South + Ice Storm + loss of power = ? power generator help? / pics

[l and l]

Hey,Here in Mississippi in the winter, we usually get bad ice storms that knock down trees/tree limbs and knock out power for 1 day up to 2-4 weeks! Last year we were out of power for a week.Needless to say, this is scaring the heck outta me and our 30 gallon and 100 gallon salt tanks. yikes!
So, I'm in the process of getting a power generator and need a little help from you guys/gals.
30 gallon has this:
2 24" power-glo fluorescent lights 40W
1 Powerhead Hagen 201 6W
1 Hagen Heater 150W
1 Penguin bio-wheel 125 ?
(damsel blue, purple psuedochromis, yellow tang (this will go into 100g when it cycles), hermits, snails, 2 starfish, 30lbs LR, 10 lbs LS).
100 Gallon has this:
2 Hagen Powerheads 402 24W
2 Hagen Heaters 300W
?Maybe a bio-wheel filter
2 Metal Halide 10,000 175W 350W
(plus adding 2 other lights...?VHO fluorescent or actinic?..haven't decided yet and I'm not sure either =)). Has now 25 hermits, 40 lbs fiji LR, ordered on the way 40 lbs Nature ocean and 40 lbs Florida keys LS, 4 damsels and 1 emerald crab. Will be adding after cycle some tangs, clam, ?anemones and clowns).
30 gallon watts =~ 250W
100 Gallon watts=~925W (with adding other lights ?VHO)
So, this gives around 1200 Watt consumption.
hmmm, i guess I just answered my question on what wattage (hehe).
But, if you have any futher comments on what equipment to have on 24/7 (besides the heaters =) and you have a recommendation on a power generator....I would really appreciate it.
I will be getting the canopy w/ the 2 MH 10K 175W in a week and want to add something with it (VHO,...etc) and not sure what to get with it. I'd love a recommendation on this too.
I hope this power outage topic also brings light to be ready for a just in case there is loss of power in your house.
Thanks,
L and L
btw: when I get some of our honeymoon pictures scanned in (underwater shots), I'll add them to our webpage(feeding black tip sharks, stingrays, etc.... Got some great pictures from Bora Bora, Moorea and Tahiti. Great backgrounds. There are a few here:
Bora Bora pictures here

 

[tomato clown]

L and L,
I can't tell you too much about generators, other than you will want a contractors grade.
I did however check out your site, Awesome pic's, but can you explain what the Trade Lists are all about?
Dan

 

[dburr]

During power outage I would only run the things you need.
Power head and heater. For a day or two, maybe longer you don't really need the lights
Underwater honeymoon pictures? Woohoo I would love to see them, but do you think the sharks would edit them out? I don't think they would allow those type of pictures to be shown here. HAHAHA just kidding Congradulations! Best wishes.

 

[l and l]

Just got back from Home Depot ....
Bought a Coleman Powermate Pro-Gen 5000W for $598.
This should handle ALL our aquarium plus plenty of other important stuff ( computer and monitor to check the Saltwaterfish.com Webboard!....maybe the frig or dvd/tv =)
"honeymoon pictures underwater" hehe good one. :Þ
"Tradelist" These are all the live shows I've aquired over the last year.
I started taping our favorite local band (North Mississippi Allstars. They're blues boogie) and then got into trading w/ other people on the internet through webboard places. It's basically on the honor system. People contact me and want something...they show me their list of live bootleg shows and if we both want something, we make audio cd's for each other and mail to each other. These are all LIVE shows (no store bought ones...of course sometimes store bought live ones get mixed in if you don't know it).
If you're looking for some particular artist or a certain show you attended...go to this HUGE site: http://db.etree.org/bs.php?chr=A
Find your favorite artist or the show you went to and click on the year then date.
This will show you everyone who has it.
Click on someones name and go to their tradelist webpage. If you don't have anything to trade for it...ask them if you can do a B&P (blanks and postage). Go here to find out what a B&P is: http://www.mcnichol.com/bnp/
This can get you some tasty shows even if you don't have a tradelist.
cheers,
L and L