electrical backup?

[Jolly]

My electricity went out last week an I had a flood from my 120 gal. tank. It was lucky that I was home to save my tank. I was wondering if anyone has used a battery back up similiar to what I have on my pc to keep the pump running during these electrical outages and/or is there another way to solve this problem? thanks, Johne

[ClownReef®]

Johne,

Did the water back up?

Other that the expensive generators?..Im not really familiar with back up plans..LOL..i always run on the "Hope the power doesnt go out.." plan..LOL.. Sorry i wasn't much help, but i'm sure other members will be able to help you out.

[erikharrison]

Look on the back of your electrical items and determine your total amperage. Find a ups that is around twice as powerful and you should have no problem unless your power goes out for a long stretch. What caused the flood? I mean was it an electrical device that did it, or was there something else? Alot of things can be fail safed. Also, if you can hammer it down to a singular electrical device, you can just put an UPS on that item only.

[BIGBIRD123]

The first question is :

1) where did the water back-up from?

2) do you have syphon breaks on your return lines?

3) how much extra room you have in your sump when tank is running?

This will further help us diagnose the problem.

Steve

[Ram_Puppy]

BB & eric both have valid questions you need to answer, a power outage should NOT cause a flood.

as far as backups go, you need to run the bare minimum to keep your tank alive during a power outage... and that is - a power head. (singular)

you just need to keep water moving and gas exchange happening, everything else, at least short term, is gravy. so get a UPS and maybe a hydor koralia, or a tunze nano stream near the surface and your golden.

[BIGBIRD123]

The reason I asked the questions is that I had a power outage with no syphon breaks on my return lines and not enough room in the sump for overflowing. Thus 135g of SW in the living room floor.

Steve

[Ram_Puppy]

that is never fun steve.

[LoneStar]

Look on the back of your electrical items and determine your total amperage. Find a ups that is around twice as powerful and you should have no problem unless your power goes out for a long stretch. What caused the flood? I mean was it an electrical device that did it, or was there something else? Alot of things can be fail safed. Also, if you can hammer it down to a singular electrical device, you can just put an UPS on that item only.

Couldn't have said it better ;)

Powerheads can go a long ways and help your tank out when the power is out. You do not necessarily need the skimmer and return pump running. But after 12 hours or more, I'd get on the phone to the power company and see whats up!

[erikharrison]

Yeah, I work on computers, and Disaster Recovery is huge in our industry, so all I know about electric is that you had better not EVER go down. LOL. Live data and live fish are the same thing, well, kindaaaaa. :P

[captexas]

Yeah, like the others stated, you need to figure out first what caused the flood. Flooding like that is usually caused more by a design/plumbing flaw than just the power going out.

As far as when the power does go out, it is good to have something to keep oxygen in the tank for your livestock. This can be a simple battery operated air pump with air stone that is designed to turn on when the power goes out or you can use a UPS to power up a small powerhead pointed near the surface to help gas exchange. As I have a smaller sized tank, I personally have a computer UPS on my main return pump from my sump.

[LoneStar]

I use a UPS as a backup power source for my tank.

APC Smart UPS 2200 :)

http://img.clubic.com/photo/00078826.jpg

[Jolly]

1st of all, thanks for all the responces! lol. When the pumps quit, the over flow tubes kept siphoning out of the aquairum back into the sump, causing it to over flow till the water level in my tank dropped and they lost suction . Then when the electricity came back on the pump drained my sump back into the aquairum, but by then the damage was done. (2) I am not sure what syphon breaks are? (3) The fellow who put my system together drew a line 3" from the top for maximum water level. The return pump is a turbo-sea 1270 and is a 165 watt/120 volt 60 hz , and thanks again

[LoneStar]

A siphon break would be a small hole on the return line, just above the water line in your display tank. That way when the tank starts to siphon back down to the sump, air will be introduced into the line, stopping the continous flow of water back down to your sump. Just make sure that siphon hole is not too far below the water line. Some run it an 1" or so above the water line too. Just remember a 1" or 2" of water in your display tank is A LOT of water ;)

[Ram_Puppy]

Johne, siphon breaks can be something as simple as a hole drilled in your overflow.

while the hole is under water it does nothing, but if the water goes low enough, the hole is exposed, allowing air into the line, and breaking the siphon.

on return lines, you can use something like this.
(check valve)
http://www.marinedepot.com/IMD/ft_cv_clear_1.jpg

[tony]

altex has a decent sized ups for $80ish

[erikharrison]

altex has a decent sized ups for $80ish

If and or when you get a UPS, test it. Leave it plugged in and running for a few days. This will completely ensure that the battery is charged. Plug in your return, then pull the plug and time it. That will give you a good baseline for the performance of the UPS.

Essentially a back syphon is just a reversed syphon. The pump goes off, and the water goes in reverse till it hits air, at which time it will stop. Once that is taken care of, the only other real way that your overflow stuff (assuming you have an overflow box) could go arry in a power outage is if you somehow, someway lost your siphon in your overflow and the power kicked back on.

I've never had a full on flood, maybe a gallon or so, but there have been nights where I woke up to go check my sump.

[Bill S]

Listen SERIOUSLY to what folks are saying:

You should be able to shut your complete system off and not get a flood. If you can't do that, you are wasting your money on a UPS. You HAVE to fix the first problem first... Post pix if you need to!

[BIGBIRD123]

Bill is right on the money...or need to not spend it...

[Ram_Puppy]

you know i read about a new plastic a few years ago that was capable of retaining water, but exchanging co2 and o2... i wonder why it never made it to market.

[urban79]

Ya bill is right. And If you system is going out for days you need to pay your bill.. There should be no reason to get one.