Saftey for your reef?

TomDe · 10/31/2006, 05:19 PM

My reef is 4 months and with winter coming I started to thinking about power outages and I read about safety equip. I never realized how dangerous I am being with no GFCI, backup pumps, grounding probes, and outlets close to tank to top it off.....

I am going to place an order online. Can you all please advise me what to get?

Can I just but a GFCI adapter or do I need a grounding probe to?

I am going to use an extension cord and move the outlets away.

I am going to just buy a battery backup air pump because it is very rare to lose power for to long in my building.

Any other saftey equip to buy?

reefshadow · 10/31/2006, 08:56 PM

I'm mostly just bumping you to the top, but I can tell you you'll find alot of mixed opinion on whether a ground probe is a good thing or not. Personally i've never used one or had the need for one IMO. If I've got stray voltage floating around I don't know about it.

As for the rest of it you need to make a decision about back up equipment based on what your potential to lose is. If everything live can be replaced for less than a few hundred bucks, obviously a generator is a bit overrated, plus you live in an apartment...

Battery powered air pumps are good, as is a small power converter. You can often find those on sale for about 50 bucks. You hook it up to a car battery and it could run a small power head and probably your heater for a few hours at least.

Good luck!

fishysteve · 10/31/2006, 09:44 PM

I use one of those Smartups things for computers. It has a couple of motorcycle batteries inside. Works good.

TomDe · 10/31/2006, 10:15 PM

Which one? I didn't even know that you could use those except for computer applications?

reefshadow · 10/31/2006, 10:23 PM

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention the UPS for comps!

eddie c · 10/31/2006, 11:40 PM

if your going to use a gfci adapter i would hook everything up to it except your main return pump, that way if something trips it your whole system wont completely be shut down, i once had a 20 gallon that was run off a gfci and it triggerd some time in the middle of the night and in the morning only one fish survived due to lack of o2.

TomDe · 11/01/2006, 12:07 PM

Yes awesome awesome point, thank you. I was going to run 1 PH to an opposite outlet by itself. This will be good?

I imagine O2 is much more important than temp. for short term or at least that is what I was told.

grahxen · 11/01/2006, 01:19 PM

If you want a decent inexpensive way of supplying backup power to your tank without having to have a generator (alot of people sometimes cant just use 1 because of living situations). I suggest you look into something like this..

http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...g=true&An=text

A 500 watt load lasts around 1 hour. Which means you can run a return pump and power heads and even a heater for many hours.

My 2 Maxi Jet 900's last time power went out lasted over 15 hours.

HDAlien · 11/01/2006, 05:02 PM

The BX1500 from APC is also available with an additional external battery, this is what I use. It ran one pump during an extended outage for about 4 hours. Check the Compusa website, you can order it there.

HDAlien

10/31/2006, 05:19 PM	#1
TomDe Keep it simple Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 308	Saftey for your reef? My reef is 4 months and with winter coming I started to thinking about power outages and I read about safety equip. I never realized how dangerous I am being with no GFCI, backup pumps, grounding probes, and outlets close to tank to top it off..... I am going to place an order online. Can you all please advise me what to get? Can I just but a GFCI adapter or do I need a grounding probe to? I am going to use an extension cord and move the outlets away. I am going to just buy a battery backup air pump because it is very rare to lose power for to long in my building. Any other saftey equip to buy?

10/31/2006, 08:56 PM	#2
reefshadow Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Central Washington Posts: 1,786	I'm mostly just bumping you to the top, but I can tell you you'll find alot of mixed opinion on whether a ground probe is a good thing or not. Personally i've never used one or had the need for one IMO. If I've got stray voltage floating around I don't know about it. As for the rest of it you need to make a decision about back up equipment based on what your potential to lose is. If everything live can be replaced for less than a few hundred bucks, obviously a generator is a bit overrated, plus you live in an apartment... Battery powered air pumps are good, as is a small power converter. You can often find those on sale for about 50 bucks. You hook it up to a car battery and it could run a small power head and probably your heater for a few hours at least. Good luck! __________________ All Your Coral Are Belong To Us Current Tank Info: 30 Deep Blue shallow mixed rimless, MP10, Ecoxotic LED's, SCA 301 skimmer.

10/31/2006, 09:44 PM	#3
fishysteve Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 1,804	I use one of those Smartups things for computers. It has a couple of motorcycle batteries inside. Works good. __________________ On a break

10/31/2006, 10:23 PM	#5
reefshadow Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Central Washington Posts: 1,786	Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention the UPS for comps! __________________ All Your Coral Are Belong To Us Current Tank Info: 30 Deep Blue shallow mixed rimless, MP10, Ecoxotic LED's, SCA 301 skimmer.

10/31/2006, 11:40 PM	#6
eddie c Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Sacramento, Ca Posts: 414	if your going to use a gfci adapter i would hook everything up to it except your main return pump, that way if something trips it your whole system wont completely be shut down, i once had a 20 gallon that was run off a gfci and it triggerd some time in the middle of the night and in the morning only one fish survived due to lack of o2. __________________ EDDIE. "don't believe everything you think" Current Tank Info: 75g reef ready with 40 gallon trigger sump/refugium , tunze power head, vectra 2 return pump, Kessil AP9X lighting, reef octopus skimmer and have a battery back for both pumps.

10/31/2006, 10:15 PM	#4
TomDe Keep it simple Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 308	Which one? I didn't even know that you could use those except for computer applications?

11/01/2006, 12:07 PM	#7
TomDe Keep it simple Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 308	Yes awesome awesome point, thank you. I was going to run 1 PH to an opposite outlet by itself. This will be good? I imagine O2 is much more important than temp. for short term or at least that is what I was told.

11/01/2006, 01:19 PM	#8
grahxen Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 532	If you want a decent inexpensive way of supplying backup power to your tank without having to have a generator (alot of people sometimes cant just use 1 because of living situations). I suggest you look into something like this.. http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...g=true&An=text A 500 watt load lasts around 1 hour. Which means you can run a return pump and power heads and even a heater for many hours. My 2 Maxi Jet 900's last time power went out lasted over 15 hours.

11/01/2006, 05:02 PM	#9
HDAlien Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 476	The BX1500 from APC is also available with an additional external battery, this is what I use. It ran one pump during an extended outage for about 4 hours. Check the Compusa website, you can order it there. HDAlien __________________ ¡ʞuɐʇ ʎɯ ǝʌo1 ı Current Tank Info: 220 gal. reef