# Power Outages And Buying A Portable Generator



## Pablo T. (Oct 19, 2011)

After reading the post of what to do if the power goes out for a long time on another forum and knowing that I live in a place where IF the power goes out, it could be up to eight hours....maybe more on getting the power back. I was seriously thinking about getting a portable generator but am having issues trying to figure out first off what size people usually get for just running a fish tank (which I am guessing mine runs around 500 watts with all of the filters and heaters,etc) and what brands are ones people on this forum have and have had good luck with being decent quality brands? Any help would be greatly appreciated. This might be a better question for someone who actually works at a store that sells them like Sears or Home Depot, but it seems like the stores have nothing in stock and all of the generators that are available are only sold online, so this is why I ask the question here I guess, thinking that maybe some of you guys have them already and have used them, maybe also for RV'ing as well? Thinking maybe some of you might already have one of these and can chime in on what brands are good and what wattages, etc I should be looking at getting to just run the two tanks.....a 75 gallon and a 20 gallon which I figured would have about 600 watts maximum that they would be "pulling" according to the wattages of everything. Any input would be greatly appreciated as I am a little "lost" here trying to figure this all out, especially the sound decibals as well. Thanks for reading!


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## inurocker (May 9, 2011)

One word "Honda". Quiet and with minimum service and care will last almost for ever. Mine is over twenty years old and still going strong. The new ones are so quiet its crazy.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I've owned/used several generators and it can be a challenge to buy the right one. But then there are also other things that figure into whether it is something you should do. Every situation and location is different plus what the operator is willing to do. A generator can't just be gassed up and set aside for years in case it is needed. Fresh gas has to be on hand and to get generators to start reliably, they must be used now and then. Pepole who really relie on them like telephone companies and sewage plants, often start and run the generator on a monthly basis. Before buying it is worthwhile to check that you are willing to do some extra to make sure the thing will do the job when needed. Honda is a quality gen set but somewhat higher priced. Onan is the super quality item that many RV's have on board. If I were buying, I would go for one large enough to run a few things like lights to make life a bit easier as well as keeping the fish going. You can rotate items that are plugged in so that you can cool a frig for a while and then run some lights or other stuff. Slightly bigger is not always more expensive if you stick with the common sizes.


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## Pablo T. (Oct 19, 2011)

Thanks for the responses, guys! I appreciate any help I can get. Anyone have any idea also about how long the good biological bacteria in the filters can last with the power off? Say two hours? Three? I know that they need oxygen to keep things going and I would assume that it wouldn't take but a few hours before things started dying off.

Thanks again for such prompt replies. :thumb:


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

Pablo T. said:


> Thanks for the responses, guys! I appreciate any help I can get. Anyone have any idea also about how long the good biological bacteria in the filters can last with the power off? Say two hours? Three? I know that they need oxygen to keep things going and I would assume that it wouldn't take but a few hours before things started dying off.
> 
> Thanks again for such prompt replies. :thumb:


They can last for quite a while if you open them up and get oxygen to the media. Remove it if you have to and immerse it in a 5 gallon bucket with a battery operated air pump and stone. It'll keep for days.


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## Dampness (Oct 24, 2011)

look for a used one for rv's, honda is great, be advised that the gas goes stale fast and they can be hard to start when needed, Id go diesel or propane over gas, for what your looking at Id be looking for a battery back up and an inverter


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Pablo T. said:


> Thanks for the responses, guys! I appreciate any help I can get. Anyone have any idea also about how long the good biological bacteria in the filters can last with the power off? Say two hours? Three? I know that they need oxygen to keep things going and I would assume that it wouldn't take but a few hours before things started dying off.
> 
> Thanks again for such prompt replies. :thumb:


From experience, we lost power for 26 hours due to hurricane Irene in August. I have no generator and did nothing with my tanks except stress a little bit. Power came back up, everything started as normal, and had no losses of fish. What does this mean? Perhaps nothing, as it is one single instance.

However, we are currently without power again, thanks to the October snowstorm. Power was lost at 10ish Saturday night. The difference this time is the temperatures are much colder, both outside and inside. My neighbor got power back at 3PM on Sunday, and we ran a cord from his place to mine to run tanks - at least trying to keep them up to temp. Ran each tank on 4 hour cycles over night, and will be doing so again today.

My conclusion is that if the temperatures stay reasonable, a critical mass of the bacteria will stay alive for longer than most would expect. I don't know how long that is, but in my case it was at least 26 hours - while keeping reasonable temperatures.

With this second extended power outage in 8 weeks, I am beginning to wonder if I am being irresponsible in not having a generator. That said, I have had no extended power outages in the previous 15 years...


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

it's not just about losing beneficial bacteria, but about the denitrification that happens in low oxygen water. One of the intermediary products of denitrificaiton is nitrite. At the very least you should empty your filters of water and refill before turning them back on to help ensure that you're not dumping toxins into the tank. It's worth a few minutes of your time IMO.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Tim - do you have any resources to back this up? I'm not questioning the logic, I'd just like to learn a bit more about this subject.

Thanks


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

nodima said:


> Tim - do you have any resources to back this up? I'm not questioning the logic, I'd just like to learn a bit more about this subject.
> 
> Thanks


Denitrifcation

_Denitrification generally proceeds through some combination of the following intermediate forms:
NO3Ã¢Ë†â€™ Ã¢â€ â€™ NO2Ã¢Ë†â€™ Ã¢â€ â€™ NO + N2O Ã¢â€ â€™ N2 (g)_


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## bostonjon (Sep 2, 2003)

lost power for over 6 days due to irene...ran small battery powered air stone and fish were fine and all survived..i think i was lucky. this storm however will be different...temp in house is down to 50 degrees and expect no power for 2 more days....will have fishicles by then....... ;-(


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

prov356 said:


> it's not just about losing beneficial bacteria, but about the denitrification that happens in low oxygen water. One of the intermediary products of denitrificaiton is nitrite. At the very least you should empty your filters of water and refill before turning them back on to help ensure that you're not dumping toxins into the tank. It's worth a few minutes of your time IMO.


I had a scheduled power outtage for about 5-6 hours in my neighbourhood a few weeks ago. It all happened at night. I did a 70-80% water change before going to bed and another one when I woke up (probably within an hour of the power coming back on). I also didn't feed the fish the day before or the day after the power went off.

Was what I did sufficient or would it have been advisable to take the canister apart before going to bed, putting the biomedia bag in a bucket of tank water and then reassembling when I woke up?

The fish seemed fine but I know they can be harmed at levels that are not immediately apparent.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> Was what I did sufficient or would it have been advisable to take the canister apart before going to bed, putting the biomedia bag in a bucket of tank water and then reassembling when I woke up?


I would have because it's easy enough to do. Drop an airstone in the bucket. Not always necesssary, but takes so little effort to eliminate the risks.


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## Pablo T. (Oct 19, 2011)

Sooooo.......from all this feedback I have been reading, how long would you let the tanks sit before you fire up the generator? Reason I ask this is that IF things can stay "alive" for two to three hours and I can wait that long until firing up the generator, that would be better for the neighborhood's sake. Also.....two to three hours was just a guess. Could things potentially be okay for a longer amount of time as long as the temperature doesn't dive down too far?

Just live in a condo type of house where the neighborhood is rather small and I would like to have an idea about how long of time frame I am looking at before I should rely on getting a power supply started.


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## CITADELGRAD87 (Mar 26, 2003)

I know you can buy battery powered air pumps, you could have some of those ready and probably go 24 hours without missing a beat. If the power is off longer than that, fire up the genny, you are going to start having food spoil, etc at that point.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> Sooooo.......from all this feedback I have been reading, how long would you let the tanks sit before you fire up the generator?


for the tanks, I'd run it on an interval of 10 minutes every hour. That'll turn things over and oygenate the water for both fish and bacteria. I think that's better than pushing it to the limit before firing it up. Hard to say where that limit is for each system. I ran my 180 one time for a few minutes every hour with a batter backup over 5 hours and all was fine.


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## Pablo T. (Oct 19, 2011)

Thanks for that advice! That makes perfect sense actually.


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## TJX03 (Dec 7, 2011)

A generator is always a good investment, I'd go with a minimum of 5 KW that way you can also run other things in the house (fridge, tv, etc.) but It is quite a bit of money. One other option is a UPS (uninterruped power source). We use these in my office to protect computers and other electronic equipment. It is basically a power strip with a battery.

A buddy of mine has a good method for his salt water setup. When he goes out of town, he replaces the pump with a 12v bilge pump from a boat. He hooks it up to a 12v battery (car battery) and hooks up a trickle charger to the battery. If the power goes out, the battery will power the pump.


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## MotoGod (Jul 19, 2012)

Northern Tool and Harbor Freight sell little 1200 watt 2 stroke generators that are pretty quiet and run for a pretty long time on a tank of gas. I agree with others when they say "Honda", but Honda also means big $$$. If you are buying a generator SOLELY for the fish tank....don't get a Honda. You will have a ton of money tied up to run the equivalent of a flashlight (500 watts is nothing for most generators).

If you want to spend the money, but a Honda (or other brand) big enough to power your major appliances. That way you can at least keep the fridge and stuff going at the same time. Just my 2 cents.... I bought a 5800 watt (8800 surge) generator a few years back. We use it for a bunch of stuff....


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## the blur (Oct 4, 2010)

Consider and APC UPS 1500VA. they will run an air pump for quite a while. Not for an extended outage. But I have never lost a fish due to an outage. It's interesting to hear most people havn't lost fish due to power loss. perhaps fish are more hardy than we think.


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