PlanetCatfish.com

Wanted to know what you do for back-up/emergency power on your tanks.

this is a great topic in my opinion. this sounds crazy but i actually have 2 battery opperated clip-on fans that i keep under each tank just in case the power goes out for and extended period of time. i clip them on the edge of the tank and turn them on, placing them at an angle that allows the blades of the fan to dip into the water. this allows the water to be aggitated and helps with the oxegan exchange.


ken

Very interesting topic. I live in a 3rd world country where there are times that power outages last eight hours or more on really bad days. It was actually a common thing way back in the late 80s and early 90s.

Anyway, Normally we'd have those clip on portable air pumps on stand by. These would give a good 4-6 hours continuous air via airstone on brand new batteries. There are two kinds, an automatic which would start up when the power is cut and the ordinary battery operated one which you'd have to turn on manually.

We'd also lower the water level and do some water changes but not to its original state. I only fill it back up to original standards once the power is back.

REgards,
Mike D.

Like Mokmu, I experience lots of power outages. Sometimes it is the weather or an accident but often it is because power stations are favorite target of the guerrillas and they blow them up all the time. My biggest problem is heat as it is cold in Bogota. As soon as the power goes out, I close both doors to the fishroom to try to retain some heat. When the power comes back on I go around the fishroom and do small (10-20 percent) water changes. If the power is off a long time (over six hours) I will walk by all the tanks every 30 minutes and agitate the surface by filling a large plastic cup with aquarium water and dumping it back in the tank. I do this several times for each tank.
-Shane

I have an UPS that i was given from my work... the batteries was bad in it and since it was an old model they gave it to me insted
It´s connected to the pump and the light, we have had one power outake in 3 years and it lasted for five minutes so it´s realy not nessesary... but since i got it so why not use it

Hi!

I have no backups...the last power outage i can remeber was in the 80s. I can remember that cauz i wasnt able to watch sesame street...
Do you count the US as a power third world country? ;)

Hi,
I have no back ups because i havent found any at the shops.Power cuts are somewhat frequent in Melissia and last from 4-8 hours but untill now i havent faced any serious problem because of that.

Btw Mokmu what are these baterry operated airstones which start up automatically?

I haven't really bought them yet. Its basically an air pump with a an airstone at the end. This pump, I suppose, is connected to an electrical outlet. When it senses that the electrical power is off, the pump automatically switches on and runs on batteries. ITs around Php (Philippine Pesos) 400-600 (roughly around US$7-10). All that I have seen are made in China.

The manual ones cost around Php 150 - 300 around US$2.75-5.50. Its pretty handy. I sometimes also use this when I buy fish. I don't have the fish in a bag but Ihave them put in my black pail (which I lug around) and switch on the portable air pump. That way the fish, at least, feels more at ease (?).

Regards,
Mike D.

I have not backup right now but I am on the lookout for old computer UPS units, with or without a good battery. When the battery goes bad I will replace it with a car battery, small one, and have the unit outside with a power cable coming in (car batteries can put off toxic gases). the car battery is easily trickle charged by the UPS and will last FAR longer than the original battery.

other than that im going to "borrow" my father's portable battery powered air pump:)

Where I live we have a power outage every few months, but normally they last less than 15 minutes, longest one I can remember was about 3 or 4 hours. I've got a battery powered airstone, but I really use that more for transport than anything else. I did have an 8 hour period where our power was out for some internal electrical work in the house, I could plan it so I rented a small Honda power generator, weighed maybe 30 pounds and very compact, about the size of a gallon milk jug. The thing worked great, 6 hours without having to refill it and it ran the heaters and filters for all but one of my tanks, that was a lightly stocked 30 gallon so I just threw in the biowheels and turned on the battery powered pump. did a big water change before that but wouldn't have needed to. Great little thing http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/eu1000.htm. if you live in an area where outages are common you might consider it. Prices being asked for new ones are about $650, but I ran a check through Ebay and came up with this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... gory=11771 and have seen similar deals here and there... of course it's an auction, but I think it'll stay reasonable.

Light stocking in your tanks really helps alot. Our power was out for 18 hours in the latest "Midwest" outage this fall. I did nothing and didn't loose a fish.

So does keeping up on the water changes. The less dissolved organics in the water, the more oxygen it can carry. If you have gas heat, if needed you can do water changes by candle light BTW. I've done that before if I knew the tank was either heavily stocked, or overdue for a waterchange.

Lost power for close to 30 hours this summer, and only had 2-3 fish die. This probably had something to do with Silurus watching the tanks, but I don't think the losses would have been very high even without someone in the house.

I have seen instructions on building high capacity, heavy duty UPS's (uninterruptible power supplies) on the cheap, out of marine batteries. I can dig them up if you like.

Rusty

Rusty wrote:Lost power for close to 30 hours this summer, and only had 2-3 fish die. This probably had something to do with Silurus watching the tanks, but I don't think the losses would have been very high even without someone in the house.

I have seen instructions on building high capacity, heavy duty UPS's (uninterruptible power supplies) on the cheap, out of marine batteries. I can dig them up if you like.

Rusty

that would be awesome

Thanks everyone. Great ideas. I may end up trying to find a used or cheap UPS to power up only air pumps to maintain aeration.

I have seen instructions on building high capacity, heavy duty UPS's (uninterruptible power supplies) on the cheap, out of marine batteries. I can dig them up if you like.

Rusty,

If you can find the Marine battery UPS conversion that will be great. Thanks

5 KW generator, gassed up and ready to go. Will run my tanks, 2 refrigerators and furnace blower no problem. Had it for years before i got into keeping fish.

Tolak

I had a AC/DC air pump with four outlets as backout plan just in case there is a power failure. The battery can run for 6 hours only. Thank goodness that power failure is rare in Singapore!

Hi,

I haven't really bought them yet. Its basically an air pump with a an airstone at the end.

Mokmu,
Do you remember the name of the company which produces this airpump?

Thank you in advance

Wow, practially everyone seems to be able to buy all these generators and UPSs and stuff. This higher income seems to be justified with countries with higher economies. All I can afford is a portable air pump worth US$ 3.00. Ah well, such is life. Some have em, some don't.

I'll let you know tomorrow when I get up. My wife is bugging me to get some sleep.

Regards,
Mike D.

Kenneth Wong wrote:Thanks everyone. Great ideas. I may end up trying to find a used or cheap UPS to power up only air pumps to maintain aeration.

Ken,

I use a portable battery powered, minnow aerator. It's essentially a air pump that is powerful and used for minnow buckets or live wells when fishing. I bought mine at Cabelas, but any store that has a decent sport fishing department should have it.

We have gone to rechargeable batteries. The Batteries will last for 24-30 hours, but we'll change them before we go to work when there is no power. This year I've had 3 power outages! and reluctantly becoming an expert at maintaining tanks without power

• July 3 -5

August 14-18 (Great Blackout of the East Coast and Great Lakes Area in the US)

• November 14-15 (It got COLD!!!)
  
  I am trying out the battery/electronic air pump on my 20 gallon tank. At the current rate I expect to lose power on Christmas Eve.
  
  Hope this helps
  
  Scott

I have read lots of articles about aquarists/collectors fieldcollecting fish, using these battery-airpumps. So they are being produced. I'm not shure how to get them.

Of course, if you have your own house/friendly neighbours, you can use these diesel agregates, producing electricity. They can be noisy, but they produce the power you need! And they are not that expensive either.

When celebrating the end of the gymnasium/high school many years ago, me and my schoolmates used one to feed a giant stereo/megaspeakers in our redpainted partybus! It worked perfectly!

I've thought about getting one of those back-ups. I went to the website and it seems like they don't really last that long unless you get a really expensive one. I think the are designed so that if the power goes out, you have enough time to turn the power off correctly.

My biggest fear where I live are hurricanes. I want something that will run my filter for approx 36 hours in case I have to evacuate. The filter alone will allow for enough airation in the water. I am not worried about temperature where I live.

Is it really possible to hook up a car battery to one?

We just got nailed with SERIOS snow here in utah usa. 12-24 inches in 24hrs. Well the trees couldn't deal and many went down taking power lines with them. I didn't have my power go out, but many did for up to 48hrs or more. Many had no power for 24hrs.
Mad me start thinking...
What is the biggest worrie in a tank? Oxygen, filtration,heat? Is a deeper tank more suseptable to lask of oxygen than a short tank? Does volume of water make any difference? If I went through every few hours and stirred the water in my varios shapes and sizes of tanks for say.... 2-5 minutes, would that be enough for the most part for 24hrs? I have a little dinky generator that wouldn't power most hand tools, but I don't figure that filtration pumps would pul much amprage so i plan to "test drive" the system someday soon and see if I can run all my tanks with extention cords to this one little generator.
But if i am home is it really a big deal? CAn I just stir the water and have that be enough?