Next Hurricane Plan of Action (1 Viewer)

[aqua-nut]

My electricity at my office was restored yesterday afternoon. Five days without power, yet I lost no fish or corals in my 150 reef setup.

What saved me was a buddy loaning me two 12 volt deep-cycle marine batteries and an AC inverter.

I plugged a Maxi-jet 1200 with a OceanFlo mod kit 1200 propeller on it to the setup and it blasted the tank with oxygenated water (leaving it close enough to the top to create a vortex).

The fish were too scared to eat in the dark with that thing blasting away, but they're out and happy today... and hungry for sure!

I bought a battery-powered bubbler that's strong enough to work on a 10 gallon tank before the storm, but quickly realized this wasn't going to cut it when there are dozens of large corals and 6 medium sized fish in a tank.

Next time a hurricane hits, I will have a couple of 12 volt batteries charged, a power inverter of my own, and a generator for my home that I can use to charge the batteries after the storm should the power be out for as long as it was this time. I cannot run a generator at my office where the tank is located because it would be stolen the second I left the office, and I have no secure outside location in which to operate it.

BTW, the LFS's around town probably took a big hit... but they're going to do a wonderful business from all of us as soon as they get new shipments in.

 

[pelochas]

leave the inverter out of your plan and look into 12 volt dc bilge pumps that are in the boating department at academy or at any west marine or boating supply store

btw, was the maxijet still running after 5 days?

i think the 150 gallons with a few fish and corals is what saved your tank. a much smaller tank and it could have turn out different.

 

[aqua-nut]

The maxijet ran for about 28 hours on each 12 volt battery charge. I had two batteries I swapped out.

I'll check out the bilge pumps

 

[uno_mas]

bilge pump

I second the bilge pump idea. I have one that has kept my water circulating off and on since Saturday morning and I am still without power. A couple deep cycle marine batteries and you can keep going for a while.

 

[Brad]

Does the bilge pump has metal parts that will rust or leach into the water. I bet they are not made for this kind of marine enviroment even though they may be used in bay situations.

 

[pelochas]

Brad, i dont think i would have a bildge pump in my tank at all times, its just plain big and ugly.

This plan is not made to leave the bilge pump in the tank at all times. This is more like "losing power while at home or getting home."

a plan for no one home will be will be totally self switching and power is that you have a nice generator with battery and starter to run the generator and then a transfer switch and a big ol gas tank full of gas to run for days...i dont think you want to look at the price for that setup. even at this it will may fail. i have two big generators at transmitter sites that get monthly checks and they failed when the storm came thru.

but to answer your question, bildge pumps are made with stainless steel and made for the saltiest water enviroment. go to west marine or any boat supplies shop, almost everything is pvc or stainless for the saltwater enviroment.
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