Reef nutrition

Battery Backup Ideas?

What do you guys use as a backup if the power goes out?

  • Total voters
    12
rdriggett said:
My friend recommended an eco flow river power bank. It should be able to run my jebaos for at least half a day.
Click to expand...
I actually purchased an Ecoflow Delta to replace my gas generator, but since it's UPS capable, I have my pump hooked up to it while not in use. I'm thinking of buying the much smaller River Mini as a dedicated power backup for my tank.. you can get these for less than $300.
 
If you want redundancy, why can I only vote for 1? Haha, I have at least 4 backups on my main tank. It has been assembled over the years, but if you are serious

2x ecotech's for short term (which I should probably swap the cells out for li-po now)
House battery plus solar
1x Gas generator that I start up every quarter or so to test
1x dual fuel generator (propane and gas) new in box in shed
Small battery powered air stone for my little fresh tank
Probably have a straw in the house and I can blow bubbles for hours if my tank needs it, but slow pouring a bucket of tank water back in the top is going to be better and easier.
 
H2OPlayar said:
Probably have a straw in the house and I can blow bubbles for hours if my tank needs it, but slow pouring a bucket of tank water back in the top is going to be better and easier.
Click to expand...
That might be worse than no extra aeration since it would bottom out your pH. Equilibrating your tank with the CO2 in human-exhaled air but otherwise reef-friendly conditions would drive your pH down to 6.4. Not that you could really fully equilibrate that way, but that’s the direction it would go.
 
JVU said:
That might be worse than no extra aeration since it would bottom out your pH. Equilibrating your tank with the CO2 in human-exhaled air but otherwise reef-friendly conditions would drive your pH down to 6.4. Not that you could really fully equilibrate that way, but that’s the direction it would go.
Click to expand...
You severely underestimate how much I off gas naturally.

But yes, I was more trying to see if I could get anyone light headed trying to keep their fish alive
 
I backup with:

1. Powerwalls for whole house backup, recharged with solar.
2. Dual fuel generator which I run on propane and test run periodically.
3. Inverter to be able to run my tank equipment from my electric car battery in a pinch.
 
jepoy said:
I actually purchased an Ecoflow Delta to replace my gas generator, but since it's UPS capable, I have my pump hooked up to it while not in use. I'm thinking of buying the much smaller River Mini as a dedicated power backup for my tank.. you can get these for less than $300.
Click to expand...
Watch out what EcoFlows you buy for UPS back-up. I have a bunch of them and any of them that don't have the slow charge feature are terrible as a UPS as they cycle the charge on/off all the time and it is loud. The ones with slow charge option are the ones you want, and preferably the ones with the LiPo cells as it will last a lot longer. The River one you mentioned is not good. Purchased one too back-up my router and the noise was not acceptable - returned. Been really happy with the River PRO version though. The Delta has the same issue, you need the Delta PRO.
@rdriggett @jepoy
 
@Matthew Meyer what Power Heads did you settle on? Getting the one closest to the surface for air exchange is the best cheapest first step. I have an EcoTech on battery for that. Don't buy their battery as it is a scam. The charger they provide isn't even a charger, its a regular power supply. Any 12v or 24v power head is the best option. You can get a hygger wave maker, connect it to a 12v battery/charger pretty cheap if all you have are AC power heads. Good option for that size tank.

That should take care of things short term. Next is more long term where heating/cooling are to be considered, heating being the biggest issue. When you start getting $ in the tank worth saving reach out again. The Cost to take that next step probably needs to be less than the value of the corals to worry about it.
 
Last edited:
This is the beginning of my DIY battery backup made from 26650 LifPo4 cells ;15 in series and 16 in parallel (48VDC) equals out to 2.5KWh per pack, there are my first two packs and I have two more I need to pick up.

Once I wire in the inverter I will separate 'critical' circuits from my house sub-panel and run those off of the inverter which also will re-charge the packs during the day from the solar on my roof. If I could figure it all out I would like to get Home Assistant to monitor some of all of this for me, but first thing is to get it all in action which I am very close to getting done.

I think I want to also include an auto transfer switch to go back to house power should the battery or inverter fail.

If anyone is looking for like-new LifePo4 battery send me a PM, I have 12v 16ah sealed packs available. I load test them to make sure they still hold 16ah. The ones that do not I break down and then load test all the cells inside and toss the bad cells and keep the good ones for my DIY pack.

And like the others above, I have a dual fuel generator at the ready.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20220506_172427.jpg
    IMG_20220506_172427.jpg
    56 KB · Views: 149
I wish you could vote multiple options in the poll. :p
I run a pure-sine wave UPS connected to one circuit with (3) EB832's and non-smart power strip. Then a 12v adapter connected to a different circuit for the tank, all connected to the Apex.

When 12V power is not detected, I only have mission-critical items run like my WAVs, for gas exchange. I also power them down and have them run a pulsing action, so they are on for a period of time and then off to conserve power on the UPS. Also, the WAVs running (3 of them) can heat the tank enough to not have that be a concern, and it does not get that cold here.

This gives me about two hours until the UPS battery dies. I have to check as it might be able to add another battery pack which could double the storage capacity.
If power is out more than 2hrs, then I have a Yamaha 1000 little gas generator that I unplug the UPS power from the wall and connect to the extension cord and run it outside to the generator. Now tank is up and running fully.

I also have a smaller UPS connected to my router and modem so when the power goes out I can still see my Apex unit that battery dies. There is not much draw, so it lasts a 2+ hours too.
 
Qwiv said:
how would you go away for a weekend with only 2 hours?
Click to expand...

Neighbors have keys and know how to start the Generator if needed. However, living near the Capitola Mall or being on the same electrical grid helps as they try to get power back up to them pretty quickly, so we benefit off that.

Luckily, in the past 15+ years, we have only had to break out the generator every 2-3 years and have it run for no more than 8+ hours. Only twice in the last 15 years I needed to refill the gas tank to keep it running due to the power being out so long. One time was when the transformer blew-up 6 houses down.
 
Angry Andy said:
This is the beginning of my DIY battery backup made from 26650 LifPo4 cells ;15 in series and 16 in parallel (48VDC) equals out to 2.5KWh per pack, there are my first two packs and I have two more I need to pick up.

Once I wire in the inverter I will separate 'critical' circuits from my house sub-panel and run those off of the inverter which also will re-charge the packs during the day from the solar on my roof. If I could figure it all out I would like to get Home Assistant to monitor some of all of this for me, but first thing is to get it all in action which I am very close to getting done.

I think I want to also include an auto transfer switch to go back to house power should the battery or inverter fail.

If anyone is looking for like-new LifePo4 battery send me a PM, I have 12v 16ah sealed packs available. I load test them to make sure they still hold 16ah. The ones that do not I break down and then load test all the cells inside and toss the bad cells and keep the good ones for my DIY pack.

And like the others above, I have a dual fuel generator at the ready.
Click to expand...
I want to build a off grid solar system to run my aquariums. Pge is killing me. But I can’t justify the 7000 dollar investment. Just to save 150-250 dollars a month. Been watching a lot of Will prouse on YouTube. Definitely interested in what your doing.
My back up battery is my Prius with a 2000watt inverter.
 
Qwiv said:
Watch out what EcoFlows you buy for UPS back-up. I have a bunch of them and any of them that don't have the slow charge feature are terrible as a UPS as they cycle the charge on/off all the time and it is loud. The ones with slow charge option are the ones you want, and preferably the ones with the LiPo cells as it will last a lot longer. The River one you mentioned is not good. Purchased one too back-up my router and the noise was not acceptable - returned. Been really happy with the River PRO version though. The Delta has the same issue, you need the Delta PRO.
@rdriggett @jepoy
Click to expand...
My current backup are tri-fuel Honda generator and 2000W inverter (VW eGolf). I think these are more than sufficient if the power outages happen when we are home. However, I don't have any backup solution for when we are away. I was looking at the Ecoflow but could not confirm if the unit will switch back to grid power if the power comes back. I read that some power centers require manual switch back to Grid power (which kinda defeat the purpose).
I will look into the Delta Pro version
 
The delta will auto switch back. It isn’t a true UPS, but fine for aquarium. just follow the slow charge advise because the regular charging circuit is insane loud. The Quick charge can fully charge the units in like 1 to 2 hours and must need a lot of cooling to do that. Fans are not on a temp sensor so they just power on to 11 once the charging starts. When you leave it plugged in, it will top up from 99 percent to 100 percent a few times a day. Annoying if you are in bed or having any sort quiet time.
 
Qwiv said:
The delta will auto switch back. It isn’t a true UPS, but fine for aquarium. just follow the slow charge advise because the regular charging circuit is insane loud. The Quick charge can fully charge the units in like 1 to 2 hours and must need a lot of cooling to do that. Fans are not on a temp sensor so they just power on to 11 once the charging starts. When you leave it plugged in, it will top up from 99 percent to 100 percent a few times a day. Annoying if you are in bed or having any sort quiet time.
Click to expand...
Thank You! I will keep that in mind when I set it up.
What do you think of the DELTA mini, 882Wh?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top