When disaster strikes, be ready ...

[jeremy.gosnell]

jeremy.gosnell submitted a new Article:

When disaster strikes, be ready ...

Photo courtesy of Pinterest.
​

I’ve had two major disasters in my reef tanks over the past 15 or so years. The first one was in 2003 during an un-expected October ice-storm. The second one was on Friday of last week. Disaster number one caused a massive livestock loss and nearly put me out of the...

Read more about this article here...

 

[Christopher B Keyes]

A properly set up aquarium needs little intervention. I didn't go with all the fancy gadgets and dosers and such with my 75 gal. Granted, I had few sps corals in the tank. It seemed everything was in harmony. We had a tornado knock out power to us for 10 days. I am sure the outcome was not typical but, that thank was pure gold. I didn't lose one fish or coral in the downtime. Like I said, not typical but, if everything is working together the losses should be lessened. If you have to add extra equipment to have something you absolutely must have, evaluate the purchase carefully... I had 2 maximas in the tank as well... I wish I could have all that again. The tank was perfectly balanced following garfs bulletproof reef suplement schedule

 

[jasonrusso]

Here is my solution. I have a natural gas stand-by generator now so it only needs to run for about 15-20 seconds at this point but it did run for 30-40 minutes once.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f183/homemade-battey-backup-197872.html

 

[oldcrusty]

A properly set up aquarium needs little intervention. I didn't go with all the fancy gadgets and dosers and such with my 75 gal. Granted, I had few sps corals in the tank. It seemed everything was in harmony. We had a tornado knock out power to us for 10 days. I am sure the outcome was not typical but, that thank was pure gold. I didn't lose one fish or coral in the downtime. Like I said, not typical but, if everything is working together the losses should be lessened. If you have to add extra equipment to have something you absolutely must have, evaluate the purchase carefully... I had 2 maximas in the tank as well... I wish I could have all that again. The tank was perfectly balanced following garfs bulletproof reef suplement schedule

I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, known for power outages from thunder storms and the famous hurricanes, have never lost a fish or coral because of power outages! Some outages last weeks battery powered pumps and air stones have kept things in check for prolonged outages that are more than a few hours.

 

[jeremy.gosnell]

I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, known for power outages from thunder storms and the famous hurricanes, have never lost a fish or coral because of power outages! Some outages last weeks battery powered pumps and air stones have kept things in check for prolonged outages that are more than a few hours.

You're very lucky oldcrusty. I am guessing that you have multiple battery powered air-stones. Also, I am guessing the ambient temperature in Mississippi makes it unlikely your tank temperature will drop. In the North East (and other parts of the country) temperature alone (especially in winter) makes it unlikely a tank will survive in the absence of electrical power. Where I live, winter time temperatures drop well below freezing and without electricity, you're also without heat. In such locales, a generator isn't a bad idea tank or no-tank.

How a tank fares in a power outage (or any disaster really) largely depends on how it's stocked. Lightly to moderately stocked aquariums often require less intervention on part of the aquarist and can weather a power outage (or other disaster) pretty well. However, many of us rely on current technologies to not only keep heavily stocked reef tanks, but also push the envelope of coral growth/coloration/polyp extension. In these cases, technology is almost mandatory to help maintain the correct parameters all of the time. If you keep a tank stocked to the hilt with stony corals, and you're supplementing to maximize growth and coloration, it's vital that calcium and carbonate are replenished as the corals consume it. It's also vital that other trace elements are replenished as well and the best way to do this is a dosing pump. Heavily stocked reefs often require a lot of food, which thus requires powerful filtration to purify the water. If this fails for an extended period of time, it can be a disaster. The more fish within a tank, the more co2 being added to the water as they respire

All of these things depend on the goals of the specific aquarist and what they are working to achieve with their tank. I personally believe that it's advantageous for all marine aquarists (at least all that have more than a moderate investment in their tank) to have capable back-up power. The cost of gas-powered generators (and even solar generators) has dropped dramatically over the past few years, making them affordable. Also, various generator makers have reduced harmonic distortion, making even affordable generators capable of running sensitive electronics.

 

[revhtree]

Here is my solution. I have a natural gas stand-by generator now so it only needs to run for about 15-20 seconds at this point but it did run for 30-40 minutes once.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f183/homemade-battey-backup-197872.html

Jason would you mind recreating that thread here at R2R? Would love to share it!

 

[revhtree]

Jeremy another great article!

 

[jasonrusso]

Here you go!

Jason would you mind recreating that thread here at R2R? Would love to share it!

So, it's winter up here in New England and I'm new to the saltwater aquarium scene. Thankfully, in my area the power grid is pretty robust so the power doesn't usually go out for more than a couple hours at a time, but that being said it DOES still go out. You never know when the next blizzard is going to hit and I'm without power for 18 hours. I got to thinking about what is going to happen to my aquarium if i'm shut down for an extended period of time?

I have a 75 gallon with a sump system. I keep all my heating equipment in the sump, so if I lose my return pump I lose all my heating capabilities, my circulation/filtration, and my aeration (from the skimmer and the circulating water).



Now, let me start by saying that I work at an European auto dealership. Sometimes the cars are too smart for their own good so they think they have a bad battery (computer calculation) when it is in fact still good. I got 2 110Ah batteries for free that still tested good. I know this is the most expensive part of the system so if that is cheating, then I guess I am a cheater.

The next step was figuring out how to convert DC to AC, keep the cells charged, and how to automatically switch over the power (if I am at work when the power drops or if it is in the middle of the night). At first I was thinking of an inverter, a maintainer, and some sort of AC relay wired into the inverter. Then I realized I could acomplish all of this with a computer UPS. A computer UPS uses a sealed 12v lead acid battery, trickle charges when necessary, and obviously provides a seamless switch-over.

I took a look at the bare essentials needed to sustain life in the aquarium and realized that all I REALLY need is the return pump and a heater. The tank can last for days or weeks without a skimmer (anyone who has had the pleasure of dosing sick fish knows this), the UV filter is not needed immediately, and the light is not necessary. My return pump is rated at 55 watts, and my heater is rated at 300 watts. So with those calculations all I need is 355 watts.

I found a suitable UPS at the local electronics store for $45 on sale. It is rated at 375 watts. I didn't want to keep lead acid batteries in the house (I have pets, and the wife won't like the look of two huge batteries and wiring on the living room floor. If you have one who allows that, hold onto her!!) Luckilly for me, my aquarium is right above my garage. I drilled a small hole from the living room to the garage, mounted a shelf in the corner (you are going to want to find some studs for this shelf. The batteries are 70lbs each), and ran the wiring. I wired the two big boys, and the 5Ah that came with the UPS in parallel so I now have 225Ah of capacity at 12v.


I used 10 gauge wiring for this set-up. I figured I was only running 10 feet and I shouldn't have more than 350 watts max. If you think about it, house wiring is 14 gauge and that is rated for 15A (1800 watts!). I removed the battery from the UPS (previously mentoined) and I connected the wiring from the batteries.


The batteries were already charged previously so I plugged it in and kept my fingers crossed. Everything worked perfectly. The UPS saw the batteries as normal and was actually charging them. I know this because I was getting a voltage increase at the batteries when the unit was unplugged and then plugged back in. Now, obviously the batteries will take hours or maybe even days to fully charge up again. In my area, that isn't a problem because the power usually comes back within a couple hours and the next storm is USUALLY a couple days away.

Now it was time to load the system up. I plugged in everything I have (filters, skimmer, light, etc). I put my heater and return pump on the "battery" side and everything else on the "non-battery" side. I fired up the software and plugged in the USB. Whoa, I was at 98% capacity!! I didn't realize the wattage rating was when it was running on AC power. So then I figured why plug all the items into the UPS if I wasn't even worried about running them when the power was out. I put everthing except the essentials back into the power strip. Now I had only the return pump and my heater.

Apparently, my pump pulls more than it is rated for (maybe the 4ft head?). It is more like 65-75 watts. Luckilly, my heater is rated for 300 watts but only pulls 250. This concerned me because I think that the heater can "ramp" it up if it needs to and that would put me at my rated capacity. I ordered a 250 watt heater which I'll set a couple degrees lower than the tank temp so it will only turn on if the temp drops in an emergency. 250 watts will get the job done in an emergency. I should have that in a couple days (hopefully no blizzards until then), but I have the heater back in the power strip for now.

After a couple function tests (yanking the plug out of the wall), I was very happy. The pump barely misses a beat and keeps on going. The battery voltage drops to about 12.3-12.4 and maintains well for at least 1/2 an hour. I didn't have the time to check it any longer today. I put everything back together and fit the unit in the back of my cabinet.



With my rated capacity 225Ah (2700WHr) and my power requirements 325w max, but more realistically 200w (that is based on 50% heater on time and 75w return pump) or lower I can run for 13.5 hours!! I also have the option to turn the systerm on and off and run a battery powered aerator. I can just turn the system on for 30 minutes at a time to keep the water heated and circulated. I can also run my skimmer (25 watts) because I now have a buffer with the smaller heater. If worst comes to worst, I can hook jumper cables up to the cars and hook them up to the battery!

Hopefully you enjoyed my write up,

Jason

 

[TylerS]

Good article.

I've thought a lot about disaster planning and keeping water on hand for quick changes.
Can you elaborate on your comment about to keep salt water viable in storage it must be constantly mixed and heated?

"To be viable, marine water needs to be consistently aerated, circulated, heated and filtered. A good way to provide circulation and aeration is with a simple Maxi-Jet power-head with the circulation cover installed. An air hose can easily be fitted into the screen cover, allowing the propeller to blast air-bubbles throughout the water. A simple 200-watt aquarium heater will suffice for heating. Filtration can be accomplished with a power-head and quick-filter. I personally use a 500 gph Aqua-Clear powerhead with the quick-filter attachment. This consists of a filter pad which water is pulled over and a spherical carbon filled center. Using such a device ensures your on-hand marine water stays clear."

I was just in discussions with red sea about long term storage and the suggestion from them is to store it with no pump or heater (I didn't ask for further details since that was what I was hoping to hear anyway). They said there might be some calcium/alkalinity/magnesium precipitation, but that can be quickly adjusted if necessary right?

With a tank running at 80F and Water in storage (lets say in a 60F basement) a 50% water change gives you only a 10F drop in temp if the change is instant. In reality the change wouldn't be instant and the water would immediately begin to be heated upon entering the tank. In your article you even suggest a 10F drop isn't a problem.

My takeaway has been that it's not necessary to heat, mix and filter storage water for temperature reasons or precipitation reasons. Are there other reasons I'm missing? I definitely don't want to think I'm good to go and find out when it matters that I'm not!

For my system I'll have approximately 50% pre-mixed on hand and 50% rodi on hand at all times (so the 50% rodi could be relatively quickly mixed to get 100% water change). Then the rodi system would be able to provide another 50% in a day.

 

[O'l Salty]

Kalk disaster.

A huge overdose of Kalk destroyed my tank. I was using my ATO to pump water through a reactor that had a very slow turn rate. It turned 24/7. The ATO fed the bottom of the reactor and every time it kicked on a small plume of Kalk would rise from the bottom but it never got close to the output at the top. I had purchased a new skimmer and was having trouble adjusting it. I had a drain hose connected to the cup to drain off skim. I received a long phone call and during that time the skimmer went crazy filling the cup with tank water and draining out of the cup. ATO ran continuously for about 30 minutes and when I returned the tank was full of Kalk. I lost a wrasse and about $1,500 worth of coral. Needless to say I've shied away from Kalk ever since.

To prevent this from happening again I'm thinking about running the ATO pump power from an outlet in my Apex. I'd limit the ATO pump to 15 seconds every 30 minutes.

 

[Tobe71]

A Generac whole house generator with an automatic transfer switch is the single best purchase I've ever made. Expensive, but less than the cost of replacing my current stock (that I've spent years acquiring and growing out) not to mention saving me all the heartache of a huge loss AND the peace of mind knowing I can actually go on a vacation and not constantly be worried about what is happening back home!
Also, you had an image of an automatic water change device, a Genesis I believe. I'd be very interested on an article about it's setup and maintenance.
Thank you!