Neptune Aquatics

PSA reminder why we need a backup power for our tank/tanks

Yeah, water movement at the surface for good gas exchange is really all you need around here. I guess if you’ve got the tank in the garage and it’s winter time then you might need to think about heat.
 
Water bottles don’t melt until the water reaches boiling temperature. Which is probably a bit to warm for fish tanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The thing about the ecotech battery backups is that when activated they have the powerheads turned down to minimal speeds. In my tank it keeps flow going in the tank but does not have much water breaking at the surface.

I wasn’t satisfied with it so I hooked up a battery powered air pump that also plugs into an outlet. When the outlet turns off (power outage) the pump turns on. Runs on 2 D batteries.

97477f9881dfb4a6232eaa7d41dd765f.jpg


And I wanted to have an unobtrusive setup within the tank, so I ordered an 1/4 acrylic tube from BRS and stuck airline tubing on it (took some trimming of the tube with a razor, and some silicone grease).

7892d9f3752d6ad2d58ffbe4be4d23d3.jpg


And stuck the end of it in the sand and used a tiny cable tie to secure the top to my overflow weir so it sits right in the groove. Can’t even see it unless you’re looking for it.

c27308a1243356be2d2c3b586f9a3174.jpg


So now when power goes out, I’ve got my vortechs on battery backup, an airstone kicks in, and heartbeat notifies me on my phone (gotta test it out periodically).

For long outages, I’ve also got that car inverter mentioned on the thread (@RandyC turned me on to that awesome invention) for heater if needed, or if ecotech battery starts to run out.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Sorry to hear about the tank crash. I've put so much time (and money) into our systems that after hearing this story I purchased myself a generator. It is rated at 4,000 watts so in an emergency I can run all 3 tanks, my refrigerator, wi-fi and tv. Less than $300 with free shipping and it uses both gas and propane.
s-l64.jpg
 
Sorry to hear about the tank crash. I've put so much time (and money) into our systems that after hearing this story I purchased myself a generator. It is rated at 4,000 watts so in an emergency I can run all 3 tanks, my refrigerator, wi-fi and tv. Less than $300 with free shipping and it uses both gas and propane.
View attachment 9351


That's assuming you or someone else is on hand to switch to the generator.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Sorry to hear about the tank crash. I've put so much time (and money) into our systems that after hearing this story I purchased myself a generator. It is rated at 4,000 watts so in an emergency I can run all 3 tanks, my refrigerator, wi-fi and tv. Less than $300 with free shipping and it uses both gas and propane.
View attachment 9351
Not my tank, but how will you know when your tank lost power when no one is in the house? If you and your family is away for few days? Since you have no apex to warn you. The main reason I seriously wanted the mp40 because they have battery backup feature.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
I have the IceCap battery for my Gyre pump. A week ago I lost power for about 12 hours. My temp dropped to 68 degrees, but my Gyre pump worked great the entire part of the 12 hours. I wasn't home for most of it, but when I was back, everything looked happy. I had battery powered airpumps, but the water was moving so well with the battery that I just left it. Everything in the tank looked totally fine.

Having a gyre with the icecap battery was really wonderful. I highly recommend it!
 
My security system sends me an instant notification when my home loses power and I am always working in the neighborhood.
Cheers! Mark
 
Last edited:
Getting a generator is proving to be quite a challenge. I ordered/paid for one with an extended warranty and a day later they cancel the order because they can't ship to Ca. So I order/pay for one from a different company and apparently they were hacked and my money was stolen. Now I just ordered/paid for my 3rd. OMG!
 
Why didn’t you just pick one up from HD?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
They dont carry the type I want, and they dont take Paypal. I want one that runs on gas and propane. That way when the zombie apocolypse (or earthquake) comes and nobody can get gasoline, I can still get propane.
 
They dont carry the type I want, and they dont take Paypal. I want one that runs on gas and propane. That way when the zombie apocolypse (or earthquake) comes and nobody can get gasoline, I can still get propane.

How can you get propane. If you can’t get gasoline?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
If we have a large earthquake and lose power, the gas pumps wont work. But my little liquor store will still sell those blue rhino full propane tanks for cash. The biggest issue I had in the 1989 quake was the power and phones got knocked out, so no electronic transactions and no power at the gas stations. This makes me wonder, how long will the battery back ups actually support a reef tank?
 
If we have a large earthquake and lose power, the gas pumps wont work. But my little liquor store will still sell those blue rhino full propane tanks for cash. The biggest issue I had in the 1989 quake was the power and phones got knocked out, so no electronic transactions and no power at the gas stations. This makes me wonder, how long will the battery back ups actually support a reef tank?

I'd like a generator at some point. Hope you can share with us your experience with the generator! I'd like to get one too.

I was reading so much about those in the recent hurricanes (like hurricane sandy most recently) and how they dealt with it. Those with rock-solid generator game plans had great success with their tanks.
 
Back
Top