My first power outage

Well we had some really good thunder storms tuesday night. I had to go grocery shopping and when I got home I found out my power had been out for an hour. Boy was I stressing but thankfully the power outage was only 3 hrs and all livestock are fine. Of course in the middle of the night I woke up for no reason at all to find out that the power had gone out again! Yes, I love my tank so much that I got up at 2:30 am to double check that all the equipment had returned to normal operation. Everything should have backup battery power with today's technology!

 

Lol you woke up at 2:30am to check on it. I don't go to sleep untill then

But I have done the same in situations that called for it. Woke up or came home from work or school to check on the tank. The hardest is when you go on vacation and have to leave someone in care of it that don't know much about fish period

 

I lost my entire tank back in Oct when a snowstorm knocked power out for over a week!! Definitely buying a generator before the snows flys again.

 

Im glad I dont live in an area with snow!!! The longest power outage that affected more than one person was 3 hours tops, Heres a Q which items are most important to run durring a power outage, if possible limit it to one!

 

All depends on the situation at the time of the outage. If you're dealing with freezing temperatures, definitely the heater. If not, your pump or powerheads for water movement & better oxygen exchange.

 

Yeah I have had some power outtages, here in North FL. When my power goes out I have a 400 watt power inverter in my car. (use it for laptop) I have a 100 foot extension cord that I run from the car to inside to my power strips, I am able to keep my tank running for as long as a week if necessary. I start my car every 6 hours to charge for a few minutes. The power inverter uses very little power from the car. The best battery to use would be a deep cycle marine battery. This has saved my tank 3 times this year alone. I purchased the inverter for less than 40 bucks, well worth the investment. Hurricane season is upon us again! Ugh

 

From this months ReefKeeping : Top Ten Reasons Why Reefkeepers Never Sleep or Top Ten Reasons Why Sleepers Never Reef...

I have thought of moving bed to living room where tank is, so I don't have to get out of it to check on tank.

 

Omard, that top ten list is awesome. I am the same way, I check on the tank 24/7, always worried about leaks. Great thread.

 

A generator is a worthwhile investment just for the peace of mind.

I have had to use mine 3-4 times in last couple years.

Told wife when I bought it that it was for keeping the stuff in freezer cold. (which it does)

Hint on generator...start it up every couple of months to check it out and keep it in tune. Also keep some "stabil" (gas rejuvenator) on had to put in stored gas couple times a year.

Power outages are just a nuisance now, instead of a major crisis.

Worth every cent of investment. ;D

 

Ugh, I remember my first severe outage...20 hours of fun. This was the day after I bought my sunburst anthias (didn't make it). I do agree that generators are a must! My only problem is, living in LA we get outages when its hot...and well...without a chiller the tank gets hot. Sadly the generator was not powerful enough to power my little window AC unit. Lucky for me lots and lots of fans kept the tank under 85...

I say generators are a must, mine lasts about 8 hours per filling...pretty good. Just make sure to count watts to see if it can handle the tank