Shrimpie123 Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 We are beginning hurricane season and we frequently get power outages from the tropical storms & hurricanes. Every season, I make sure we are prepared and realized my shrimp also need protection. This is my first year with shrimp tanks and not quite sure what the best approach is with my current set up. I have 3G JBJ Picotopes with AC30 HOB filters. I do have them on a surge protector but I need a way to battery operate them. What do the experts suggest and do? Thanks in advance. I've been reading around and not quite sure what is best for our set up here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 battery powered air pumps are handy to have. Shrimpie123, svetilda and Soothing Shrimp 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pucksr Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 I am not an expert at this, but as a fisherman, I know that we used to buy rather robust DC airpumps that ran on D cell batteries for a couple of bucks to keep our bait alive. Granted, after learning a bit more I think our efforts might have been in vain. We were thinking that the water was losing oxygen. We really should have been worrying more about getting the nitrates and such out of the water column. Sponge filters run off of an air pump and do an excellent job. It wouldn't hurt to have one that had some good bacteria on it and was ready to go(though I will leave that to the experts). Some people run sponge filters on air pumps as their sole filtering since they are cheap and efficient. Shrimpie123 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 13 minutes ago, pucksr said: Sponge filters run off of an air pump and do an excellent job. It wouldn't hurt to have one that had some good bacteria on it and was ready to go(though I will leave that to the experts). This is exactly what I do. I keep a double sponge filter running in all my tanks, even those with HOB filters. This way if the power goes out, I can just plug the airline into a battery-powered pump. I got this one http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3693 but there are more expensive ones like this one http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8120 that will switch to battery automatically if the power goes out. Shrimpie123 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpie123 Posted June 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 14 minutes ago, sarah said: This is exactly what I do. I keep a double sponge filter running in all my tanks, even those with HOB filters. This way if the power goes out, I can just plug the airline into a battery-powered pump. I got this one http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3693 but there are more expensive ones like this one http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8120 that will switch to battery automatically if the power goes out. This is such big help from you guys. Now, since I have a 3 gallon heavily planted tank in one (picture attached), space is an issue. Are these large? I'm most concerned about bacteria and a potential mini cycle in the event of a prolonged outage. A short outage and I can do something less complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jifstone Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 If you start sponge filter ASAP then you should have enough bacteria colonized in it to prevent a mini-cycle. Shrimpie123 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 I live in Georgia and we are actually in the way of the current Tropical Storm. I currently use APC BR1500G Backups on my shrimp tanks, which keep the power on them running for at minimum 2 hours. Unless something catastrophic happens this has been plenty of time in my experience to "weather" the storm. Shrimpie123 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpie123 Posted June 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 11 minutes ago, DETAquarium said: I live in Georgia and we are actually in the way of the current Tropical Storm. I currently use APC BR1500G Backups on my shrimp tanks, which keep the power on them running for at minimum 2 hours. Unless something catastrophic happens this has been plenty of time in my experience to "weather" the storm. I live in heavily weathered part of Florida so this is even better. You can just run the filters and tanks in general on this! Ok, this is the easiest option yet. Since Charlie, the outages have been less than 12 hours. Charlie was a week long, but in that case, I don't think there's much anyone can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 That is right. I only run my Eheim Canister Filters on the Backups. Unfortunately unless you go a generator route, this would be one of your only options outside of battery operated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35ppt Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 I wonder if doing some math will tell you how long you can run a particular HOB/canister on a given APC unit? I think I've got the smallest model of those XY sponge filters in my pico and it does take up a lot of space. I would like to run an aquaclear on mine (with the sponge prefilter) but wasn't sure what size would work. Was thinking of the AC20, actually. Also, what about cooling? I did just find some small battery operated fans, but if you have an APC, plug ins could be used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 APC has a chart that tells you how many watts it can hold for approx. how long. That is what I based it on prior to purchasing, after your purchase your APC Backups will tell you how many minutes it can hold with the amount of watts it has plugged into it. Shrimpie123 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpie123 Posted June 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 4 minutes ago, 35ppt said: I wonder if doing some math will tell you how long you can run a particular HOB/canister on a given APC unit? I think I've got the smallest model of those XY sponge filters in my pico and it does take up a lot of space. I would like to run an aquaclear on mine (with the sponge prefilter) but wasn't sure what size would work. Was thinking of the AC20, actually. Also, what about cooling? I did just find some small battery operated fans, but if you have an APC, plug ins could be used. I have about 10 battery operated fans. They are not large but they work in groups fine. I am certain I bought them off Amazon. I think a few would work fine for a small nano tanks. I should test it out. Non Power Outage Related: I bought a tank specific cooling fan since our temps are currently 95+ on average lately. I wasn't able to keep the tanks below 78 even though AC set at 74-75 which is COLD for us. They are noisy and caused a good amount of evaporation. What I did was put my Dyson fan on the console and aimed it for the HOB and backside of tank. My tank has remained at 72 ish with far less evaporation. I think I will be returning the tank fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpie123 Posted June 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 4 minutes ago, DETAquarium said: APC has a chart that tells you how many watts it can hold for approx. how long. That is what I based it on prior to purchasing, after your purchase your APC Backups will tell you how many minutes it can hold with the amount of watts it has plugged into it. I think this is a good thing to have in our little hurricane kit anyway. Easy sell to the hubs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted June 7, 2016 Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 I think I've got the smallest model of those XY sponge filters in my pico and it does take up a lot of space. I would like to run an aquaclear on mine (with the sponge prefilter) but wasn't sure what size would work. Was thinking of the AC20, actually. How big is your pico? I had the same issue and run one of these: http://m.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9821&cmpid=03cseYY&gclid=CJias5Gzlc0CFVKVfgodhNwD1w $7 and it's great and adjustable like the aquaclear. It's also tiny and comes with a little sponge guard for the intake. I have it on a 2.5 at the lowest power, water is crystal clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r45t4m4n Posted June 7, 2016 Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 If you're in hurricane country, do yourself a favor and get a generator. You can keep the tanks cool and air running for a while. When a hurricane hits it is not uncommon to be without power for a week or more. I've lived in the Bahamas and Southern Florida most of my life and this has been my experience. You may be lucky and get power back quickly or not loose it at all, but why risk it at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35ppt Posted June 7, 2016 Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 21 hours ago, DETAquarium said: APC has a chart that tells you how many watts it can hold for approx. how long. That is what I based it on prior to purchasing, after your purchase your APC Backups will tell you how many minutes it can hold with the amount of watts it has plugged into it. Well that's half the equation, lol. It took some doing, but I did find the motor on my AC50 that says it is 6W, and I think all the models are about the same. My air pumps do also have the watts listed on the unit (2.5W). Fan: 3W For winter storm outages, I would also factor in using a heater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35ppt Posted June 7, 2016 Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 10 hours ago, Mr. F said: How big is your pico? I had the same issue and run one of these: http://m.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9821&cmpid=03cseYY&gclid=CJias5Gzlc0CFVKVfgodhNwD1w $7 and it's great and adjustable like the aquaclear. It's also tiny and comes with a little sponge guard for the intake. I have it on a 2.5 at the lowest power, water is crystal clear. sweet, thanks. The pico comes with a HOB but I was using it on another tank, I should probably just move it back, lol. Mr. F 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpie123 Posted June 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2016 On June 7, 2016 at 1:11 PM, r45t4m4n said: If you're in hurricane country, do yourself a favor and get a generator. You can keep the tanks cool and air running for a while. When a hurricane hits it is not uncommon to be without power for a week or more. I've lived in the Bahamas and Southern Florida most of my life and this has been my experience. You may be lucky and get power back quickly or not loose it at all, but why risk it at all? Thanks. We have a generator but it will only power our fridges. My town, Orlando, needs more than power today. So sad. Sad, sad, sad day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.