DIY Backup - minimum equipment to run

Discussion in 'Anything DIY related' started by Caz, Jan 19, 2015.

  1. Caz

    Caz

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    Hi,
    I setup 2 tanks +2 months back for my son (I used to have tanks for about 10 years and left the hobby s while before power cuts became an issue). So to get him excited I bought him a couple of guppies so he can get into breeding his own fish. After cycling the tanks for a month we introduces a couple of females and and a male, and as you can imagine he soon had some babies swimming around in the tank. Now last week we had a 4 hour power outage and now the fish are dying. From what I can remember outages under an hour should not be a problem, but Eskom's schedule for my area is 4 hours on stage 2 twice a week.

    Tank1: Breeding tank
    2Ft
    Sponge filter
    Under gravel filter
    Heater

    Tank2: Display tank
    Hang on filter
    Under gravel filter
    Some air stones
    Heater

    So I bought a couple of Battery operated air pumps and was thinking to connect them using a rechargeable battery (and some relays to switch them on when power is of) This way I will at least have the air driven filters still working (And be replacing oxygen). Will this be sufficient as a start to keep the fish relatively happy (Heating might be a problem in winter?)?

    Now for the hang on filter (and any other electrical internal filters) - can I just drop an airline and stone into them to keep the oxygen up?

    Baring in mind that some cut's happen during the day and I wont be able to remove any filter media from filters to float in the tanks...
     
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  3. rednox

    rednox CA Cichlids

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    Cant help there, but if you r at home u can place a towel or plactic bags over the tank it will help keep the heat for longer in the tank. as long as u can make some water move ment it help alot.

    I am lucky large CA cichlids that i have can last longer with out power, we have a few 2-3 hour outs and no problems.
    Longest with out power was 8 hours and did not lose one fish
     
  4. dash

    dash

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    Hi mate you are on the rite track. Backup power is very important. If you add an air stone to the hang on filter it will keep the filter media alive. In summer I would not worry to much about temperature but in winter, depending where you live it may be an issue.
     
  5. dorff

    dorff

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    The main issue is your bio-filter. If you can, find a way to keep flow going through the bio-filter, because after 4 hours you might have some deterioration there. Also, keep your tank at a lower stocking level, so that the strain on the system during an outage is not so severe. I have had similar issues with my kids' aquaria, and in the end I had to lay down a few rules as to how many fish, how often and how much they get fed etc. so that we can ride out the blackouts without too much trouble. Guppies are heavy on tank hygiene, as they have fast metabolisms and eat a lot. So you should be thinking of keeping fewer of them rather than max out the tank's capacity. If you have a real crisis, you can take them out and leave them in a tub outside in the shade (or under some floating plants). That's in any case what I do with my baby Endlers - I have a few tubs standing in my greenhouse, and they are quite happy to stay there during the summer months, plus they grow a LOT quicker, as there are live foods such as seed shrimp (Ostracods), mosquito larvae and bloodworms that colonise the tubs, not to mention infusoria etc. They would also likely live longer if you allow them to experience cooler water temperatures, as they are not strictly tropical fish. Heat reduces the solubility of oxygen, and you therefore have to compensate via more agitation or lower stocking density if you cannot cool down a tank.

    Either way, good luck, and hope you find something that works under the circumstances.
     
  6. OP
    Caz

    Caz

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    Hi,
    Thanks for the info. Since my son is just getting started it is difficult keeping his enthusiasm under control. He is already YouTube'ing fish and 'stocking' his tanks. I will implement the backup airpumps for now, but will most likely need to upgrade to a batyery/inverter system once we get the tanks all stocked...
     
  7. Kula13

    Kula13

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    Man that had to be a bummer for the little one being so new to the hobby and then losing fishmates...eskom aaaarg!!! I dont seem to have that problem...around a month ago we had some blackouts(eskom,trees falling on power lines,substations blowing up etc) and 3 of them lasted for about 36hours....borrowed a friends inverter and battery at about 28hours in and didnt loose any fish...thats on a 300L and a 45L...I would go with @dorff 's suggestion of lowering stock amount. Question...wouldnt water changes help aswell?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 2, 2016
  8. f-fish

    f-fish #unspecified

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    12volt 7Ah (alarm battery) plugged onto your DSL-2750U means you have internet access even if the power lines are down. After that it is all good.
    If you are investing in anything for the fish tank try to go DC on the equipment - inverters waist allot of capacity and be careful of MSW on some lights.
     
  9. snail

    snail

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    Try this guy,

    Backup power supply at great price

    i purchased my inverter system from him and my tank has not had any down time since eishkom started load shedding last year. I have 2 external canisters and a submersible pump running off the interver and to date no issues. My tank is cycling just over 2 000L per hour.

    PS: His prices are the best by far (I have been looking around for several months before i found him).
     
  10. OP
    Caz

    Caz

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    The 2ft tank is not really stocked. (Currently has 1 female guppy left, and +20 fry > 1 Male and 1 Female died just after the power outage). Since the 2ft tanks filters are air driven, I bought 2 x 2l/second DC airpumps for R50 each (Uses 0.3w and runs off 2 x 1.5v D Cell batteries). (To automate the pumps, I will be wiring a relay into them so when the power cuts, the pumps automatically switch on)

    The 3ft tank is not stocked at the moment...
     
  11. OP
    Caz

    Caz

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    I had a old computer UPS laying around and decided to test it on my air pump, it managed to power it for 4 hours before turning off... So for now I have a couple of battery operated airpumps and my main pump (That runs the filters) power by a UPS. But realistically looking at it I will setup a decent inverter and battery once I upgrade to a bigger tank...
     

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