Good Battery Backup (ups) For Aquarium Use?

[trojannemo]

hey peeps.

although we haven't had a real hurricane hit us in a while, we're getting back in the season here in Florida, and i'm concerned for my rainbowfish.
I would like to get a battery backup thing that they use for computers to be used with my tank. out of all my equipment, i think i'd like to run the canister filter and one of the two heaters. at least that way the water is filtered and heated, albeit not as well as now...

the heater is a 150W heater, so does that mean it is constantly drawing 150 watts? per minute? per hour?

i'm not sure how many watts the canister filter uses.

how does one go about figuring out which one is adequate for aquarium use? is there one that will last me for a good long while? once again, all i'd want to run off it would be 1 canister filter and 1 150watt heater, for as long as it would take for electricity to be restored...

i've seen some brands already, mostly APC and Tripp Lite, but I really just dont know which one is good for what I need

thanks for the help!

 

[oswoldy]

hey peeps.

although we haven't had a real hurricane hit us in a while, we're getting back in the season here in Florida, and i'm concerned for my rainbowfish.
I would like to get a battery backup thing that they use for computers to be used with my tank. out of all my equipment, i think i'd like to run the canister filter and one of the two heaters. at least that way the water is filtered and heated, albeit not as well as now...

the heater is a 150W heater, so does that mean it is constantly drawing 150 watts? per minute? per hour?

i'm not sure how many watts the canister filter uses.

how does one go about figuring out which one is adequate for aquarium use? is there one that will last me for a good long while? once again, all i'd want to run off it would be 1 canister filter and 1 150watt heater, for as long as it would take for electricity to be restored...

i've seen some brands already, mostly APC and Tripp Lite, but I really just dont know which one is good for what I need

thanks for the help!

Hi,
Wattage ratings are rated per hour so it would use 150w per hour IF it was on constantly for an hour but as they flick on and off all the time there is no way of telling how much it will actually use if/when you get a powercut. As for filters I can't see it being anymore than 50w depending on the size, for instance my Emeim pro 3 2073 (1075 litres per hour) only uses 16w per hour. Most PC/Monitors only use a couple of watts each so you would need quite a large UPS (500va +) to run the tank for a decent amount of time. You could always buy two UPS one for the heater and one for the filter but it would likely be cheaper to buy one decent one.

Another thing to note is UPS are rated in VA not watts so you would need to convert from watts to VA to ensure you dont overload the UPS.

Regards
Mike

 

[saltynay]

Well if in theory your max draw would be 200W (150w + 50W pump) I realise the numbers are quite unrealistic as you would never get max draw this high, then most UPS would only last 30-40 mins. How much are you willing to spend?

 

[oswoldy]

I would suggest 500va at the very minimum but this wont give you more than about 20 minutes max tbh. 1KVA would do the trick nicely but it will be quite pricey and bulky.

Mike

 

[degsod]

I would suggest 500va at the very minimum but this wont give you more than about 40minutes max tbh. 1KVA would do the trick nicely but it will be quite pricey and bulky.

Mike

I would not have thought that the heater would be a problem as water has a very high specific heat capacity and florida is a sub tropical climate. The on;y thing to worry about is the heater.

It should be noted that most computer ups's are rated to run at the max capacity for 10 or 15 mins not an hour. to a 500VA psu will run at 500 VA for about 15 mins

 

[trojannemo]

thanks for the replies guys. i had looked at some that were about 900VA for me, based on size and price. but it sounds like there is nothing that will do what i want. when electricity goes out, it doesnt come back in 45 minutes, and if it did, my fish wouldn't die from that. my concern is when I have no electricity for 2-3 days. and i thought there would be something that would last that long

so i guess i'm back to battery-powered pumps?

 

[saltynay]

There is nothing saying you have to use the ups as soon as the power is out. you could keep it in a cupboard and use it when the power goes out for 5-10mins a shot to keep the flow up.

 

[degsod]

thanks for the replies guys. i had looked at some that were about 900VA for me, based on size and price. but it sounds like there is nothing that will do what i want. when electricity goes out, it doesnt come back in 45 minutes, and if it did, my fish wouldn't die from that. my concern is when I have no electricity for 2-3 days. and i thought there would be something that would last that long

so i guess i'm back to battery-powered pumps?

You could get a low cost petrol generator which would do for 2 - 3 days.

 

[saz326]

You could get a low cost petrol generator which would do for 2 - 3 days.

My thoughts exactly!

A small generator would be more economical in the long run. Even when not in use - a battery needs to be worked or it will suffer. Last thing you want to do is finally have the need to use it and find its lifespan has dropped (gone flat or needs its "memory" restored) - battery memory is a funny thing. Never understood it myself.

If the power was to go - then you may even find that a small generator would also have enough output to run the air-con in one room or keep the freezer running.

 

[saltynay]

Shouldn't you go eco friendly and build a wind generator? they don't take much effort to get set up. Not sure about the US but in the UK you can sell your spare electricity back to the grid.

 

[degsod]

Shouldn't you go eco friendly and build a wind generator? they don't take much effort to get set up. Not sure about the US but in the UK you can sell your spare electricity back to the grid.

The problem is that wind generators are not cheap, especially ones with enought power to run what is needed. Also thye only work whilst it is windy which is not a problem while the hurricane is raging but once it has gone bye it could be very calm.

A petrol generator is the most reliable method of producing electricity on demand when needed.

 

[mixmaster jay]

most ups systems are designed for computors aren't they and they are designed to shut down your computor safely and they only lat upto an hour maximum mine only last 20 mins mine is a smart ups 1000va 670w 5.4amp max with new batteries 4 month ago i know it lasts this long as we had a power cut last week lol

i would personally use a petrol or diesel generator for long term power ups's arent any good for long periods of time the 1400w model of mine only lasts 30 mins according to my mate sat here he has one at work

and wind generators are good too as they store large amounts of energy in plenty of batteries and the power from them is meant to last an average family home for around 2/3 days with no wind but you can always get up there and wind it round for a while if you like hieghts lol

 

[saltynay]

Wind generators are cheap and very simple to build would take you about an hour to get one set up this would create DC current which could then power a battery store (quite expensive but in comparison to rising fuel prices) which could then power the device reliably and supplement the power in your home with the excess. Hurricanes are only going to get more frequent and more powerful in the coming years

 

[degsod]

Wind generators are cheap and very simple to build would take you about an hour to get one set up this would create DC current which could then power a battery store (quite expensive but in comparison to rising fuel prices) which could then power the device reliably and supplement the power in your home with the excess. Hurricanes are only going to get more frequent and more powerful in the coming years

Yep I agree, but in Florida they have a hurricane season which starts around now and goes through to I think the end of October. The last thing you need to be doing when a hurricane is destroying things around you is hoping that your wind generator has been destroyed by the hurricane as well.

Another more appropiate option for Florida would be a solar panel but that could get destroyed by the hurricane as well.

 

[mixmaster jay]

true the batteries produce dc (direct current ) to your home supply too but this gets converted to ac (alternating current) by a power inverter and then a transformar that boosts the power considerably higher to replicate your usuall electric supply from the grid and this is fiarly simple to wire apart from the main huckup to the mains ring which has to be done by a qualified electrician and all the wireing should be checked by them too best off getting one installed by a pro really then everything is garaunteed then unless you know what you are doing


failing that get an old tracter and use the engine as a generater you will be able to power about 6 homes with one and if you all chipin for it it wont cost you as much too lol