Power Outage Emergency Back-up Products

[dan2x38]

There was a thread about power outages and emergency back-ups but I could not find it again. Here is a great site for back-up products:

http://www.backup-power.ca/catalog/item/3139891/3038191.htm

They are Canadian based, they offer all sorts of products including solar backups.

[squeeker]

I use the smaller NOMA backup battery system for my reptiles.  So far it's worked wonderfully!  I highly recommend it.

[dan2x38]

I use the smaller NOMA backup battery system for my reptiles.  So far it's worked wonderfully!  I highly recommend it.

I tested the Noma 400 but it would only run 3 tanks with just heater & filters running for just over 2 hours so I returned it...

[squeeker]

heaters and filters take up a decent amount of juice.

Mine will run the heat on 5 heat pads for a little over 8 hours.  Never tried it on the fish tank, though.

[darkdep]

Actually, the FILTERS are pretty low power devices; Aquaclears for example run between 9-15 watts, even big canisters run about 35w max.  Heaters and Lights are killer on backup power.  Air pumps are very low power, if you utilize those.

IMHO, for a short term power outage (perhaps up to 8 hours), all you need to keep running are the filters.  Lights aren't important, and assuming it's not the dead of winter and the tank isn't in a cold location, most fish should be fine with a slow temp drop (although some more sensitive fish may get sick from this I would expect).

This is obviously a freshwater only opinion

[dan2x38]

heaters and filters take up a decent amount of juice.

Mine will run the heat on 5 heat pads for a little over 8 hours.  Never tried it on the fish tank, though.

What type of heating pads do you mean?

D-Dep how low on FW with tetras, killies, live bearers, that type of fish do you think the temp. could drop safelly? I know tough question...

[darkdep]

It depends on so many things.  However, I got to do a live experiment a couple of times on a couple 40gallon tanks that had failed heaters.  I determined one locked on when the temp hit 84; so I removed the heater and left it heaterless for about 24 hours, when the new heater was installed.  Temp dropped to about 73 or so over that time period.  11 degrees over 24 hours.  Water takes time to get cold, and since it's a slow process the fish can adapt to a certain extent.  In the wild, temp swings of this magnitude can happen in some places over a day.  Had something similar happen to another tank a week later.  In both cases the fish were fine without a single sign of distress (except they were moving slower )

I don't have first hand experience with the sensitivity of tetras and live bearers, but IMHO "most" fish would be fine for 8-12 hours without a heater; and many can go much longer without ill effect.

[murgus]

I like my solution - 6.5 KW Honda generator wired into my panel

Andrew

[squeeker]

What type of heating pads do you mean?

Mostly 8-12 watt exoterra heaters, all on dimmers.

I like my solution - 6.5 KW Honda generator wired into my panel

Yah, that would be nice!