power outages

[toxic111]

if I am home.. the 4Runner has a 120 outlet.. I have ran the entire system off it no problem.

If I am not home, well hopefully not more than a couple hours.

[Midway]

Generator here. That thing is powerful, 4.5 HP I bought it new and cheap from someone that needed some quick cash. I think its worth it to have some of those when you have a lot of $$$$ invested in fish and corals. You never know when one of those long outages are gonna hit. Here in Calgary we don't have that many power outages at least in the area where I live but like I said before, you never know. Better safe that sorry.

[Craigdillman]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

I use an inverter battery box (the kind you can buy from Canadian Tire) to power in-tank pumps on and off, and a heater. Had this carry on for almost 24 hours once, a couple years ago with no ill effects. Having a canopy and covered tanks help keep the heat in.

Do you have a name of the thing you use ive been looking for one and their are couple to choose from ?

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Craigdillman

Do you have a name of the thing you use ive been looking for one and their are couple to choose from ?

I have the predecessor older model to this one.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en
If you wait for a good sale in the fall, they are sometimes 1/2 price or less. I think I paid $99 for mine, but that was a quite a few years ago. Comes with battery cable hook-up (very important feature), so you can add extra capacity (like your car battery).

There are many similar brands and sizes to choose from other sources, and less money. Much more competition now with these.

[Craigdillman]

ok thanks! good to know never thought of the adding battery feature

[Craigdillman]

http://www.duracellpower.com/backup-...rpack-600.aspx

Was looking at this one but the moto master might be a bit cheaper

[donkey77]

wow great responses
thanks everyone

[neoh]

what do I do in the event of a power outage?

panic of course.

Generators are good to have. They are kind of like a gun. It's better to have one and not need it, then to need one and not have it.

[Son Of Skyline]

I use an air pump powered by two D batteries and an air stone. Moves a surprising amount of water in my 36" 70gal tank when I drop the stone right in the centre of the tank.

[kien]

I picked up one of these little portable generators from Canadian Tire.



My advice to everyone who plans to have a tank long term is to definitely get one. DO NOT wait until you NEED one to get one. I got extremely lucky but chances are that if you're out looking for one when you NEED one, there are probably dozens if not hundreds of people doing the exact same thing! It wasn't that expensive either, $399 for a 1200/1500 watt generator. That was a small price to pay compared to the cost of replacing my entire tank!

Something else that helped me recently was a 1200watt UPS battery backup. Also very handy and recommended.