Power out in Surrey/Langley

cwatkins · #1 10-30-2010, 05:37 PM

Was anyone else pulling out the UPS at 4am this morning?

http://www.news1130.com/news/local/a...-morning-crash

When I saw online (via phone) that it was going to be a 3 hour outage I got up to move the PC UPS downstairs for the Vortech.

Also half way though I was up again dumping water into the tank from 6" above with a pitcher to get some oxygenation.

What are your 'set limits' for power outages before you put your "plan" into place? I.E. If it's short enough (< 1 hour) do you even bother doing anything?

Cheers!

ALang · #2 10-30-2010, 06:12 PM

So far, I will dump water from above to create oxygen exchanges, if the outage is longer than 1/2 hour.
I am waiting on a sale for one of those 400 watts Noma power backup battery system.
Right now in the Edmonton area, Canadian Tire has the 1800W on sale if anyone's interested. I will be hooking up my heater, return pump and aqualifter pump (for my overflow) to it. Hopefully it'll be enough to service at least a couple of hours.

Cranky When Wet · #3 10-30-2010, 07:16 PM

Really good question cwatkins!

When I started my Nano tanks I knew that power outages would be a very real danger. Here's the thing: I routinely shut down pumps for feeding on both tanks for up to half an hour each day. Since these systems are relatively "low tech," I use my iphone as a timer and restart when feeding is done.

My rational for this practice is based on my travel time from LFS with new livestock (bagged without additional oxygen) to my home.

What's confusing is that I've been told my 120 gallon FW tank would lose enough oxygen in four hours to endanger life.

The worst crash I've ever seen was when the SW nano's (6.5 and 8gal respectively) went without pumps for what I estimate as eight hours. All copepods were killed; a couple bristle worms were dying; one nassarius snail died; a couple hermit crabs died; but, all corals were revived with flow boosted to twice regular rate.

There seems to be a correlation between size of life and it's ability to endure low-percentage oxygen in column... at least, this is my guess after observing my fiasco...

The hardest part of recovering both Nanos was montitoring resultant nitrite and nitrate spikes. Sg and Potassium values were also headaches as I had to do WC's every day for almost two weeks.

Uh yup, I now have a whole-house monster generator as well as two, more portable power supplies.... Methinks power outages are yet another reason beginners like myself are encouraged to start with larger tanks. The only reason I dared do SW nano's is decades experience tending FW life and an ability to read what the animals are telling me.

Does anyone out there have specific data i.e. how fast oxygen is lost by gallon??? preferably with knowledge of oxygen/water ratio/percentage point at which even small life is in danger??????

How does air/water surface contact area impact rate of oxygen loss?

And, could there be any benefit to having a solid cover on a tank to contain oxygen during emergencies (as in biocube-style tanks)?

Bunny

p.s. just spent ten days in Surrey/Langley and have to say you live in a beautiful place

Lampshade · #4 10-30-2010, 08:43 PM

After the outage this morning in cloverdale, I started looking at UPS's, car battery mods to them, and fun stuff like that.

An interesting article:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume..._5_3/power.htm

Brings up some good points, to keep fish alive you can move water, and airate it with just some air stones.

cwatkins · #5 10-30-2010, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cranky When Wet

Does anyone out there have specific data i.e. how fast oxygen is lost by gallon??? preferably with knowledge of oxygen/water ratio/percentage point at which even small life is in danger??????

How does air/water surface contact area impact rate of oxygen loss?

And, could there be any benefit to having a solid cover on a tank to contain oxygen during emergencies (as in biocube-style tanks)?

Bunny

p.s. just spent ten days in Surrey/Langley and have to say you live in a beautiful place

I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has any of this on hand as well.

Cranky When Wet · #6 10-30-2010, 08:50 PM

Gotta love WetWebMedia!!!
Especially liked insulation hint for those of us in winter's cold climes.
Excellent advice.
Bunny

Lampshade · #7 10-30-2010, 09:13 PM

The covering was a great idea i thought aswell

But in this article, it say's not to cover FW planted tanks because plants start to USE oxygen when they don't have light. Since coral uses photosynthesis aswell, could be the same issue on a heavy stocked SPS tank?

http://www.peteducation.com/article....+2154&aid=2402

Heat probably would be more important in calgary's -20 winters :S, and oxygen would have to made up elsewhere.

Skimmerking · #8 10-30-2010, 09:22 PM

I have a power ups unit that I bought from Cdn tire and its amazing I have my vortech plugged into it. and that is it. i can go for 8 hours on a full charge. its a 400w unit and for a SW tank you need is water movement as long as the top surface has a break in it you are good to go.

christyf5 · #9 10-31-2010, 02:58 AM

I have a battery powered air pump and a generator for power outages. The longest I've been without power I believe was 6 hours, temperature didn't drop that much in that time and I have no idea whether the air pump was truly effective but it made me less stressed. I usually crank out the airstone right away (or in the case of the middle of the night, as soon as I figure out that power is out). I find it funny that in the last 2 or 3 years I've had the generator we haven't even had a blip in power and its still in the box. Not that I'm dying to use it or anything but I guess with Murphys Law if I didn't have it I'd end up screwed.

Cranky When Wet · #10 10-31-2010, 04:39 AM

OK, now I'm getting a handle on the oxygen exchange question... Perhaps it really doesn't take much to keep a saltwater tank oxygenated. I was looking for known numbers but now that I think of it....

I run a 900 gallon Shubunkin pond in my back yard and every spring just plug in a not-too-fancy pump that only pushes 600gals per hour...

It is just enough to keep pond/filter circulating with water surface agitated ever so slightly and the water (thawed out, semi-stagnant, slop from last year) is always fresh n' fish ready in less than a day... hmmm... could it be thaaaat simple?

And yes, Calgary has extreme (can go as low as -40C) cold some days with fluctuations that boggle the mind during winter... I definitely would go for insulating sides of tank because of our wacky weather patterns but am no longer considering covering top of tank... even if my corals shrink in the cold LOL!

Sooooooo... that's good news for nano keepers... you don't need a monster gen' to keep things going... just have a good pile of batteries on hand and you're good to rock... or, roll a couple small waves sporadically!

Thanks everyone for sharing!

Bunny