Blackout

[64Ivy]

Wishing the best to everyone affected and their tanks.

[Ninong]

Wishing the best to everyone affected and their tanks.

Mike,

Did Greenwich lose power? I guess there will be a run on generators at all the local Home Depots and Lowes now.

I guess if someone lives in an apartment building, a generator is out of the question and they would have to rely on an expensive UPS system.

I hope there won't be a lot of reeftank crash threads tomorrow.

[64Ivy]

Mike,

Did Greenwich lose power? I guess there will be a run on generators at all the local Home Depots and Lowes now.

I guess if someone lives in an apartment building, a generator is out of the question and they would have to rely on an expensive UPS system.

I hope there won't be a lot of reeftank crash threads tomorrow.

Yup, Greenwich is out and has been for several hours now. Fortunately, we just bought a monster 'whole house' generator that they say can keep us (and the tank) going for 2-3 days. It won't be long before I can say with confidence that the thing has totally paid for itself. But there are a lot of big time fishtanks, reefers, reef systems, and LFS's in this area. I've got my fingers crossed for all of them.

[Ninong]

Yup, Greenwich is out and has been for several hours now. Fortunately, we just bought a monster 'whole house' generator that they say can keep us (and the tank) going for 2-3 days. It won't be long before I can say with confidence that the thing has totally paid for itself. But there are a lot of big time fishtanks, reefers, reef systems, and LFS's in this area. I've got my fingers crossed for all of them.

Why does it only keep you going for 2-3 days??? Don't you just keep filling the tank with gasoline? I believe ours holds 7 gallons, which is supposed to keep it going for 10 hours.

We just bought a 7000w (12,250w surge) Generac a couple of weeks ago but we haven't had it connected to the house yet. Turns out that's a rather expensive proposition all on it's own. We are going to have it set up so that when the power goes out, the generator comes on automatically. We should be able to run most of the important stuff inside the house except for the two central air conditioning units. The ones larger than that were not in stock and the prices start to climb sky high once you get past 10,000w.

One of our neighbors has two monster generators that he claims will take care of his entire house including both central A/C units.

[64Ivy]

I should've said 2-3 days before needing a refill. And to think, I used to be teased for my 'neuroisis' when it came to things like this.

[Ninong]

I should've said 2-3 days before needing a refill. And to think, I used to be teased for my 'neuroisis' when it came to things like this.

Yeah, I'm sure you're extremely happy with your generator right about now. I just checked the New York City weather and it looks like it is fairly moderate right now and tomorrow. Nothing about the mid 80's or so. It would really have been a disaster it the temps were in the mid 90's. Was it very hot earlier this afternoon when the power went out?

Down here the most likely scenario would be an outage caused by a hurricaine and usually hurricaine weather is in the mid 70's until the day after at least.

[64Ivy]

I'd say it was probably 90 or so. Actually, a few degrees COOLER than it's been the last few days. That's why I was surprised when they said this was caused by an 'overload'.

[64Ivy]

Our power returned about 2:30 am. That meant the generator was running for about 10 hours. Given the ambeint heat, plus the motor heat, plus the fact that I like to keep my reef temps low (77-79 degrees), I would've definitely had a spike last night.

[Ninong]

Our power returned about 2:30 am. That meant the generator was running for about 10 hours. Given the ambeint heat, plus the motor heat, plus the fact that I like to keep my reef temps low (77-79 degrees), I would've definitely had a spike last night.

That's good news! I hope there weren't many tank crashes among people without backup power but I have read some reports on Reef Central of partial losses already.

I don't know how true it is but I have read that reeftanks kept at 82-84 degrees Fahrenheit are better able to withstand temporary temperature spikes into the 88-90 degree range than tanks kept in the high 70's, which is all the more reason for someone who prefers lower operating temperatures to have a reliable source of backup power.

Has your tank been showing any improvement lately from your recent problems? Is it time for any new pics yet?

And how the heck do you reach the bottom of that thing?

[64Ivy]

That's good news! I hope there weren't many tank crashes among people without backup power but I have read some reports on Reef Central of partial losses already.

I don't know how true it is but I have read that reeftanks kept at 82-84 degrees Fahrenheit are better able to withstand temporary temperature spikes into the 88-90 degree range than tanks kept in the high 70's, which is all the more reason for someone who prefers lower operating temperatures to have a reliable source of backup power.

Has your tank been showing any improvement lately from your recent problems? Is it time for any new pics yet?

And how the heck do you reach the bottom of that thing?

Right now, I would call the tank stable...which is why even a small temperature spike at this stage could easily have been disasterous. I still have a bit of rockwork and rearranging to do so pictures are still a few weeks off.

As far as reach, the best I can do is a 36" 'claw' device I've had so long I forgot who makes it. I use Magnavore Xs to clean the top 90% of the acylic and a Kent Scraper to clean the bottom 10%. Even so, I could use more leverage...or Manute Bol as a neighbor.