up automaticaly when you loose main power.And turn off when it comes back on.