Power Company gave a 4 hour blackout notice

Jyetman · 12/15/2017, 09:38 PM

This Sunday starting at 7 AM the power company are laying down new power lines. They estimate 4 hours to completion. So I have a 80 gallon reef with algae scrubber bucket. My apex is on a 1500 VA UPS so with just that and a dual out air pump I've always made it through a 1 hour outage. I have no idea if the UPS will last a total of 4 hours according to the apex EB8 Its pulling 0.1 amps with 100% battery life remaining after 1 HR. Who knows how accurate that battery life meter is. Really don't want to test the runtime since it degrades battery life. Just had a blackout a month ago and batteries aren't new. With a 550VA and spare 650VA running two rio 600 pumps for scrubber hopefully this keeps the algae wet enough. Is this doable for 4 hours any suggestions be great?

Gorgok · 12/15/2017, 10:41 PM

For 4 hours i probably wouldn't do anything to my tank, assuming house temperature is close enough to the tank and stays that way.

homer1475 · 12/16/2017, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorgok

For 4 hours i probably wouldn't do anything to my tank, assuming house temperature is close enough to the tank and stays that way.

+1

I start to worry after about 6 hours. We loose power up here in the north quite frequently, and I have never worried about my tank if it was less the 6.

RobZilla04 · 12/16/2017, 03:51 PM

You could always manually kerp the scrubber wet if you're going to be home. If I had the choice I would use the battery backup to keep flow in the DT.

Second option is to pull the screen the algae is growing on and place it in a bucket or container with some water from the tank.

Jyetman · 12/17/2017, 10:29 AM

So far 2 1/2 hours and all seems good. I have 3 UPS and manually turning the scrubber pump on and off every 15 min or so run for a few minutes. I hope that is enough to keep algae on screen alive?

RobZilla04 · 12/17/2017, 01:02 PM

Good news thus far. Hopefully it come back on time.

Jyetman · 12/17/2017, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobZilla04

Good news thus far. Hopefully it come back on time.

It did 3 hours instead of 4 all is fine. I programmed my apex to turn the scrubber pumps on and off every 5 minutes when Power is lost. Hope that gives me more power next time.

12/15/2017, 09:38 PM	#1
Jyetman Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,712	Power Company gave a 4 hour blackout notice This Sunday starting at 7 AM the power company are laying down new power lines. They estimate 4 hours to completion. So I have a 80 gallon reef with algae scrubber bucket. My apex is on a 1500 VA UPS so with just that and a dual out air pump I've always made it through a 1 hour outage. I have no idea if the UPS will last a total of 4 hours according to the apex EB8 Its pulling 0.1 amps with 100% battery life remaining after 1 HR. Who knows how accurate that battery life meter is. Really don't want to test the runtime since it degrades battery life. Just had a blackout a month ago and batteries aren't new. With a 550VA and spare 650VA running two rio 600 pumps for scrubber hopefully this keeps the algae wet enough. Is this doable for 4 hours any suggestions be great? Last edited by Jyetman; 12/15/2017 at 09:52 PM.

12/16/2017, 03:51 PM	#4
RobZilla04 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: St. Augustine, FL Posts: 1,857	You could always manually kerp the scrubber wet if you're going to be home. If I had the choice I would use the battery backup to keep flow in the DT. Second option is to pull the screen the algae is growing on and place it in a bucket or container with some water from the tank. __________________ 90g Mixed Reef

12/17/2017, 01:02 PM	#6
RobZilla04 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: St. Augustine, FL Posts: 1,857	Good news thus far. Hopefully it come back on time. __________________ 90g Mixed Reef

12/15/2017, 10:41 PM	#2
Gorgok Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Cypress, Texas Posts: 1,904	For 4 hours i probably wouldn't do anything to my tank, assuming house temperature is close enough to the tank and stays that way.

12/17/2017, 10:29 AM	#5
Jyetman Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,712	So far 2 1/2 hours and all seems good. I have 3 UPS and manually turning the scrubber pump on and off every 15 min or so run for a few minutes. I hope that is enough to keep algae on screen alive?