Blackout...

mtkas29 · 09-29-2003, 10:56 PM

HI GUYS...

JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW DO YOU GUYS DEAL WITH BLACKOUT...THINGS TO DO...

thefatman · 09-29-2003, 11:19 PM

battery powered air pumps. and a lot of praying

hand stirring the water occasionally is usually a good idea too for an extended blackout.

Joel · 09-29-2003, 11:51 PM

generaters are nice

cyberchef · 09-30-2003, 12:07 AM

I have a APC Matrix 3000 UPS unit (intended to keep servers running during a power failure). It not only kicks in in case of a power outage, it also kicks in if the power spikes.

Rick O · 09-30-2003, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joel
generaters are nice

Yep. If you live in an area where blackouts are common I would say a generator is a worthwhile investment. I have a power inverter that converts power from a car battery into 110v. I can run a couple pumps and a heater with it. I think I paid around $75 for it.

tims · 09-30-2003, 06:01 AM

well when isabel hit me, i lost power 4 days!, i had use of a generator after the 2 nd day . i was able to get power to the tank for a few hours a day. the FS around here did not have a battery air pump. THey do now..... my neighbors did that car baterrie thing. that worked ok ecept that he had to keep hooking up a diff. car ( ran out of gas). he also useda few marine batteries.( they will last a lot longer then car batteries).

Jeremy1973 · 09-30-2003, 08:35 AM

When I lost power two years ago during the ice storm, I had my tank wrapped in my 0 degree sleeping bag, and 2 blankets. This made it so I only lost 1 degree an hour. I would occasionally hand stir the water, and thankfully, I had a gas stove, so I made hot water bottles, and would slowly stir the tank with those to get the temp back up. Then...back under the covers it went. Did that for a few days.

So, while my fish were nice and toasty, I was sleeping with a thin blanket freezing. heh heh But I didn't have one casualty!

mtkas29 · 09-30-2003, 05:24 PM

we had a blackout saturday night lasts about 5 hrs...
some guy ran over a electric post...yada...yada
didn't do anything...guess i was not prepared for it...
next morning everything looks ok...
now...i am looking at getting a power inverter
i have rena air 400...
and probably fire up my wood burning fireplace in the living room...if this happen again...

Mrs Smith · 09-30-2003, 06:46 PM

We have a 5000W generator. Once ice storm taught us that we need to protect the investment in the reefs... mercifully, we were able to get ahold of one within 36 hours of going out. (Didn't get power back for 5.5 days.)

Danielle

Junkzoo · 09-30-2003, 07:05 PM

after a week long "ice out" a few winters ago,,,,(lost my reef tank,180FO faired OK)i now have a generator, and the elect. service panel wired to backfeed the panel from the outside,,,
never have used it since i got it,,,but if i never do , it'll still be money well spent,,,,
only one time i fired it up and used it on the house,,,,ya better believe i turned on the front porch lite,,,to rub it in to the neighbors,,,LOL

tdwyatt · 09-30-2003, 11:17 PM

Heck, you don't need to turn the lights on outside, the noise along will let them know. After 75% losses last winter (6 days no power), I now have a big generator, runs the frige, all the house lights, the pumps/heaters, lights for 3 large aquarium systems, and one of either a) the stove and oven, b0the water heater (should change over to gas), c)the dryer, or d)the washer. Heat for the house is gas, just need to power the blower for the circulation to heat the house. Boy is it loud though!

salt creepette · 11-23-2003, 01:18 PM

so if I live in texas and usually we only have short power outages, what kinda generator would I need (how powerful, where would I get it?) and would I only need to plug in the powerheads and heater (for a fowlr)?

tims · 11-23-2003, 01:58 PM

that depends on what you want to run.
is yourt stove gas or electric, any freezers? what type of heater for the house do you have?.
i would make a list of what would eed to be on "all" the time and what would need to be on "some of the time". you can get one at just about any hardware store.
another ave. to look at is the battery converter for your car. it runs of the car battery and can run a "few" things.

mandarinfreek · 11-23-2003, 02:04 PM

The question to ask is ...how long dose the power have to be out before you start worrying??????????????????????????

dwall174 · 11-23-2003, 03:29 PM

HERES a power back-up system that will switch to 12-vlot inveter power.