# Advanced Power Loss Backup Plan Questions



## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

Hello... Been lurking here for a while... this is my first post.

I have a 55 gallon Malawi setup with 70 malawi cichlids. This setup has been up for over a year. Average size of cichlids are probably 4"... some bigger some smaller. mix of mbuna, haps, peacock.

My setup:
cocina shell and african cichlid sand substrate. 
Live rock for caves.
950 gallon per hour Aqueon circulation pump (located 5 inches below surface on side of tank aimed up and toward front of tank)
Temp set to 76 degrees.
Aqueon 55/75 HOB cartridge filter on left side
Aqua Clear 110 HOB filter on Right side (setup with sponge, and 3 times recomended biomax... no carbon)
50% water change weekly
Prime water conditioner used for each water change
seagrums cichlid lake salt used to condition water. 
Additional water softener salt added as needed. 
Algae allowed to grow on back and side walls of tank. 
feeding cichlid gold and spectrum cichlid formula 2 to 4 times a day.

Here is the question... Living in Fl power outages are common. Usually they only last for a couple hours... sometimes rarely for days. I use a computer backup power supply that provides about 9 hours of run time when one filter is plugged into it. When that battery dies, a battery operated aerator that automatically detects power loss turns on.

Question is... What filter should be plugged into the computer battery backup and why?


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## oyster dog (Jul 2, 2013)

The one that uses the least amount of power, but still provides adequate biological filtration.


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## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

That is true.... The Aquaclear 110 pulls 14 watts. The Aqueon I can't find wattage data anywhere on the web... So not sure on that.

I am thinking the Aquaclear is prob best bet because of huge volume of biomax that wouldn't be disturbed in most outages lasting less then 9 hours. BUT the Aqueon seems to move water better... resulting in more oxygen....

lol or I could do the third option and run both filters off battery backup for what should theoretically last for 4.5 hours.... :fish:


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

I'm sorry.... just can't get my head around 70, 4" fish of any type in a 55gal. tank. :fish:


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## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

smitty814 said:


> I'm sorry.... just can't get my head around 70, 4" fish of any type in a 55gal. tank. :fish:


It is beautiful. Even with 70 fish in a 55 gallon, my tank STILL isn't as crowded as they are in the wild in some of the lake Malawi underwater pics I have seen....

Just gotta stay on top of your water. :thumb:


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## oyster dog (Jul 2, 2013)

mcavana said:


> That is true.... The Aquaclear 110 pulls 14 watts. The Aqueon I can't find wattage data anywhere on the web... So not sure on that. :fish:


Isn't the wattage data printed on the Aqueon pump head?


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## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

Thank you oyster dog... yes It is. They are both 14 watts... and after an actual test today, I see that the run time for one pump is 7 hours... not 9.


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

I was thinking the same thing---70 fish, wow! I guess if your water parameters stay good and the aggression is fine, then go for it. Can you post a pic of your tank? I want to see this...


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## Filet O Fish (Apr 26, 2012)

Austinite said:


> I was thinking the same thing---70 fish, wow! I guess if your water parameters stay good and the aggression is fine, then go for it. Can you post a pic of your tank? I want to see this...


 opcorn:


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

Fish must be stacked like firewood. :fish:


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

> It is beautiful. Even with 70 fish in a 55 gallon, my tank STILL isn't as crowded as they are in the wild in some of the lake Malawi underwater pics I have seen....


Ok that statement is so crazy it deserves a response.

Volume of aquarium = 55 gallon
Volume of Lake Malawi = 2 219 045 239 800 000 gallon (8400 cubic kilometers).

Just because a lot of fish are in one area at one time for a photograph does not mean that their density is anywhere close to what you have in your aquarium. Vast amounts of water volume in the lake may have 0 fish in it at any time. That photograph of a lot of cichlids grazing on the rocks does not take into account the 35 feet of water above the rocks with no fish in it.

In actuality there is probably less than one fish per 55 gallons in the lake.

That being said, if the fish are all healthy and the filtration is adequately keeping the water healthy then I see no problem with your stocking density. It's risky but not impossible to do.

Andy


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## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

Narwhal72 said:


> > It is beautiful. Even with 70 fish in a 55 gallon, my tank STILL isn't as crowded as they are in the wild in some of the lake Malawi underwater pics I have seen....
> 
> 
> Ok that statement is so crazy it deserves a response.


Andy, reread what I said... Obviously I meant that in Lake Malawi, in some places giant dense schools consisting of many different species exist. My tank is a representation of such a school.

I just did a full inventory, and counting all of the fish, there are 78 total. Of that 78, there are 5 Great Danios, 2 Mud Minnows (fulled from the local river), 1 plecostomus, 1 South American Red Belly (aka Wally), and 69 african cichlids. Of the Africans, the biggest cichlid at the moment is a Male bumble bee at 6". 15 of them are 5 inches. 30 of them are 4 inches, 15 are between 3 and 4 inches, 8 of them are less then 3 inches.

I will work on a picture tonight... a video would be even better. Is there a way I can post a video on this site?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

At the top of every forum page there are instructions for posting pictures & videos. You need to upload your pics or video to a photo hosting website or youtube first.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

> Andy, reread what I said... Obviously I meant that in Lake Malawi, in some places giant dense schools consisting of many different species exist. My tank is a representation of such a school.


That is not what you said. And what you said cannot _obviously _ be understood to be your meaning stated above.

This is what you said:


> It is beautiful. Even with 70 fish in a 55 gallon, my tank STILL isn't as crowded as they are in the wild in some of the lake Malawi underwater pics I have seen....


What you said initially is completely inaccurate.

All that being said. I wasn't being critical of your setup or population density. Just your statement about how crowded the fish were in Lake Malawi.

Andy


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## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

I am going to start a new thread in Malawi section.... since this thead got kinda hijacked.


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## mcavana (Sep 22, 2013)

Here is the new thread... viewtopic.php?f=9&t=277562


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