Backup Power

[deongt]

Yesterday we experienced a power outage of 3hours+. I was informed about this, rushed home and started the Generator in time. My concern is what will happen if I'm not around. What auto backup power solutions would be the most suitable for two large aquariums? Your inputs would be appreciated.

[Khalid]

A computer UPS

[Gareth]

a big computer UPS, something like the APC 1000 and up
I have one on my PC's at the office and it keeps both pc up for about 2 hours.

[ACE007]

Isn't there a way to automate the generator start up?? Seeing that you already have that going.

[butcherman]

Isn't there a way to automate the generator start up?? Seeing that you already have that going.
hire a dwarf to pull the string when the lights go out :p..... just joking

[Gilbertr14]

all our gennies are fully automated, and swith on when the power goes off.
You need a genny that can do it though, and that means one with a starter motor.

[Zoom]

Even a small UPS will suffice. Remember a fairly big tank will hold it's heat for a while. My tank heater was off for 8 hours once, (forgot to plug it back in after sorting out the cables), and I only lost 2 degrees of heat. I got a 160litre, which is relatively small compared to the bigger ones. And I think that because the water is changing gradually, the fish would be fine.

Basically you need a small UPS to run your pump/s and air pump, which is usually fairly small wattage.

I wouldn't even bother about back up power for your lights. Your plants will survive a few hours without the light.

[Barrymore]

You could try the Tedelex Intellipower 2, uninterrupted power supply.
I bought one last year during the power outages for R4000.
I've seen them now advertised for R1500.

[deongt]

Thanx guys, I've had a look at the Tedelex Intellipower 4 that sells for R2500. It might also support my three heaters total 700w for a couple of hours. Please bear in mind I live in Ermelo where temp dropped 3 degrees in one hour so a device supporting heaters is essential to me. I'm just in two minds to maybe rather buy two Intellipower 2's for the two different tanks. Any ideas?

[Henk Hugo]

Guys power outage isnt such a big thing on FW tank.my whole fishroom, 2.5m, 1.6 and koipond were all without power for 10 hours a few weeks ago... no issues

[Carping]

Guys power outage isnt such a big thing on FW tank.my whole fishroom, 2.5m, 1.6 and koipond were all without power for 10 hours a few weeks ago... no issues

In the past I would have argued with Henk on this point. That was up until last night….

On Sunday we did a water change on our 400lt tank, so I unplugged the heaters and filters while doing the water change. Thing is, we/I forgot to plug them back in again when we were finished. So last night (Wednesday) while walking past the tank, we saw that the temperature was at 22 deg C instead of the usual 29 deg C. That’s when we realized what had happened. Needless to say, we did an immediate 50% water change last night as the water was starting to smell bad.

Point I’m making here is that our tank survived 72 hours without filtration or heaters and we didn’t loose one fish out of the 33 we have in that tank.

[Henk Hugo]

now if it was a marine tank.....

[slayer]

I do not turn my heater off when doing a water change as I can easily forget to turn it back on

[Khalid]

slayer - do you place your heater on the ground ?
or is it sitting horizontal just above the substrate?

[Whipme]

I've had power outages for at least 10 hours with no ill effect on my fish, unfortunately it's been nearly 2 days now since the power has gone off, and my tanks are at 16 degrees in this ridiculous weather :(
I'm going to have to make a plan soon or I'll be in serious trouble!

[Zoom]

I'm surprized your fish are even surviving at 16deg.

[Whipme]

Well the water would have cooled down over a pretty long period of time and they seem to have sort of gone into hibernation mode. So this morning when the power was still off I added 8 litres of warm water and covered the tank in duvets and blankets. I've also got my battery powered air pump running a sponge filter, but that won't last much longer. I'm just hoping for the best.

One of my Kuhli loaches survived for about 2 months in 15cm of water with no food or heating or filtration this winter before I saved it from a friend's tank, so I know they can survive those sort of conditions. But I don't want them to have to deal with that sort of thing.

[deongt]

Ok so I took a chance and purchased the Tedelex Intelli Power 4 inverter over the weekend. Tested it yesterday on my Discus tank with the following equipment. 300W heater, 200W heater, Power head, External Cannister filter, 4 X lights. Backup time 8.5 hours. This sounds good, exceeded my expectations. Only downside it takes the same time to recharge but I can live with that.

[Khalid]

Congratulation on your new purchase and it all worked out well . Hope you fishy friends are happy.
Stating the obvious but be careful with the water and moisture and the UPS

[Whipme]

Any chance of pictures and specs and prices of the unit?
I've been thinking of getting one of these for a long time now

[deongt]

I bought the Tedelex IntelliPower 4 Inverter from this link. The guy is in Northcliff JHB. http://www.theweekend.co.za/newsletter/september/intelli.html
Now even connected both tanks and still lasts 7hours plus. I bought the bigger one but NeilH bought the smaller one and is also happy from what I can gather....

[Kuhli Loach]

Is this a smooth or modified sine wave inverter.