Reef Pilot's Undersea Oasis

[Reef Pilot]

Thanks, I hope I can get it back, and will work hard at it. Won't be away as much now, so will have more time to put into it.

I do have internet access to both my Apex and a webcam. Problem is I was often in the boonies, with no internet access. And at our lake cabin (Harrison) reception is marginal, so I wasn't looking at my webcam.

But really can't tell that much from the webcam, just good to see the fish swimming around. Mostly just able to monitor power and temp with my Apex (biggest fear is always a power outage). I did make it home from time to time, but didn't have the time to do any major maintenance.

Good news, is that my fish are as healthy as can be.

[MitchM]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

...Mostly just able to monitor power and temp with my Apex (biggest fear is always a power outage). ...

Have you thought of a whole house generator?
Generac makes some dependable units. I put in one that was a pretty straight forward installation.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by MitchM

Have you thought of a whole house generator?
Generac makes some dependable units. I put in one that was a pretty straight forward installation.

Not really, or at least not an automatic one. We don't really get a lot of outages, mostly just in late fall if we get a big wind storm. If I am home, no problem, as I do have battery back-ups that are good for a day or so. I also do have a diesel generator, but never had to use it.

Not sure I would want an auto generator running at my house when I am not home.

[MitchM]

I thought the same way and wasn't comfortable with it until I was home during a few power outages.
Now I don't give power outages a second thought.
Also, at my location, outages have lasted for a couple of days.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by MitchM

I thought the same way and wasn't comfortable with it until I was home during a few power outages.
Now I don't give power outages a second thought.
Also, at my location, outages have lasted for a couple of days.

Do you have a fully automatic cut-over to your generator back-up that will function when you are not home (and can't get home for a week)? And how much did all this cost?

[MitchM]

Yes, the generator cuts in about 10 seconds after the main power supply fails and switches off about 30 seconds after the power supply is restored.
The generator switches on every 7 days for a 10 minute period to perform maintenance checks. All automatic.
The size of mine is 13KW on natural gas. (14KW on propane) I have ours directly plumbed to natural gas.

The cost for it hooked up 6 years ago was about $4,000.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by MitchM

Yes, the generator cuts in about 10 seconds after the main power supply fails and switches off about 30 seconds after the power supply is restored.
The generator switches on every 7 days for a 10 minute period to perform maintenance checks. All automatic.
The size of mine is 13KW on natural gas. (14KW on propane) I have ours directly plumbed to natural gas.

The cost for it hooked up 6 years ago was about $4,000.

That does sound good and cost is reasonable,... if it all works as it should. At our office we had auto UPS and a generator back-up system. But I can tell you also that it didn't always work and usually required some intervention by our IT staff. So pardon me if I am a little skeptical.

I still have a real problem with a generator running in my absence, and not really knowing for sure if everything is working properly. I would still be stressed out about that. Maybe my fears are totally unreasonable, but just saying how I would feel. I guess I just don't trust technology..., maybe because I worked with it all my career...

I have had short (up to a few hours) outages happen in my absence, and no harm occurred. I do have my Apex running all my pumps and skimmer (with 5 min delay on start-up), and it tells me that I had an outage (also know it when I can get through on the internet). So far that has all worked fine.

And my son lives 20 min away, so if a serious prolonged outage happens, I could walk him through setting up my back-up batteries. I have not had to do that yet.

Anyway, like I said, just another thing to worry about with the tanks. At the moment, though, I have other issues with the tank parameters that I have to deal with, and want to get my corals looking good again.

Thanks for your feedback and suggestions.