Power failure - meh (when everything works as planned)

[TOtrees]

So often we hear/read what didn't work, or what crashed or died after a power failure. I'm here to tell you that investing in some gear up front, and choosing air-driven filtration like sponge filters, can/will yield success and peace of mind down the road. 

I run around 15 tanks in my basement. I used to have an upstairs display tank, but when it sprung a leak I shut it down, and I'm happier with everything in 1 room. 

With everything in 1 place, central air is the obvious choice, and I have it. Most tanks have air-powered sponge filters, a couple have power-head driven sponges, and 1 has a pair of HOBs (but also a sponge). 

I have what I like to call my 2-stage power outage backup plan. Stage 1 is simply a 12v LiFeP04 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) battery. These go from 100% to 0% without loss of capacity or performance, for thousands of cycles. This single battery, run through a small inverter, will power my 54W air pump at least overnight, and probably for most of a day if needed. 

Last night we had an outage from 3pm-10pm. Air pump was switched over to battery within 30 mins, Since we're in a heat wave, but the basement stays cooler, heating and cooling were non-issues -- the only difference between power on and power out (for the fish) was the fish room being dark. Sponges were bubbling, every tank had some filtration and circulation. No extra cords, no muss, no fuss. For the 3 tanks that primarily rely on electric filtration (the power head sponges and hobs), I dropped an airstone into each, with air volume set to deliver a decent bubble column. 

What's stage 2 of my plan? When power goes out, you never really know when it will come back. Will it be a few mins? Hour? A few hours? Most of a day? Multiple days? If you still have cellular data, you can check with your utility and see what's projected, but we all know that a) that isn't reliable, and b) it can change frequently and drastically. I ended up not needing to switch to my stage 2 plan. But knowing it's there if I had needed it (if the battery runs out) took a lot of pressure off.

Stage 2 is a 3500W inverter generator. Nothing fancy, my main goal when shopping for it was a) quiet, and b) to be able to run blower for gas furnace, freezer and fridge, and a few extras like lights, modem, etc. And the fish room (mainly just the air, since the generator would heat the house, so temp won't drop too low, eg if it's a winter failure). And recharge the battery. It's not wired into the house, so setting it up does require quite a few cords. Future me has a plan for that. 

That's all, just sharing my success. 🙂 

[Tlindsey]

On 6/19/2024 at 9:23 AM, TOtrees said:

So often we hear/read what didn't work, or what crashed or died after a power failure. I'm here to tell you that investing in some gear up front, and choosing air-driven filtration like sponge filters, can/will yield success and peace of mind down the road. 

I run around 15 tanks in my basement. I used to have an upstairs display tank, but when it sprung a leak I shut it down, and I'm happier with everything in 1 room. 

With everything in 1 place, central air is the obvious choice, and I have it. Most tanks have air-powered sponge filters, a couple have power-head driven sponges, and 1 has a pair of HOBs (but also a sponge). 

I have what I like to call my 2-stage power outage backup plan. Stage 1 is simply a 12v LiFeP04 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) battery. These go from 100% to 0% without loss of capacity or performance, for thousands of cycles. This single battery, run through a small inverter, will power my 54W air pump at least overnight, and probably for most of a day if needed. 

Last night we had an outage from 3pm-10pm. Air pump was switched over to battery within 30 mins, Since we're in a heat wave, but the basement stays cooler, heating and cooling were non-issues -- the only difference between power on and power out (for the fish) was the fish room being dark. Sponges were bubbling, every tank had some filtration and circulation. No extra cords, no muss, no fuss. For the 3 tanks that primarily rely on electric filtration (the power head sponges and hobs), I dropped an airstone into each, with air volume set to deliver a decent bubble column. 

What's stage 2 of my plan? When power goes out, you never really know when it will come back. Will it be a few mins? Hour? A few hours? Most of a day? Multiple days? If you still have cellular data, you can check with your utility and see what's projected, but we all know that a) that isn't reliable, and b) it can change frequently and drastically. I ended up not needing to switch to my stage 2 plan. But knowing it's there if I had needed it (if the battery runs out) took a lot of pressure off.

Stage 2 is a 3500W inverter generator. Nothing fancy, my main goal when shopping for it was a) quiet, and b) to be able to run blower for gas furnace, freezer and fridge, and a few extras like lights, modem, etc. And the fish room (mainly just the air, since the generator would heat the house, so temp won't drop too low, eg if it's a winter failure). And recharge the battery. It's not wired into the house, so setting it up does require quite a few cords. Future me has a plan for that. 

That's all, just sharing my success. 🙂 

You definitely are prepared also your other plans sound great not only for the fish but you and your family. @TOtrees

[TOtrees]

On 6/19/2024 at 12:35 PM, Tlindsey said:

You definitely are prepared also your other plans sound great not only for the fish but you and your family. @TOtrees

Thx. I also have to say that it hasn't been hard to set up and implement. The battery and inverter are cost effective starting points. In other circumstances, it might be better for someone to have 2 or even 3 such batteries, and a high wattage inverter (1000-2000W?), and that would run most of a normal household for many hours. Solar panels to charge the batteries is another expansion option that's worth considering. 

For myself, the next step will be drilling an wire for the generator through the exterior wall of the house. Eg generator running in the back yard, connects to a 30 amp outlet on the exterior wall of the house, which feeds a 15 amp outlet on the inside wall, that extension cords and appliances can plug directly into. That would be an improvement over the current system, which is to run a cord through a tiny ground level basement window, with insulation to keep it in place and keep the cold out and warm in. 

Edited June 19 by TOtrees

[Rube_Goldfish]

I'm lucky enough that my house's previous owners installed a partial-house generator, and luckier still that the outlets powered by it include all of my tanks. And it's all automatic.

But I've never heard of a LiFePO4 battery, so I guess that's my next rabbit hole...