Suggestion on a power backup system

[Chin_Lee]

generator. some cheap ones on the market now. they are usually a little louder but hey in case of an emergency, sucks to be your neighbor. don't worry about buying one that can power your lights - just enough for your pumps inside your tank and heater. Your tank only needs heat and circulation but if you can afford one to power everything, go for it. not much more for a 1000 vs 2500 vs 3500 watt generator unless you are dealing with the honda generators.

[daniella3d]

For a generator to work, you must be home to start it. It wont be of any use if you're not home plus it cost a lot in gas.

Originally Posted by Chin_Lee

generator. some cheap ones on the market now. they are usually a little louder but hey in case of an emergency, sucks to be your neighbor. don't worry about buying one that can power your lights - just enough for your pumps inside your tank and heater. Your tank only needs heat and circulation but if you can afford one to power everything, go for it. not much more for a 1000 vs 2500 vs 3500 watt generator unless you are dealing with the honda generators.

[ALang]

Thank you for your inputs. I'll be looking for Noma power back up. The 1800W seems to have very
bad reviews, so I am hoping that the 400W has better. Price is more reasonable, too.
So Daniella3d, do you just leave your powerheads and skimmer plug into the unit all the time? Then when the power does go out, it'll automatically switches on and power the appliances, then charges itself back up, right?

[globaldesigns]

I personally have a generator to run my house if need be, personally though if power is out for only 30 minutes, I don't worry.

I have the generator because of camping and business purposes, but have never had to use it for the tank. But have it if needed.

[trilinearmipmap]

I am about to order one of these

http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product....922&lang=en-CA

unless someone has a better suggestion.

Seems like a good balance between price noise and performance. But it looks like I would have to fill the gas tank every few hours.

[trilinearmipmap]

I was there and passed on them.

I had a mandarin for a couple of years. It was a few months feeding on pods before it learned to take mysis.

I noticed quite a few fish in that store such as Moorish Idols, Longhorned Cowfish and the Mandarins.

I like shopping at places that promote an ethical approach to this hobby.

Edit:this post was spposed to go in the $10.00 Mandarin thread.

[daniella3d]

HUH??

Originally Posted by trilinearmipmap

I was there and passed on them.

I had a mandarin for a couple of years. It was a few months feeding on pods before it learned to take mysis.

I noticed quite a few fish in that store such as Moorish Idols, Longhorned Cowfish and the Mandarins.

I like shopping at places that promote an ethical approach to this hobby.

[mark]

Originally Posted by trilinearmipmap

I am about to order one of these

http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product....922&lang=en-CA

unless someone has a better suggestion.

Seems like a good balance between price noise and performance. But it looks like I would have to fill the gas tank every few hours.

I'll got a little generator for camping that I never use and have handy in the garage for the tank (again never really used). Just on the surface the costso seems better than my Princess Auto as is 4 stroke compared to my 2 stroke (needing mixed gas).

As for being off for a 1/2 hour, I'm that much just with a good siphon/water change.

[ALang]

daniella3d:
the said review was actually from the link that you have provided for me, under the 1800W (thanks, BTW). Quite a LOT of the reviews were bad, so I am not sure if they were human errors (Not plugging them in) or manufacture/ design defects.
Some people were using their units to power their home sump pumps and then finding out that it wasn't working after a few months.
Still there were a few that did great reviews, but of course the bad ones always seems to over-ride the good. But for the price, I think that I will do what you did, and rely on the 400W, when I can find one on sale. If it is just a couple of pwr heads and a skimmer, I think it'll do just fine.
Thank goodness that major power outage is very rare here, so if it is good for about a couple of hours, that should be great. Saves me from bucketing water to create flow! (Or worse if we are not home!!)

[daniella3d]

Right that's exactly what I do. I leave my powerhead in the power backup and if there is a power outage it just kick in and switch back to the electricity and recharge itself when the power return. it is automatic.

The only drawback of doing this is if you have a feeding mode where you shot down your pump, then obviously if your controller shut off the power the power back up will take over.

I have only put one pump on this and my skimmer so when I use my stand by mode only one pump and my skimmer keep going and the flow is slow enough to feed my tank.

where did you see bad reviews on the Noma 1800 watt? From what I read, some people were not leaving it plugged 24/7 and expected to just plug it after not using for years and then it would charge again. Any battery if left uncharged for very long time will just be wasted. It is always a good idea to cycle a battery once in awhile and not leave it unplugged for a long time. Some people also got a defective unit which would not fully charge but that should be easy to verify on the first week of use. I have my 400 watt for a few years and it work well. Surely the battery is probably not at 100% of what it was when brand new but it still does the job for many hours running my pump and skimmer.

Originally Posted by ALang

Thank you for your inputs. I'll be looking for Noma power back up. The 1800W seems to have very
bad reviews, so I am hoping that the 400W has better. Price is more reasonable, too.
So Daniella3d, do you just leave your powerheads and skimmer plug into the unit all the time? Then when the power does go out, it'll automatically switches on and power the appliances, then charges itself back up, right?