Tank almost crashed yesterday

monkey4life · 05/12/2017, 09:12 AM

Hey guys, short story. Came home yesterday, hadn't checked on the tank in a day or so (basement holding 40 breeder tank until I setup the living room tank). I go check on it and its lights out, no pumps, no filters, nothing. here's the kicker. Nothing was wrong with the tank itself. Everything was right- water level, switches, etc. The extension cord I was using had wiggled out of the wall outlet just enough to lose connection. It still looked plugged in if you weren't looking close. could have been as simple as one of my pets brushing past it. Water was about 68*, all the fish were gasping on the bottom, and corals were retracted. I added a gallon of hot water to bring it up past 70*, and turned everything back on. Made sure the skimmer was running correctly and dropped a mesh bag of carbon in. This morning everything is looking ****ed but alive. Definitely lost a large Hollywood stunner (8" plate), and my trumpet LPS. Might still lose a few sps frags, and possibly one large anemone, but it was a close call. TL

R- check your actual plug into the wall

WatDatThing · 05/12/2017, 09:19 AM

I too have dogs. I make sure all my electrical cables are hidden. I use 2 main power strips. 1 heater and PH are on 1 power strip, the second heater and PH are on the second power strip. Hopefully both power strips don't fail at the same time.

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ladynavyvet · 05/12/2017, 10:03 AM

I have my pump/filter, heater, etc plugged into a battery back-up surge surpressor. Should I have a power failer of any sort, it keeps it going for awhile, but it also has an alarm going off, alerting you to the problem.

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ahuaia · 05/12/2017, 10:21 AM

Has anyone ever tried those back up battery powered air pumps I saw some at my lfs yesterday and was thinking of getting one in case something like this happens or the power goes out while I'm away but I'm not sure they work .

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hubble · 05/12/2017, 10:46 AM

I've been running the Tripp Lite battery backup from Amazon. It has surge and backup outlets. I lost power once and it performed flawlessly. I only have the heater and mp 10 plugged into the backup side. I think the battery will only last about 2 hours with those two items.

BigDave · 05/12/2017, 12:12 PM

I installed one of these and have my cables on strain reliefs inside it

https://www.amazon.com/MM510C-Weathe...r+proof+outlet

My outlet is under the tank, so I wanted the extra security from splashes.

05/12/2017, 09:12 AM	#1
monkey4life Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Colorado Posts: 146	Tank almost crashed yesterday Hey guys, short story. Came home yesterday, hadn't checked on the tank in a day or so (basement holding 40 breeder tank until I setup the living room tank). I go check on it and its lights out, no pumps, no filters, nothing. here's the kicker. Nothing was wrong with the tank itself. Everything was right- water level, switches, etc. The extension cord I was using had wiggled out of the wall outlet just enough to lose connection. It still looked plugged in if you weren't looking close. could have been as simple as one of my pets brushing past it. Water was about 68, all the fish were gasping on the bottom, and corals were retracted. I added a gallon of hot water to bring it up past 70, and turned everything back on. Made sure the skimmer was running correctly and dropped a mesh bag of carbon in. This morning everything is looking ****ed but alive. Definitely lost a large Hollywood stunner (8" plate), and my trumpet LPS. Might still lose a few sps frags, and possibly one large anemone, but it was a close call. TLR- check your actual plug into the wall __________________ 125g display/37g sump mixed reef

05/12/2017, 09:19 AM	#2
WatDatThing Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Posts: 830	I too have dogs. I make sure all my electrical cables are hidden. I use 2 main power strips. 1 heater and PH are on 1 power strip, the second heater and PH are on the second power strip. Hopefully both power strips don't fail at the same time. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

05/12/2017, 10:03 AM	#3
ladynavyvet Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2017 Posts: 315	I have my pump/filter, heater, etc plugged into a battery back-up surge surpressor. Should I have a power failer of any sort, it keeps it going for awhile, but it also has an alarm going off, alerting you to the problem. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

05/12/2017, 10:21 AM	#4
ahuaia Registered Member Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 228	Has anyone ever tried those back up battery powered air pumps I saw some at my lfs yesterday and was thinking of getting one in case something like this happens or the power goes out while I'm away but I'm not sure they work . Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

05/12/2017, 10:46 AM	#5
hubble Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: atlanta Posts: 57	I've been running the Tripp Lite battery backup from Amazon. It has surge and backup outlets. I lost power once and it performed flawlessly. I only have the heater and mp 10 plugged into the backup side. I think the battery will only last about 2 hours with those two items.

05/12/2017, 12:12 PM	#6
BigDave Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Wylie, TX Posts: 473	I installed one of these and have my cables on strain reliefs inside it https://www.amazon.com/MM510C-Weathe...r+proof+outlet My outlet is under the tank, so I wanted the extra security from splashes.