I have a simple 2000w inverter with two 100AH Lithium batteries that feed critical life-support for two 120+ tanks. While I'm new to my neighborhood, the neighbors can't recall an extended outage (more than a few hours) in this area. Plus I can always ween off load as needed. (I.e. one heater, one powerhead, one return pump per tank).
Storm Season among us. Power outage readiness!!!
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vanguard
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I probably need a better plan. I have this thing:
I keeps the basics going like wav makers and the return pump. My neptune lowers their speed to make it last longer.
I also have a gas powered generator that we hook up for the fish tanks, refrigerator, home internet, etc. Finally, the fish room has propane fireplaces in case 4 watt per gallon isn't enough heater in a home without power.
As I think about it, I'm not doing too bad. I really could use a bigger battery but aside from that I'm good for days.
I keeps the basics going like wav makers and the return pump. My neptune lowers their speed to make it last longer.
I also have a gas powered generator that we hook up for the fish tanks, refrigerator, home internet, etc. Finally, the fish room has propane fireplaces in case 4 watt per gallon isn't enough heater in a home without power.
As I think about it, I'm not doing too bad. I really could use a bigger battery but aside from that I'm good for days.
Magnapinna
Active Member
I have two portable generators totaling 4000W. My tank is 10gal currently only running an Aquaclear 50, 50W Eheim heater, and a nano Orbit Marine light, as well as an airline fitted with a T-valve for some extra coverage for less power. The tank is only a couple months old and fortunately I haven't experienced an outage yet (knock on wood), but tornado season is only a few weeks away. The room temperature stays around 80*F in the summer -- which lasts ~10 months of the year in Atlanta -- so fortunately my heaters rarely need to kick on.
Outages here also tend to be brief compared to those associated with hurricanes. I used to live in south FL where I lived through Hurricane Wilma. We were without power for 14 days and most people's generators also failed. Some went without power for as long as 4 weeks. Can't even imagine trying to sustain a tank through that!
Outages here also tend to be brief compared to those associated with hurricanes. I used to live in south FL where I lived through Hurricane Wilma. We were without power for 14 days and most people's generators also failed. Some went without power for as long as 4 weeks. Can't even imagine trying to sustain a tank through that!
Gellisjr1
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I am interested in this generator set up. I like how it runs off propane. Do you have to do anything differently after using the generator for long term storage? With gasoline generators the fuel needs to be completely drained and the carburetor fogged and stabilizer added to the fuel for long term storage. For these reasons this is why I don't have a gas generator. I don't want the up keep after each use or the mechanical repairs if I happen to forget.Doesn't take up that much space.
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That is a honda eu2200i
You will need a ng/propane conversion kit ($350 for a good one) It will make a bit less power. At 50% output you will get ~20 hours out of a 20 pound (4 gallons) bbq propane tank.
It will get about 5.5 hours at the same load on about 1 gallon of gasoline, so closer to 30 hours for gasoline.
The Honda inverter generators (hands down) are the best out there. Very reliable and equipped with a fuel pump. You can daisy chain them together and you can add external fuel cells. These gensets are worth every penny. I am not sure if I would bother with propane conversion.
CMMorgan
Counting my blessings...
After being without power for 3 weeks following hurricane Ian, we're not messing around. We have tripled our ecoflow solar generator capacity. We have a river 2 ecoflow on order which will be the dedicated EPS for the fish tank. We've calculated that the River 2 should keep all major systems running off of pure solar. The only concern is going to be temperature. I've never run a chiller but it's something to think about. My tank never really recovered from that storm... but that also had a lot to do with our local water supply being flushed with high levels of chlorine due to parasitic infections. The dual fuel, propane dedicated generator is also ready to go. This is as close as we'll get to bring off the grid without spending 30 grand to put panels on the roof.
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Malcontent
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How did you know this was being done?
CMMorgan
Counting my blessings...
It was reported on the news. We had two people die from brain eating amoeba traced back to the water supply. There were broken pipes from the storm that introduced the bodies so they flushed the entire system with high levels of chlorine several times. You could smell it. Even with my RODI, the tank got hit hard.
Malcontent
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Do you know what level of chlorine they used? I found an old article where a system in Louisiana was flushed with 1 mg/L chlorine. That's still well below the 4 mg/L regulatory limit in the US.
There are a lot of aquarists convinced that chlorine "spikes" beyond this level happen frequently but it's like Bigfoot--many people claim to have seen him but can never provide any evidence.
I've been testing my tap water chlorine levels with a Hach DR/900 for ~3 years now and it's been remarkably steady with levels between 1.1 and 1.5 mg/L. This was true even when local aquarists were warning that a chlorine spike so massive that it couldn't be neutralized by any amount of dechlorinator was imminent and not to do any water changes.
CMMorgan
Counting my blessings...
I do not. My LFS guy knew but he has since gone out of business. It was a danged if you do, danged if you don't scenario for water changes. We truly were in survival mode and even still, we were more fortunate than many. At least my house survived. They are predicting a wicked storm season.
We've since downsized the tank, simplified the system... Going all dumb tank instead of "smart tank wifi driven". I'm about to sell off everything from that 6 footer and batten down the emergency plans should we get hit again.
You can never be too prepared.
Here is the start of my plan, the inverter also acts as an auto transfer. I have 2 more batteries on the way also. I’ll need to do some wiring and I need to figure out a location for this. I fear it won’t fair well on the other side of my tank in my fish room. We are also doing a portable 10k generator that will plug into a new box we are installing. I am adding 100 amps of service, most of that is going to a new fish room, and some to a new hybrid water heater that will double as an ac for mixing/qt/observation room. We are adding a manual transfer for some very basic circuits in the house downstairs AC and both furnaces, and of course the entire fish room. The batteries will buy us time to decide if we have to get the generator in position (about 150 feet from storage) and fire it up. This entire plan is under $6k. To put a Generac on my house was going to be >$20k. In 8 years we have had 2 major outages for multiple days (sum total of 5 days), I just can’t justify that kinda spend. We lose it often for 2-6 hours, batteries sill bridge that gap. For the occasional ice storm, plan B will keep the sanity in the house.
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I would spend the extra and get a Honda. Quiet and extremely reliable.Here is the start of my plan, the inverter also acts as an auto transfer. I have 2 more batteries on the way also. I’ll need to do some wiring and I need to figure out a location for this. I fear it won’t fair well on the other side of my tank in my fish room. We are also doing a portable 10k generator that will plug into a new box we are installing. I am adding 100 amps of service, most of that is going to a new fish room, and some to a new hybrid water heater that will double as an ac for mixing/qt/observation room. We are adding a manual transfer for some very basic circuits in the house downstairs AC and both furnaces, and of course the entire fish room. The batteries will buy us time to decide if we have to get the generator in position (about 150 feet from storage) and fire it up. This entire plan is under $6k. To put a Generac on my house was going to be >$20k. In 8 years we have had 2 major outages for multiple days (sum total of 5 days), I just can’t justify that kinda spend. We lose it often for 2-6 hours, batteries sill bridge that gap. For the occasional ice storm, plan B will keep the sanity in the house.
Friend went with one, did couple of test runs months apart then it wouldn't start.
I found him some YouTube videos to point him to possible issue, bag of parts later he is back in business.
I really dont think they are that reliable.
HomebroodExotics
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Yea and the generac is still garbage. When you need it for multiple days it WILL break down, and you will not get parts for several weeks to months. Other than that, it's great.
Naturalreef
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I’m sorry to say, but Generac IS garbage. I purchase a whole house generator over two years ago. The one time we lost power and I needed it, it failed! Called generac and their customer service and tech support is run by school kids reading a script. Zero knowledge!
I tested the generator and it wasn’t producing 240 on the gen side. Called a service tech which are extremely hard to find to service the unit and he confirmed no 240. Stator died and was almost as expensive to repair vs replace whole generator.(Powerpact). First two years was labor and parts, third year is parts only. I was just starting third year….sigh
The only thing that saved my fridges and reef tank was my trusty Honda EU2000. And to think I was going to get rid of it after the whole house gen was installed.
Now as a backup, I have the Honda, 400watt portable solar panels, BLUETTI 800 watt hour backup fed by the solar and lastly four 10 amp hour ego lawn batteries with their 300 watt inverter.
Lastly, no manufacturer is trustworthy. They all use cheap Chinese parts. But, I’ll never buy a generac again due to their crappy customer service. They care nothing about you. They care about your money.
I tested the generator and it wasn’t producing 240 on the gen side. Called a service tech which are extremely hard to find to service the unit and he confirmed no 240. Stator died and was almost as expensive to repair vs replace whole generator.(Powerpact). First two years was labor and parts, third year is parts only. I was just starting third year….sigh
The only thing that saved my fridges and reef tank was my trusty Honda EU2000. And to think I was going to get rid of it after the whole house gen was installed.
Now as a backup, I have the Honda, 400watt portable solar panels, BLUETTI 800 watt hour backup fed by the solar and lastly four 10 amp hour ego lawn batteries with their 300 watt inverter.
Lastly, no manufacturer is trustworthy. They all use cheap Chinese parts. But, I’ll never buy a generac again due to their crappy customer service. They care nothing about you. They care about your money.
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