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Thread: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

  1. #1
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Hi all,
    Summer is here in the USA and with it that means tropical storms! Too often we read about someone with a power outage due to a storm or some other issues. These storms can happen any time of the year but summer time is particularly bad. We spend a small fortune on our Fish, tanks, equipment etc. but we often skimp on things to protect those investments. Unfortunately until you are faced with no power and dying fish you often just do not realize how quickly things go from great to bad in your fish tanks. There are few things in the hobby more depressing than losing a tank of your prized Discus because you were unprepared for power outages. What makes it even sadder is that these things are very easy to prepare for.

    You first have to add up the tanks power consumption to figure out how much power you will need. Once you know that you need to figure out how to get that power. For most people the easiest solution is a portable generator. A great thing to have anyway to keep the refrigerator and other necessities running, so thats one more reason besides your fish to get one. Generators are pretty readily available at any many retail stores (home depot, lowes, walmart.etc) and online at places like Amazon and Ebay. They vary in size from small 800 watt units to 10,000+ watts. You should avoid the small 800-1200 watt units. These are often very cheaply made 2 cycle engines and the carburetors gum up easy making them a pain to start. You also probably don't need one thats 6000-7000+ watts unless you are using a transfer switch to power your whole house. Its overkill if you are planning on running extension cords to the refrigerator and fish tanks. 2000 -5000 watts is probably good for most casual usage. These "construction, general purpose portable type generators" are perfect for your general needs and your fish tank's emergency power supply. They produce a modified Sine wave which is compatible with most things but unfortunately not all. They can also be a little loud though. They run on various fuels and some run on multiple fuels (diesel, gas, propane, or natural gas in some cases). There are a lot of pros and cons to each fuel and you should consider what you have most readily available.

    One thing to note is that these construction generators don't always work well with sensitive equipment like flat screen TVs and computers. For these a better option is an Inverter Generator. These create a pure sine wave unlike the modified sine wave made by "construction, general purpose portable type generators. Because of this pure sine wave these can be used for all your needs, including tanks but are pricey and run small. Honda and Yamaha are top names for inverter generators, and carry a corresponding high price. Ryobi makes a very good one and costs half as much. I use this one personally and really like it. Its quiet and gets the job done at a fair price. Inverter Generators are also more quiet than "Construction, General purpose portable type generators". That makes for happy neighbors!

    One note on generators and fuel that I should make is if you go with the most common generator fuel,Gasoline, you need to store it properly. Generators sit along time between use. The gas gets stale and when you need it its not any use any more. Many people store their generators dry and rotate gas storage every 6 months or so. You should store gas with a product like "Stab-il " which helps keep it fresh for months. Another problem with keeping gas in the generator is modern gas contains ethanol. This is bad for carburetors and leads to them gumming up and needing to be cleaned after sitting for a while with old gas. One benefit of going with a propane generator is propane gas does not go bad and and does not harm the carburetor. More and more generators are being made as dual fuel now. The run on gasoline or propane which is a pretty useful option. Also make sure you stock pile oil for your generator. You need to keep the oil clean when using it for extended run. Its not hard to change, but thats only if you have the oil to change it with!

    So aside from generators, what can you use? You can often scrape by an outage using your car's electricity! Your car battery hooked up to an inverter is a great option. You can buy inverters in many sizes. DO NOT BUY A HUGE INVERTER. They sell inverters that run from 1000-4000 plus watts. More in this case is not better! To use one on your car would potentially fry the car's battery and electrical system and could cause a fire. The cables alone needed to safely use inverters of this size are very thick gauge wire or they will heat up. I would stick with an inverter of less than 700 watts. That is enough to rotate between some filters, lights and heaters if you mind the wattage used. Speaking from experience It will get you by in a pitch a few days.You should also run the car often ( not near the house!) to charge the batteries. Your car battery is not really designed for deep discharges. Drain it too far, too often and you shorten its life dramatically. I wrote about inverter battery systems in detail here..http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...r-The-inverter


    What about the battery back up systems sold for computers? Yes you can use these but understand that they are small capacity batteries that would drain fast if you try and run heaters off them. They are made to supply un-interrupted power a short time if you lose it while working on your computer, or maybe things like keeping medical equipment running. They are charged by your household electricity so of limited use in a power outage.

    Really most Discus keepers would benefit greatly by investing in back up power solution like a generator or at the least an inverter. It can save you much heart break in the future. Do yourself a favor though, don't wait until you need it to buy a generator or inverter. They become very scarce when a storm hits.Plan ahead and you will be glad you did!


    Best always,
    al


    If you read this and found it useful, or if you have already used SimplyDiscus to get started right or correct some problems in your Discus Keeping, PLEASE consider sending in a thank you (click here)... It helps keep the forum open and it will help keep me writing articles
    Last edited by brewmaster15; 06-29-2017 at 11:44 AM.
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  2. #2
    Homesteader RogueDiscus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Nice article Al. I've been thinking about buying a generator for a while. In addition to my tanks, I would like to be able to run things like the fridge and freezer. Costco has a Champion 2800wt/3100 peak inverter generator. Does this sound like enough? Are special cords usually required, also, or just good sized extension cords?

    It is dual fuel.
    Last edited by RogueDiscus; 06-29-2017 at 01:13 PM.
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    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Steve,
    How many heaters and watts do you use?

    al
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
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    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Hi Al
    I have a 8000 watt generator I bought after the Oct. storm a couple of years ago, 2011 I believe. We were without power for 11 days
    and I had 4 10 gal tanks around my wood stove taking care of the 25 or 30 baby angels I got from you. Haven't needed to use it at all.
    Folks should buy the blue sta-bil,not the red, and start that baby up every 2 or so months and let it run for 10 or so minutes.
    Also, people put in a transfer switch system. Much safer.
    Jay

  5. #5
    Homesteader RogueDiscus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Quote Originally Posted by brewmaster15 View Post
    Steve,
    How many heaters and watts do you use?

    al
    Right. Make me go do the math! Just being lazy. It's one thing to know how, it's another to apply it!
    Last edited by RogueDiscus; 06-29-2017 at 03:10 PM.
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  6. #6
    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    I bought this one a couple of years ago. I put some gas in it and run it dry once a month. I was told to plug stuff into it when I run it every month. If you don't, there's a chance that when you need it it will run but not be able to generate electricity. That info came to a highly respected small engine guy so I do as he suggested. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Duromax-4...00EH/203729909
    Last edited by LizStreithorst; 06-29-2017 at 03:26 PM.
    Mama Bear

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    Homesteader RogueDiscus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    I'm assuming that although heaters aren't usually all on at the time, should plan for that anyway.
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    Homesteader RogueDiscus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Quick mental math tells me my 6-250 wt heaters plus whatever my air pump takes gets to 2K watts pretty quickly. If I'm buying a generator, the house requirements come first, then the fish. So, do I buy more? Even if I'm miscalculating and looking at this all wrong, I'm really glad for the input.
    Lifting dictionaries literally strengthens your muscles.

  9. #9
    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    The fish can go a long while without heaters they can't live long with out air. Should we have an outtage during the winter months my plan is to plug in my dehumidifier and an oil filled space heater. Here in Mississippi that should keep the fish warm enough until the power comes back on.
    Mama Bear

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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    I bought the Champion 4500w last year. I wanted something for the fish tanks, the big freezers, and the fridge. I have about 2000 watts of heaters, so this looked about right. I got the heavy 12ga extension cords so I can run the needed amps through two cords leading to the fish room and still have a margin of safety.

    I found out the hard way that you should do a dry run to see what you need to do with the power strips and cords in the event of a power outage. Otherwise you are fumbling around in the dark and finding out you aren't really ready.

    Around here the power outages are usually from wind storms during the winter.

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    Registered Member Clawhammer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Hey Al, this is the Ryobi I picked up as a back up, is this the one you recommend? Any additional accessories you have with this to maximize it's performance (like batteries, etc)?

    http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-2-2...2200/203617901

  12. #12
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Quote Originally Posted by Clawhammer View Post
    Hey Al, this is the Ryobi I picked up as a back up, is this the one you recommend? Any additional accessories you have with this to maximize it's performance (like batteries, etc)?

    http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-2-2...2200/203617901
    Thats one I use here Eric does my sensitive electronics, and can run some tanks. The nice thing about invert generators is if you need more power you can run two in parallel.

    I also have some old uglies from craiglist to pick up the slack... You can find cheap "construction generators" on craigslist... The ones I have are loud obnoxious beasts that will probably out live me,but they are only good for power tools, tanks and frig..not sensitive electronics.

    Just be sure you have oil for oil changes and know how to do one..

    If you want to maximize its usefulness, you can pick up some deep cycle batteries and inverter.... Use these first... then when they run down, use the invert generator and while running the house/tank stuff recharge the batteries. That model has dedicated cables for charging DC batteries.

    al
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
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    Aquaticsuppliers.com


    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

  13. #13
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Quote Originally Posted by DJW View Post
    I bought the Champion 4500w last year. I wanted something for the fish tanks, the big freezers, and the fridge. I have about 2000 watts of heaters, so this looked about right. I got the heavy 12ga extension cords so I can run the needed amps through two cords leading to the fish room and still have a margin of safety.

    I found out the hard way that you should do a dry run to see what you need to do with the power strips and cords in the event of a power outage. Otherwise you are fumbling around in the dark and finding out you aren't really ready.

    Around here the power outages are usually from wind storms during the winter.

    Dan, its wise to do that...always do a dry run. And if you know a storm is coming, make double sure it all works. If you have a long run from the generator to the house the heavier gauge wire the better!

    al
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
    Simplydiscus LLC Owner
    Aquaticsuppliers.com


    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

  14. #14
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Quote Originally Posted by LizStreithorst View Post
    I bought this one a couple of years ago. I put some gas in it and run it dry once a month. I was told to plug stuff into it when I run it every month. If you don't, there's a chance that when you need it it will run but not be able to generate electricity. That info came to a highly respected small engine guy so I do as he suggested. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Duromax-4...00EH/203729909
    Liz its good advice.. Periodically run the generator with load on it... just be sure to remove the load before you turn off the generator,, and never start the generator under load. I love dual fuel genny's . You can always find gas grill tanks in a pinch and you can store them forever filled.

    al
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
    Simplydiscus LLC Owner
    Aquaticsuppliers.com


    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

  15. #15
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Summer Time here in the States, Prepared?

    Quote Originally Posted by RogueDiscus View Post
    Quick mental math tells me my 6-250 wt heaters plus whatever my air pump takes gets to 2K watts pretty quickly. If I'm buying a generator, the house requirements come first, then the fish. So, do I buy more? Even if I'm miscalculating and looking at this all wrong, I'm really glad for the input.

    Steve you need to figure that all the load will be on at once. In practice that won't happen, but if it does the generator can fail.. Liz is right about the heaters.. I usually unplug all mine... and I focus on the air and filters. Then I plug in heaters a few at a time as I need them. If you plan on running a well and/or furnace you will need alot more watts.. and it should be hard wired into a transfer switch. An electrician should do that, and they can tell best what you need. If you just want the frig and freezer on extension cords and don't mind working a bit during the outage the one you are looking at should be fine.

    al
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
    Simplydiscus LLC Owner
    Aquaticsuppliers.com


    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

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