UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

[SandyLynne]

I am fairly new to this forum and have found it to be a most valuable source of information and I wish to thank everyone for their comments in helping others out, I have learnt so much from reading about others problems.

One thing I am quite concerned about is a power black out and bacteria dyeing from the filter not working.

Is this a problem and does anyone have a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to keep power going to filter / heater?

:roll:

[FishLover]

I bought a UPS for computer and use for my filters only. It should last me about 2-3 hours in case of a black out. Your filter media would be fine wihtout power for less than an hour or two. More than that your fish are in trouble. YOu need to clean up and your tank would have a mini cycle.

You need to do some math of how many watts your filter uses, then look at the UPS wattage and how long does it last. Don't bother to hook the UPS with your lights or heaters. The UPS can not handle that, or at least the money you would pay would not handel that.

[TomNS]

You need to do some math of how many watts your filter uses, then look at the UPS wattage and how long does it last. Don't bother to hook the UPS with your lights or heaters. The UPS can not handle that, or at least the money you would pay would not handel that.


I disagree with the heaters bit - my tank has two 200w heaters in it and the UPS is hardly stessed by it - the UPS is a rather large unit and has a very large inverter in it good for about 2000w at full load. Now if you ad up the two pumps 85w and 45w and the two 200w filters = 530w which is less than a quarter of its full capacity.

This is reflected by the display and the software I have that tells me that with the pumps running and the heaters cycling on and off it runs for on the fairly little batteries that are in it. Mine also has 1 of the compact flouros hooked up.


When looking at UPSs ignore the number on the front ie. APC 1000 - look at the plate on the back that tells you how many watts the unit is good for. Like I said mine is 2000w one.

I would buy a second hand unit that needs new batteries - find one that doesn't hold charge for long - batteries are cheap and can be bought from jaycar and the like. Most UPSs run 24V inside i.el 2x12v batteries in series - can you think of anything else that runs 12v and is cheap 8-) - two deepcycle marine batteries are cheap and put them in series - otherwise I wired up 4 large ups to two volvo truck batteries I bought from wanless truck wrecking - that runs my mate video projector, sound system, foxtel and two other power points and the light in their bedroom.

The only reason I have laarned so much about these is that I acquired 10 or 15 units of different sizes and played with them - I have given most of them away now - I only have one big woofer left that runs 96v inside - not sure how many watts it is - bit I want to run it up and see if it will power my fridge or air conditioner :)

I should probably write up something on the diy/tech on this.

The moral of the story - buy one from auction/asset disposal/ebay that needs batteries - make sure it still runs and then just wire up two car batteries and plug all your fish tank stuff in there except your lights or only one light and sleep easy.

Tom

[DiscusMan]

This is were looking at how others around the world keep there fish to get an answer.

In Malaysia they dont run filter or lights and all they have in there tanks all day is a air stone in most cases.

The most important thing I would say is the oxygen content of the water. Having a Air stone running in the water is of upmost importance to keep the oxygen exchange happening at the surface.

Of course prolongs periods without heating is also bad but if oyu are lucky enough to have gas heating for you hosue water filling some bag full of hot water and hanging them in your tank is an easy solution for this.

If oxygen levels in your tank are fine before the blackout then it is not going to be a problem in your tank for a short blackout, but also if your tank is overstocked adn low or oxygen at the start then you will need to do something.

Hope we never get a 24 hour blackout thou ;)

Wayne