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Battery Back up pumps

melly mel

melly mel

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Hey Guys, With the storms coming, Im looking into getting some type of battery back up pumps in case of black outs. My neighborhood sometimes goes thru short black out periods during a storm. Been thru it before without any problems to the tank and inhabitants but since i been adding more corals and fish I just want to be safe. What would you guys suggest?
 
Thanks 99SF. (Christina right?) Yeah, Gas powered generators are out of the question. I never really looked into those but I'm assuming I wont have anywhere to put this in my tiny condo. :)
Would love to get vortech's but being my tank is acrylic may not be a good idea. hear so many stories of acrylic crazing because of them.
I was actually looking at the pump you suggested before I posted. Seems like you had a good experience with that. I'll keep that pump in mind. But since i have to order it, are there any other ones that are pretty reliable that i can pick up at a lfs or petco, pet club etc??
 
Tunze's you can get a Tunze part + battery and charger

Vortechs you can get a battery back up.

One word of caution... If you get a UPS get a "true sign wave" or "non modified sign wave". Modified sign waves can wreck havoc on pumps.
 
Gresh, Will this UPS work?
http://www.refurbups.com/APC-IBM1000-Smart-UPS-IBM-1000;jsessionid=0a010c471f434bbbc3e55d1e40c7bafaf04805ac7a4c.e3eSch4MaN4Re34Pa38Ta38Pbhv0
 
Looks to be a "true sign wave" since it just says sign wave:
http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=sua1000i
 
One of the things I like about the Vortechs is that they are 24 volts and will run at half speed on 12 volts, such as a lead acid auto battery for back-up.
 
a bit ugly, but you could do just that. Car battery + relay (to switch on/off depending on power being supplied to vortech PSU)
 
Assuming you don't want to set up a gas-powered generator, or buy expensive Vortech battery packs & powerheads, I recommend this inexpensive Silent Air battery powered backup air pump.
Silent Air Pump
Will at least agitate the surface so that the air/gas exchange can take place, saving your fish during a long blackout. Have used this for a weekend when the power was shut off in my office in order to perform electrical system maintenance.
 
Rommel, to answer your question, I actually got my battery backup air pump at a retailer in San Diego (Aquatic Warehouse). It is a very inexpensive way (less than $15) to save the fish. The only similar design I have for sale at Drs. Foster & Smith seen costs about $50.
 
99sf said:
Rommel, to answer your question, I actually got my battery backup air pump at a retailer in San Diego (Aquatic Warehouse). It is a very inexpensive way (less than $15) to save the fish. The only similar design I have for sale at Drs. Foster & Smith seen costs about $50.
Click to expand...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3669+3693&pcatid=3693

$5 plus shipping :)

lg_rd_21380_19723DZ.jpg


I like these however since they recharge themselves:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3669+8120&pcatid=8120

p_11939_18050.jpg
 
Thales said:
I like the silent air because you can set it to only come on if there is an outage.
Click to expand...

To be clear, not the model of Silent Air shown at the top (D battery one) but one like the Azoo where it has an AC plug and charges when not used, right?
 
The silent air shown at the tip takes D's, plugs in but does not recharge. The plug is only to sense if the power goes out. I don't know of one that recharges and only comes on in the event of an outage. :D
 
There is a larger model of Silent Air that I thought did that. Two outputs IIRC> time to go look for it.
 
Yes, as Rich clarified, what I was trying to say is that the $15 Silent Air pump stays plugged in to a powerstrip and only turns on (using the two D batteries) when the power fails. Those D batteries last a long time. The $56 Azoo pump seems to have a different battery system, but essentially performs the same function.
 
It stays on though (Azoo) :( The Silent Air you listed is the only one I can find that turns on when the power goes out. I'd hate to have bubbles going 24/7 :/
 
Ironically, the Silent Air model is actually kind of noisy, so it's better that it only turns on when the electricity dies!
 
I'd like something that only turns on when the power goes out so i guess the silent air will be the one i go with. Thinking about ordering the ups as well so i can still run my pumps and heater. Is it necessary to have water movement or will the bubbles produced by the silent air be ok? My tanks been thru a few black outs in the past with no ill effect since it only last about 15 to 20 minutes but I really dont wanna take that chance again especially since I've added more corals and fish.
 
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