Reef tank on UPS???

[ordi260]

Is it a good idea to hook up my essential reef tank equipment (everything that's plugged on my reefkeeper) on a UPS unit???

I found one around 110$ its a 720W model, 6 outlets and it says that it provides 145 minutes of battery (for a computer i guess).

Does it sound like a good idea or what???

[JetJumper]

There is no reasoning why it would be bad.  Who makes the UPS?  I would like to look up the model.  145 Minutes seems like a lot for a UPS of that size / price.  Remember to check at what current load the time is calculated for.  Most will calculate for a 20-30% load and give the max time.  Not full load.

[Severum]

I looked into getting a UPS a while ago for my tank but opted for a generator for another hundred or so more.

[Brent Shaver]

I had an electrican in to do some work in our building and I brought him to my apt to pick his head concerning the same idea.

What he told me was because I am running 3 cannister pumps I might be ok with just the pumps, but he suggested 2 units just for the pumps and a seperate one for my lights.

If there is a power failure light would be the least of my worries, but the idea of grabbing a couple for the pumps is defienitley on my list.

Like Jet mentioned, if this unit is used I would borrow a meter to make sure it is still operating at full capcity.  Problem with these units, the longer they run the less power they supply.  Like any battery the longer it charges or amount of charges will reduce the power of the battery.

If you are running a high end light, they suck alot of juice for a UPS to handle, so I would suggest keeping just the main life keeping objects alive. Plants, fish can handle being in the dark.

Hope this helps.

[Severum]

All things considered you can also purchase a couple of battery operated air pumps. They will keep things alive for a while and you can replace the batteries quite easily.

[mikerobart]

I think most people who run then don't worry so much about hooking up their high powered lights so much as circ pumps, return pump, heater, then maybe skimmer, controller, pc router/ modem if you really want to have some fun.

[cokelon]

I agree with this, by hooking up your lights is a waste of time since in the wild all fish saltwater and freshwater have dark rainy days. So nothing would happen to them if the lights are off for couple of days. As long as you can haver your powerheads, air pumps, heater and possibly your skimmer not necessary, you should be ok. If you are looking to use it for light you better have a powerful unit for example I run 2 175watt MH and 4 T5 54watts, so I would need a system that allows me to run about 600-800 wattts of power just for that and leaving behind my skimmer, return pump and powerheads.. too much $$$ to get that unit

In my opinion I would keep running:

1.- powerheads
2.- heater (s)
3.- if sump return pump
4.- skimmer

[ordi260]

Here are the infos:

UPS
Input Voltage Range    90 - 150V
Input Frequency    60 Hz
Power Capacity    720W
Output Voltage    120V
Outlets    6
Battery Run Time    145 minutes

[JetJumper]

Here are the infos:

UPS
Input Voltage Range    90 - 150V
Input Frequency    60 Hz
Power Capacity    720W
Output Voltage    120V
Outlets    6
Battery Run Time    145 minutes

Battery
Battery Run Time   Entry-level PC with 19" LCD (150W) - 30 min.
Midrange PC with 19" LCD (300W) - 14 min.
Performance PC with 19" LCD (500W) - 7 min.

There is the real information you want.  500watts is 7 minutes.

This is from this unit here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102041
If you want one that will power 720watts for 145minutes, thats an Expensive unit!  You won't find it for under $500.00 minimum.  Easiest way is take one of these cheap ones, open it up and string 5-10 car batteries in Parallel!   Then you will get 145 minutes at 720watts.


If you are talking about this one:
http://pccyber.com/?v=Product&i=UPS-VI-PROBLUE-1200VA

You won't get 145 minutes out of that.  Thats for sure.  Maybe 1 powerhead at 15 watts would work for that, but nothing else!

[salvini55]

I need to look into one of these, two nights ago the power went out at 3am only for about 20 mins or so but my return pump got fried  rocking an MJ-1200 as a return for now..

[RossW]

1.- powerheads
2.- heater (s)
3.- if sump return pump
4.- skimmer

If I had a backup power supply I would not run a return pump or skimmer.  Just enough pumps, in sump and DT, to provide surface agitation, no need to worry about deitrus settling when you are just trying to keep stuff alive.

[ciaus]

Here are the infos:

UPS
Input Voltage Range    90 - 150V
Input Frequency    60 Hz
Power Capacity    720W
Output Voltage    120V
Outlets    6
Battery Run Time    145 minutes

Those numbers are about as misleading as they could possibly be...UPS systems are rated by the number of KVa.  KVa draw of the attached devices, will determine run time on a UPS.

Ciaus

[Canoe]

I need to look into one of these, two nights ago the power went out at 3am only for about 20 mins or so ...

I was up then, still working on the computer. Had one short outage in the 30 second range, followed in around five minutes by the long outage, which I felt was more in the ten to fifteen minute range (didn't check the time). I was running one of these:
http://pccyber.com/?v=Product&i=UPS-BK-F6C1250-TW-RK   (680W, 1250VA)
It ran my Q9450 cpu, 4g ram, three 28" LCD monitors, NetGear dual wan router and rogers' modem for the duration, although I was just doing some like Java development in Eclipse, email and some surfing. It even delayed starting the beeping for a number of seconds so a very short outage wouldn't even bother you with sound alarm. I don't know what the load was, but I've got a meter so I guess I should measure what the draw is. I got out of eclipse and waited to see what would happen as it ran out of juice, but the power was back before it ran out (I'll have to do a controlled test sometime). I did learn that the fourth 28" monitor wasn't plugged into the UPS like I thought...
With other non-ups machines powered off, internet response sure sped up!

[ordi260]

I had a look at the specs on site and it states 720VA...

[JetJumper]

Is it a good idea to hook up my essential reef tank equipment (everything that's plugged on my reefkeeper) on a UPS unit???

I found one around 110$ its a 720W model, 6 outlets and it says that it provides 145 minutes of battery (for a computer i guess).

Does it sound like a good idea or what???

First off, what is the total load of the equipment you are going to plug into it?  If you have a Kill a Watt measuring device, plug it in and see what your total system is running.  This will be the best way to find out what you will need to actually get before randomly purchasing a UPS.

[ordi260]

I dont have a kill-a-watt but i know the consumption of the stuff that will be plugged in there!

100W heater
MJ 600 and MJ 400 (circulation pumps) : 7.5W + 5W.
Koralia 1 :4W
Skimmer feed pump (MJ 1200) 20W
Skimmer air pump: oct-1000 18W
Reactor (MJ 1200 feed pump): 20W

Anything else that should be on it...??

[RossW]

I dont have a kill-a-watt but i know the consumption of the stuff that will be plugged in there!

100W heater
MJ 600 and MJ 400 (circulation pumps) : 7.5W + 5W.
Koralia 1 :4W
Skimmer feed pump (MJ 1200) 20W
Skimmer air pump: oct-1000 18W
Reactor (MJ 1200 feed pump): 20W

Anything else that should be on it...??

I would only run a heater, and min. circulation.  Your tank will be perfectly fine with a skimmer, and reactor for the duration of the outage.

[JetJumper]

Okay, I will average to 120Watts for a "bare minimum."  You could get away with less.  In that situation I would expect to see a decent amount of time from that UPS.  1h+ atleast. 

For my system, I am looking at 400 watts (Heater + Circ Pump) which would give me probably less then a hour off the same thing.

[ordi260]

So its a good choice...right?

[JetJumper]

Its ideal for your situation to keep it running incase of those pesky 5-30 minute power outages.