In An Emergency, How Do You Provide Power?

[luxbear]

I've been toying with the idea of buying a backup generator as a source of power for my fish tank at some point. I don't live in a region of the country that has big thunderstorms (I'm in New England), but it always comes to mind in the winter when the weather gets a bit ugly.

Does anyone else has a backup power source for their filter, heater, etc.? How do you guys prepare for emergencies? I like to think I'm not being completely paranoid here in considering some sort of generator (or emergency plan in general).

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Tank: 15 gallons
Fish: 2 Zebra Danios, 1 White Skirt Tetra, 2 Guppies, 1 Rosy Barb

 

[Jakey02578]

Buy one of them wind up things! What are the dimensions of your tank?

 

[bristlenoseitplecoman]

I live in an area where there is alot of severe weather. I don't think you need a backup generator. The bacteria in the filter die at a rate of 12% every 24 hours as long as there is water in the filter so they should be ok. While the power is out do not feed your fish because it can build up ammonia without your filter going and fish can live for a while seeing as though they don't get constant meals in the wild. I would suggest getting a battery powered bubbler though. If the power goes out you can put the airstone on the end of the tube in the water and turn it on to keep water flowing and oxygen transfering into the water.

 

[Joshwainwright]

Is it different over in the US because the worst power cut I've ever experienced here in Britain has lasted about 20 minutes. It obviously would be a waste of money to me

 

[Jakey02578]

Is it different over in the US because the worst power cut I've ever experienced here in Britain has lasted about 20 minutes. It obviously would be a waste of money to me

So true!

 

[bristlenoseitplecoman]

Is it different over in the US because the worst power cut I've ever experienced here in Britain has lasted about 20 minutes. It obviously would be a waste of money to me

That is a very good point. The longest blackout I have experienced was only a few hours. I used to live in New England before I got fish and the only time I ever lost power for more than a few minutes is when I got a foot of snow on the ground. (That was the one that lasted 3 hours.)

 

[Joshwainwright]

Even 3 hours would be fine without power. Unless you live in a really rural area with frequent storms and long power cuts, I don't see the reason for a generator. We have to remember it's 2012! (London 2012 )

 

[Jakey02578]

I live in Manchester. Weather usually sucks but not that bad to take the power out for 3 hours:L

 

[deaver]

I do live a area where power outages happen every few years, but can last for 3 days. Usually hurricanes or glitter storms in the winter. So i'm very interested in any suggestions.

 

[Tolak]

5kw generator. Besides the fishroom, I have freezers with meat & refrigerators with blackworms.

 

[luxbear]

Yeah, I guess I'm more worried about the heater going down. I know that once the temperature starts to drop, trouble starts. I read somewhere that placing a hot water bottle into the water and allowing it to float when the power is out can temporarily keep the water warm, but I don't know how I feel about that (it might add bacteria to the water and cause more problems than necessary).

 

[Bignose]

I have lived in a remote area before. Large ice storm coated everything with 6 inches or so of ice. Obviously, a lot of downed power lines. Power wasn't restored for over 3 full days.

Tank did just fine wrapped in blankets and floating the biowheels in the water and occasionally running a kerosene heater in the same room as the tank. No deaths. No ammonia reading. Well-cared for fish are usually pretty hardy all in all. So long as they have been getting good food, and regular water changes, even a moderate length power loss shouldn't be that big of a deal.

 

[luxbear]

I've actually heard about the blanket method as well, and I know some people actually wrap the tank in newspaper. In any case, this makes me feel a lot better - I can't imagine I'd have a power outage for that long, I live in a big city and everyone would be up in arms if that happened, haha.

 

[DJH584]

If you are really that worried about it, a computer backup UPS of a suitable capacity might be the answer.

Regards

 

[RipSlider]

I actually do have a power backup on my tank right now.

Partly it's habit from my marine days - never trusted the sump not to flood if the wier broke for some reason, but also because I'm running a nitrate coil in my tank. As a water enhancer they are amazing, they strip nitrates out of the water like nothing you've ever seen, but if the pump stops working even for perhaps 1-2 hours, it'll kill the whole tank with a huge ammonia dump. Likely would even kill the plants.

I've got a trickle charger feeding a motorbike battery, and that drives the pump for the nitrator coil. I don't need the coil to run for the entir epowercut, I just need it to run long enough to get home and get the coil out of the water.

I don't see any issue of splicing an inverter into the system to power the filter and the heater. I reckon the filters would probably run on a lot less than 240 volts.

When the watery stuff is done in my tank, finalised filtration setup and such like, I'm going to put together a tank computer, so I might add that in at the same time if I can find an inverter lying about on eBay at a cheap price.