Prepping for and Surviving power outtages
- Thread starter ChileRelleno
- Start date
I bought a Generator last year for my fish and had to use it 2 times so far
I'm one of the Survivor and prepper type of people that has tons of food and in perishables and bottled water and other necessities that I would use to keep my family going if there was a severe emergency but I also and doing so have also inadvertently also have set myself up accidentally to have my fish tanks that will have backup filtration power lights and all. Best was because I bought a couple of power inverters that change 12 volt to 120 they're very cheap at Harbor Freight and I have a couple of car batteries laying around that have solar panel Chargers available online or Harbor Freight and that would take care of of the amount of power that my canister power filter would be able to run on it along with the small LEDs that run on 12 volt Triple A's or on an inverter and then my heater would have its own power supply along with the fact that I bought one of the battery powered air pumps from Walmart and then there's also the larger one for a live well from a boat it's basically a 300-gallon an hour pump that just sticks to the bottom or the side with suction cups and then you push the spray bar against the glass with suction cups and just put it at the top of the tank and run it on velvet 12 volt car battery and the inverter and then what I do is I run the wires from the solar panel chargers for batteries which you can get trickle charger switch are okay but they also have larger panels available design for lighting 4-5 regular light bulbs and powering a refrigerator or a TV,
I have very easily accessible well water that is what I took to fill my tank originally because the parameters for safety of the fish are exact so no treatments necessary almost the correct temperature if not a little high.
I also have about a dozen five gallon buckets that were given to me by food Corporation and they were food-grade inside with waterproof seals so I packed them with canned food water medicines first aid kit ammunition basic necessities like tools to fix simple items and then my inverters and wiring and USB solar chargers and all that great jazz and then I have in other buckets vacuum packed dog food for my dogs freeze dried and Flake type pellet type foods for my fish and then I have another bucket that's filled with things that are necessary but make life easier and I'm at event of an emergency Worthy shtf moments of life such as honey bourbon and cigarettes. Now I know not everybody is a doomsday prepper such as myself and I'm fairly easy-going about it you know close food Necessities toiletries and such but I think everybody should have these simple items such as a power inverter a solar charger a battery to charge phones a weapon of some sort Food Supplies water and anything else that you might miss if you had no power but that's just me thinking I have an advantage of survival and so would my fish whom I love very much especially Vera who is my black and red tiger oscar that I've had for about six months but I absolutely love her and she knows me and she knows how to bag and my dogs would be great for protection and Company so I would advise anybody to try to consider all aspects that you need to cover not as so it's run your fish tank at full power but that's enough to keep it safe for a long time and then think of what your fish need and then think of what you need and your family needs and then do it all and I understand that can be kind of costly but if you're very smart about it and think about it you can buy cheap bags of beans dried canned foods vacuum packed Foods cured meats and all sorts of other goodies and if you never need it I'm very happy for that person but I used to live in Hurricane Alley in Daytona Beach Florida so I know a thing or two about being prepared for everything including myself home pets technology Transportation fuel Heating and protection but anyway I'll quit rambling I would suggest just getting a few solar chargers and a couple of cheap motorcycle lawnmower or car batteries and all you have to do is lay the Chargers out in the sun hook up to your battery and hook your inverter to the battery and it will almost self-sustained and definitely during the day and then from your battery to a couple of inverters and not only can you save your fish you can give yourself Light TV and cold food or beer so anyway I'll stop at that sorry for the long post poorly-written as my phone is Tiny and my fingers are not so I used talk to text but it doesn't know when to stop a sentence or two abbreviate or commas or any all that crap so anyway you all have a good night and good luck and please consider prepping for disaster it's almost inevitable it always happens at some point to someone
I have very easily accessible well water that is what I took to fill my tank originally because the parameters for safety of the fish are exact so no treatments necessary almost the correct temperature if not a little high.
I also have about a dozen five gallon buckets that were given to me by food Corporation and they were food-grade inside with waterproof seals so I packed them with canned food water medicines first aid kit ammunition basic necessities like tools to fix simple items and then my inverters and wiring and USB solar chargers and all that great jazz and then I have in other buckets vacuum packed dog food for my dogs freeze dried and Flake type pellet type foods for my fish and then I have another bucket that's filled with things that are necessary but make life easier and I'm at event of an emergency Worthy shtf moments of life such as honey bourbon and cigarettes. Now I know not everybody is a doomsday prepper such as myself and I'm fairly easy-going about it you know close food Necessities toiletries and such but I think everybody should have these simple items such as a power inverter a solar charger a battery to charge phones a weapon of some sort Food Supplies water and anything else that you might miss if you had no power but that's just me thinking I have an advantage of survival and so would my fish whom I love very much especially Vera who is my black and red tiger oscar that I've had for about six months but I absolutely love her and she knows me and she knows how to bag and my dogs would be great for protection and Company so I would advise anybody to try to consider all aspects that you need to cover not as so it's run your fish tank at full power but that's enough to keep it safe for a long time and then think of what your fish need and then think of what you need and your family needs and then do it all and I understand that can be kind of costly but if you're very smart about it and think about it you can buy cheap bags of beans dried canned foods vacuum packed Foods cured meats and all sorts of other goodies and if you never need it I'm very happy for that person but I used to live in Hurricane Alley in Daytona Beach Florida so I know a thing or two about being prepared for everything including myself home pets technology Transportation fuel Heating and protection but anyway I'll quit rambling I would suggest just getting a few solar chargers and a couple of cheap motorcycle lawnmower or car batteries and all you have to do is lay the Chargers out in the sun hook up to your battery and hook your inverter to the battery and it will almost self-sustained and definitely during the day and then from your battery to a couple of inverters and not only can you save your fish you can give yourself Light TV and cold food or beer so anyway I'll stop at that sorry for the long post poorly-written as my phone is Tiny and my fingers are not so I used talk to text but it doesn't know when to stop a sentence or two abbreviate or commas or any all that crap so anyway you all have a good night and good luck and please consider prepping for disaster it's almost inevitable it always happens at some point to someone
Mike I know all too well hurricane Alley as I live in the thick of it. Most recently Irma came through knock8ng power out. I had a large system a Reef tank to be precise and I lost 1/2 my stock. I thought I was ready with an emergency generator boy was I wrong. I let my self believe that the generator was my answer to it all. I should done more but I didn’t. I sure wish I had read this post before it could have saved a lot of what I lost. This thread was a great read lost of info. Thanks
Why did a generator not do the trick?
Oscar that is a great question which unfortunately was my fault. In my rush to prepare I turn on the generator and let it run 20 minutes. After seeing that it was running well I turned it off. I assumed everything was fine and dandy. I never checked the output power. So after the storm passed and no power, I started the generator and guess what no power. The generator was running like a champ but not putting out power. Unfortunately that dumb bone head move cost me half my stock. I lost most of my SPS and about half my fish stock make the tank look very sad. Lesson Learned at a very high cost.
Wow - so the engine ran but the generator was bad. Scary. I have a Gererac 6500 - brand new. Never used it. Bought it after Irma. So - I guess I need to test that bad boy to make sure it put out. Was yours new?
Oscar I would definitely test it. My generator was also a Generac 5500. I bought it brand new. I ran it the last year but never tested the power output. I just saw that it ran but that's it. Definitely test it.