When the power goes out

[Whiskers]

Here is a crazy thought i was haveing one day while watching a friend destroy the firewall of his car.

would it be possible to build a housing for a heater "blower motor" so it was just like a squirrel cage of a furnace and then hook tubing up to it to run sponges or maybe a powerhead that could be driven by air. all you would need to run the blowermotor is a marine battery or car battery. as far as i know the marine battery (which is a deep cycle) would last longer than a car battery, but the advantage to a car battery is you could put it into a car and charge it.

if your handy enough (which you are in the DIY section) you could even make a mount for everything including a switch, whether it's off and on or maybe even a dimmer to regulate the amount of volt draw on the batt.

and as far as that goes you could use some sort of lighting that ran on 12v as well....heck you could even hook up cig lighter to it and run a inverter so to go from DC to AC.

Has anyone tried this ? if so did it work ? i'm going to look into it one day but right now i have to big of a project and to many, to start any more, small or large.

Just thought i would share a idea so everyone can kick it around.

 

[Orion]

So your talking about blowing hot air though air line tubing, to the bottom of the tank right?

How would you get enough pressure on the lines to push the air under the water line? Also standard silicone tubing stand up to the heat output?

And I have no idea how effective the thermal transfer would be between air and water. The bubbles would rise pretty fast, so they probably wouldn't have a lot of time to transfer heat to the water.


Very interesting idea though. Since a lot of pre-made stands are enclosed, I wonder how effective putting a small space heater under the tank stand would be? Heat rises, so if the sides of the stand was insulated some, at least some of the heat would go up though the tank bottom. (This was how the early days of aquarium's were heated). It might tank a while for the substrate to heat up, but that is what would actually transfer the heat to the water. Still though, a space heater would be a terrible drain on electricity, and if it's in short supply to begin with, this isn't going to be the best way just from that. Shoot, it would be better to run your regular tank heater.

 

[Whiskers]

hehe, no, i wasn't implying to use it as a heater but as a air pump to run sponge filter to help keep some kind of filtration going while power is out. you don't need pressure just air flow. i don't know how to make a heater out of it but, i bet if you could use a propane heater or maybe sterno can to heat air i suppose. i would think if you make, this i gonna sound kinda dumb, a mini "woodstove" but used a sterno can instead of wood, to heat the air at the intake i bet you could do it. none of it would require electricity to run.

 

[Orion]

Ahh. Well you can pick up battery operated air pumps that run off of 'D' size batterys either at LFS for fish and tackle shops.

 

[Whiskers]

I've never seen battery powered air pumps at the lfs but i guess i will have to keep a eye out for them and at tackle shop.

Orion do you know how long the battery operated pumps last?

thanks for the input. i was kinda hoping more ppl would have threw in their two cents but i guess there isn't too many Do It Yourselfers hang'n out.

 

[Orion]

I have no idea how long they would last, but I would think a few days running 24 hours in a single tank that was no more than 14-16 inches deep and the air stones were on the bottom.

Only time I've ever used one was several years ago for the move back up here. I had one split up to 3 different containers for about 5 hours and didn't have any problems.

 

[Whiskers]

hmmmmm, sounds good. i'm going to see if i can find one. i would hate to loose fish but i think i will also try to, one day, build what i'm thinking of, beacuse i will have several tanks in one room and i would like to run them all on one system. if i manage to get to this point of building my creation, hehe, i will post pics. and maybe do some testing to see how long a car batt would last.

 

[brian1973]

how about a battery backup for you PC that they sell at bestbuy..they should work I would think for a minor power outage.

 

[Whiskers]

do you know what the voltage output of the backup battery is ? i've never looked into them.

 

[brian1973]

No I just saw them the other day at circuit city and best buy, I have seen them before but never really paid mich attention to them, but the have to be 120 since the purpose is to keep your computer from crashing if there is a power failure. They look like very large surge protectors, the battery charges while it is plugged into the socket and you can plug numerous plugs into it. You would be more concerned with amps I would think but seeing as most household circuits are between 15 and 25 amps (i think) then you should be able to run your tanks for a while depending on the battery life.

 

[Lotus]

There are plenty of fishrooms set up using a central air system to run sponge filters. Usually, you'd heat the room, not the air to keep the tanks warm. Apparently a dehumidifier can help heat the room at a reasonable cost.

Battery air pumps aren't too expensive. I think less than $5 each. If you're using it as an emergency aeration, it's better to have the airstone at the top to maximize oxygen exchange.

 

[Whiskers]

only problem with dehumidifier is that they have to be plugged in.

im looking for ways ppl can save their fish with no electricty. if a kerosene heater is available thats one way to heat a room but i dont think most ppl have one but i could be wrong. thats why i was also thinking that if you ran a car battery and hooked up a cigarette lighter you can get a inverter to plug into it and run small electric heater or get a small heater that they make for cars that can be plugged into cigarette lighter.

i just want to get some ideas out there for ppl to try with the thought that the when the power goes out they can keep their fish alive whether its during the winter or summer one tank or several tanks.

keep the ideas coming cause not everyone is as crafty as some of the experienced hobbiest on this sight.

myself i've done alot of backyard mechanic stuff and cobbled alot of thing together that probly shouldn't have been done but it worked in a pinch.

 

[Lotus]

im looking for ways ppl can save their fish with no electricty.

But then you started talking about a fish room setup, so that was what I was really talking about for the humidifier.

To be honest, if you have a lot of fish or a fish room, it would be better to just invest in a generator. That way, you can also keep some of your essential household stuff running, too. The thought of running a car to keep the fish alive sounds kind of dangerous and expensive to me.

If you just have one fish tank, you're probably better off putting the fish in a bucket and moving to a hotel (or somewhere else with heat/electricity). It's one of those things. You wouldn't leave your dog or cat in a house with no heat, so why do that with the fish?

 

[Whiskers]

oh, ok i see what you are saying about the humidifier. that might help me with some more ideas to help keep a little warmth in my room. thank Lotus i don't think i would have thought of that one.

Hehe, i wasn't suggesting to leave a car running cause your right that would be really expensive, but what i'm suggesting is to use a car battery out of the car as a power supply for a blower motor from an automobile or to run small 12v equiptment.

a generator is a great idea but not everyone can afford one and when gas prices were at $4 a gal that could be expensive too. hotels can be expensive for a over night stay or if your only talking 4 to 8 hrs of no power (so yes mom and dad,only a few miles away, would have company hehehe). speaking for myself and with my finiancital (sp) situation it wouldn't be worth spending that kind of money let alone the hastle of moving everything from point a to point b for a few short hrs espically if the one tank is a 180 gal and fully stocked. alot of this i would be on my own to move so i try to think of it as a one man show and whats the easiest way.

would saltwater fish handle that kind of move ? what would you do for the corals in the salt tank ? i wouldn't know that one since i dont have a salt tank so maybe someone that does might be able to chime in please.

every situation is different from whether you have alot of tanks or one, many fish to just a couple, whether its winter or summer or some where inbetween, whether you live in hot climate or cold and how much money you have to spend to keep your fish alive.

the only reason i started this thread is i just thought it would be nice to start a thread of ideas for ppl to read and maybe get ideas of what they can try for their own situation. so keep the ideas and comments comming cause the more options there are the better chance someone maybe able to help their fish in a time of need. (not yelling just stating)

 

[Orion]

Even a small UPS battery backup could run a 110v aerator for quite a long time I would imagine. And with several small ones you might be able to run each piece of equipment for 8+ hours.

New, UPS's aren't that cheap. You can get them used a whole lot cheaper, and battery replacements aren't near the price of new units.