Good backup power source for an acquarium?

[andrew_94]

S/O recently started up a 29gal acquarium and has the jitters about losing everything she put into it if we have a power outage (Without power 7 days during sandy)

It would only be powering the filter, air pump, and heater. Maybe a lamp or a blow dryer or something sporadically.

How much would she expect to spend for something like that?

 

[sands35]

For incidental power outs, a computer battery backup UPS. Anything longer than a few hours you need to think generator. In that case, might as well think about running the fridge and maybe the HVAC too.

 

[G_P]

Small generator. During Sandy I kept my 20 gal tank going by using a power inverter and all the surplus wheelchair batteries I have. I would run the pump/filter for a few hours a day along with the air pump. It wasnt really cold so I got away without running the heater.

You can always get one of those $99 HF generators if you must have the tank running constantly. But if you have neighbors close by they are going to come with torches and pitchforks if you have a noisy generator running all night.

 

[aandpdan]

I'll second the $99 Harbor Freight generator.

It will easily run 5 hours or more on a gallon of fuel and it is quiet.

 

[G_P]

Gotta ask, what do you use a blow dryer for aquarium wise?

The heating coils in them also **** a ton of power.

 

[southalabama]

Get a jump start with inverter built in.

No more than aquarium pump draws should run a while.

It runs low then use your car to charge it.

Everyone needs a good generator but if an aquarium is your only concern batteries will work.

If they don't have a tropical fish fry.

 

[collision1]

a generator.....

but if your tank is small, you could probably get by with a battery powered air pump for a while if you got lots of D batteries. just Google search battery powered air pump....they are much cheaper than a generator...less than 10 bucks usually

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I have a genny now, but I lost power for at least 5 days during the big ice storm a few years back. Fish are hardier than you might think. I just covered the tank with a blanket. "Blacking out" the tank will keep the fish inactive & they can usually stand a slow decrease & then a SLOW increase in temp. I have Stendker Discus & the tank normally runs at 80* F. It went down to 53* & I didn't lose any of the big fish, just a couple of the cardinals & Rummy Nose tetras, both of which are pretty sensitive to begin with. If your bio load isn't too high things should be ok, but clean your filter before you turn it back on. The biological filtration in it will probably go off from lack of water flow & you don't want to pump sludge into the tank.

Tommy

 

[Zeke]

Gotta ask, what do you use a blow dryer for aquarium wise?

The heating coils in them also **** a ton of power.

He was referring to another type of emergency, the wife's hair.

 

[The mean fish]

The cheapo Harbor Freight $99 unit would do fine but if you want something you can rely on and can run without bothering anyone take a look at the Honda EU1000i. They can be found used on CL pretty easily and it's the nicest hand carry generator you can get at about 30lbs.

http://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eu1000i

It'll run about 9 hours on a gallon of gas and it's almost too quiet. It's got a DC 12V output which can be used to run a ton of LEDs if you need light.