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Need Small Scale Backup Power Advice

MolaMola

Supporting Member
So now that there's a power outage frenzy, here I am with little battery air pumps that will kick on if and when power cuts out tonight. Glad I have not added a bunch of fish I am planning.
Then I get a message from a classroom tank supporter who says he might be able to arrange up to $500 donation if I submit a proposal tonight. Doesn't this seem like battery backup time?
If you have any suggestions for base items for keeping a couple small tanks spread around a big room (like beloved clownfish home) and/or a 105g, particularly something that will kick in automatically (summer when I am not always 10 min away and PGE is more likely to pull the plug), I am all ears. Like a couple of battery backups? Note: generator is awesome for a home, but no-go for classroom.
 
Well if you were closer I'd let you borrow my battery backup (for short term), but you could jerry rig a battery backup to work with DC pumps. I know Mario used UPS devices for power being down. Other options is to use battery powered air pumps and make an airlift pump to move water, not sure how effective that would be on a 105g tank.

But for a small tank with clownfish, battery powered air stone and call it a day, wrap the tank with something to insulate it if it gets cold there. Bigger tanks, battery powered backups probably about the only thing I can think of.
 
Circ pumps on big tank are Tunze 6095 nano streams. Return is a mag drive something but I imagined just cutting off the sump. Small tanks are 32g or less and have small Korallias or maxi jet powerheads.
 
Years ago I used a computer UPS on my 65g at home and the couple times I needed it, it worked fine. Wasn't sure they still made them. Was at Fry's couple weeks ago and actually took a look but didn't find any. (No, they're not going out of business. ;))
 
It's not going to be $500, but these rechargeable air pumps are pretty awesome. They turn on automatically when the power goes out. They can be recharged via a USB port in your car if the power is out for a long time. You could leave them permanently installed in your classroom tanks so when the power goes out in the future you don't have to run over to check the tanks. Everyone should probably have one or two of them since these power outages are evidently the new normal.

 
It's not going to be $500, but these rechargeable air pumps are pretty awesome. They turn on automatically when the power goes out. They can be recharged via a USB port in your car if the power is out for a long time. You could leave them permanently installed in your classroom tanks so when the power goes out in the future you don't have to run over to check the tanks. Everyone should probably have one or two of them since these power outages are evidently the new normal.

More powerful than my current 2 D cell battery versions. Thanks for the suggestion for everyday coverage.
 
Well for 50$ and a tank of gas you can run your tank off a 400 watt power inverter that connects to your car battery. Last outage I only had to turn the truck on every 3 hours for safe measure
 
I've been looking for something that keeps the water moving when the power goes out ever since I lost some of my brand new coral that I got on the last coral trade in SF (Not the one we just had) with a power outage during a heatwave early this summer. I was really bummed because they were growing so well! I have a 74-gallon tank. I'm gone a lot so scrambling and setting up a little generator is just not possible most of the time. I need something affordable and automatic. This air pump looks like a good option, but will it move the water enough to keep things alive in my 74 gallon bowfront?
 
I've been looking for something that keeps the water moving when the power goes out ever since I lost some of my brand new coral that I got on the last coral trade in SF (Not the one we just had) with a power outage during a heatwave early this summer. I was really bummed because they were growing so well! I have a 74-gallon tank. I'm gone a lot so scrambling and setting up a little generator is just not possible most of the time. I need something affordable and automatic. This air pump looks like a good option, but will it move the water enough to keep things alive in my 74 gallon bowfront?

What kind of powerheads do you use? Other options are the Ecotech or Icecap backup batteries.
 
I've been looking for something that keeps the water moving when the power goes out ever since I lost some of my brand new coral that I got on the last coral trade in SF (Not the one we just had) with a power outage during a heatwave early this summer. I was really bummed because they were growing so well! I have a 74-gallon tank. I'm gone a lot so scrambling and setting up a little generator is just not possible most of the time. I need something affordable and automatic. This air pump looks like a good option, but will it move the water enough to keep things alive in my 74 gallon bowfront?

I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you work on boats around the bay?
 
I've been looking for something that keeps the water moving when the power goes out ever since I lost some of my brand new coral that I got on the last coral trade in SF (Not the one we just had) with a power outage during a heatwave early this summer. I was really bummed because they were growing so well! I have a 74-gallon tank. I'm gone a lot so scrambling and setting up a little generator is just not possible most of the time. I need something affordable and automatic. This air pump looks like a good option, but will it move the water enough to keep things alive in my 74 gallon bowfront?

A small Tunze DC pump and a safety connector to an auto/boat battery would give you peace of mind, you’d need to have a Battery Tender? plugged into AC so it stays charged. The moment power goes out, battery kicks in and when power returns, battery gets recharged
 
What kind of powerheads do you use? Other options are the Ecotech or Icecap backup batteries.
I have 4 powerheads that were inherited from a friend. Two different kinds, but I have no idea what they are. What features would the different powerheads have that would make a difference, other than the wattage of course?
 
A small Tunze DC pump and a safety connector to an auto/boat battery would give you peace of mind, you’d need to have a Battery Tender? plugged into AC so it stays charged. The moment power goes out, battery kicks in and when power returns, battery gets recharged
Sounds big and ugly. What about a backup like they have for PC's?
 
Sounds big and ugly. What about a backup like they have for PC's?
PC backups (UPS devices) typically are designed to allow power for a very short amount of time to allow you to save things up before completely losing power, OR they're powering a wifi router and/or modem so you can still use the internet. As a result they tend to be smaller and "pretty".

That said something like an Ecotech or Icecap battery backup isn't terribly large all things considered,, ugly ... eh maybe, But it'll keep things going 8-12 hrs
.
 
Sounds big and ugly. What about a backup like they have for PC's?
If you are gone for extended periods of time, you’ll need a reliable setup, ugly? Yes but peace of mind tops that. There are enclosures for marine batteries to hide away; as Mike points out, they are meant fir shirt periods of time as in enough time to save your work on the computer.

I took a shot at guessing on the boat work as I have a friend who works on boats and seems he has a friend that is also in the forum/s so I thought it was you.
 
A battery backup would work fine, but you need a big one. Like in the $300 range.
Something like an APC UPS 1500
It should be able to drive a 10W powerhead for 10 hours or so, getting you through most outages.
And I think that powerhead near the surface should be fine for both flow and oxygen.
 
The ones that are usually more affordable are those that don't convert back to an AC signal i.e. it doesn't need an inverter. But you need a DC pump to use those, and you have to be able to bypass the physical plug (which is expecting AC power). Ecotech pumps come with this built directly into the controller, Tunze you had to work around to get there IIRC but my experience is with the really old pumps (can of soup in your tank!) so not sure how they've changed to newer version. The ultra cheap Jebao brand pumps might be worth looking into as well, even if you don't want to run them full time put one in your tank with the necessary battery backup whenever you think you might be away from the tank for extended periods.
 
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