Earthquakes and BioCubes - oh my

[OmegaOmega]

Last week we had a little shaker in the bay area - nothing significant but enough to feel.

Made me realize - how do tanks handle earthquakes? Other than the obvious - make sure it's on a stable stand, secured against the wall, etc.

What happens on the inside? My tank isn't setup yet, but I didn't know if there were precautions I should be taking in case a larger shaker comes along. Are tanks generally strong enough to handle that kind of rocking/jarring motion; or would the glass break?

What about power failures? If the power is knocked out by an earthquake, how long would I have before the tank becomes toxic?

Has anyone been through this?

 

[dcantucson]

With a power failure your fish would only have 2-3 hours before they would start dying off. I lost most all my fish about 1 1/2 years ago when we lost power. I have a back-up air pump, but it has to remain on to continue to work during a power failure, so that's no good. If I'm home no problem I can turn it on, otherwise I'm screwed.

Hopefully others have some better answers.

 

[yote]

If the rocks shift and fall,they can break the tank.I guess a quake could shake the water out of it or cause it to fall over.
For back up power,I invested in a generator big enough to handle my whole tank.Powerheads,return pump,skimmer,lights,and heaters.

 

[dcantucson]

If the rocks shift and fall,they can break the tank.I guess a quake could shake the water out of it or cause it to fall over.
For back up power,I invested in a generator big enough to handle my whole tank.Powerheads,return pump,skimmer,lights,and heaters.

What would that cost?

 

[OmegaOmega]

If the rocks shift and fall,they can break the tank.I guess a quake could shake the water out of it or cause it to fall over.
For back up power,I invested in a generator big enough to handle my whole tank.Powerheads,return pump,skimmer,lights,and heaters.

That sounds a bit intense. Could I get by with one of those ~$100 UPS' from office depot?

If I just had the filter and heater and ditched backing up the lights and powerheads; would that be sufficient for a day or so?

 

[Bifferwine]

You wouldn't even need to waste power on the lights or filter. Your tank will be fine for several days without lights and filtration.

It's water circulation and water temp that are the biggest concerns. In still water, your animals will start dying within a few hours. And within a few hours, the temperature could drop dangerously low too (if it's cooler outside). Computer backups are great for a short period of time, and I would only use it for powerheads/pumps and possibly a heater, depending on the season.

 

[OmegaOmega]

You wouldn't even need to waste power on the lights or filter. Your tank will be fine for several days without lights and filtration.

It's water circulation and water temp that are the biggest concerns. In still water, your animals will start dying within a few hours. And within a few hours, the temperature could drop dangerously low too (if it's cooler outside). Computer backups are great for a short period of time, and I would only use it for powerheads/pumps and possibly a heater, depending on the season.

Wow, thanks - that's actually good to know. The guy at the pet store said that when filtration goes down I'd only have an hour or so before ammonia becomes toxic; he seemed suspect in his general knowledge, but I had nothing to argue with him against.

So if I have a low-watt powerhead - theoretically I could have that on a 1500watt backup UPS for over a day; that would be sufficient?

 

[Bifferwine]

One powerhead in a 29 gallon tank would probably be fine in an emergency situation. It's true that your water parameters might spike, but it'd probably be better to just do a water change at that point than to waste precious emergency power on running a stupid filter.

 

[OmegaOmega]

...but it'd probably be better to just do a water change at that point than to waste precious emergency power on running a stupid filter.

Which begs the question... are there smart ones?

 

[yote]

I give right at $500 for my generator,bought it used.But it does the job,and I can still watch my tank,even when the rest of the house dont have power.:D
ETQ ETQ 7250 Watt Portable Generator with electric start - TG72K12 at The Home Depot
Of course it comes in handy for other things too.
Mines actually a Honda,but that ones close to what I got,just a tad bit more wattage,but about the same price new.

 

[OmegaOmega]

I give right at $500 for my generator,bought it used.But it does the job,and I can still watch my tank,even when the rest of the house dont have power.:D
ETQ ETQ 7250 Watt Portable Generator with electric start - TG72K12 at The Home Depot
Of course it comes in handy for other things too.
Mines actually a Honda,but that ones close to what I got,just a tad bit more wattage,but about the same price new.

Hmm, yes, sounds tempting, but I live in an apartment. So I would die :death: before the fish did from the exhaust. I'm thinking battery/solar options.

 

[lilyicu]

Hey Biff - what happens when it gets too hot in the house when the powers out? What is the best way to cool the tank off when your a/c isn't running to cool off the house? I would only take a couple of hours for my house to turn into a steam bath. I had never thought about that before. With the last hurricane my power was only out for about 5 hours and it was cool outside from the storm.

 

[Bifferwine]

I've had the power kick off in the summer time here too, and I went to the store and bought bags of ice, put it in ziplock bags and floated the bags in the tank to cool it off.

 

[lilyicu]

Thanks for the help. That is a good idea :)

 

[bjohanson1234]

I give right at $500 for my generator,bought it used.But it does the job,and I can still watch my tank,even when the rest of the house dont have power.:D
ETQ ETQ 7250 Watt Portable Generator with electric start - TG72K12 at The Home Depot
Of course it comes in handy for other things too.
Mines actually a Honda,but that ones close to what I got,just a tad bit more wattage,but about the same price new.

That generator should be able to handle more than just your tank. Plug the fridge in too that way your beer stays cold

Brian

 

[sen5241b]

I would not dare trust the stock BC29 stand in a earthquake zone. Even out of an earthquake area, it scares me the way the whole thing shakes when I scrape the algae off the glass. You may wish to use a cinder block stand (not attractive) or build your own using 2 by 4 with bolts that have very slight give.

 

[sen5241b]

This might help in a power outage -assuming gas is cheap.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SZS9S2/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=304485901&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000O3S0QY&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=16KC1AM80VSY4TDXSYMR"]Amazon.com: Black & Decker PI100SB 100 Watt Plug-In Power To Go MicroSlim AC/USB Power Inverter: Home Improvement[/ame]

 

[OmegaOmega]

This might help in a power outage -assuming gas is cheap.

Amazon.com: Black & Decker PI100SB 100 Watt Plug-In Power To Go MicroSlim AC/USB Power Inverter: Home Improvement

Yes except I don't have a large tank in my hooptie-roller... yet

 

[OmegaOmega]

I've had the power kick off in the summer time here too, and I went to the store and bought bags of ice, put it in ziplock bags and floated the bags in the tank to cool it off.

Biffer - when that happened, how did you have circulation in the tank? Do you just have the powerheads connected to batt backup?

 

[Bifferwine]

Nope, I didn't have anything for back up circulation. Everything was fine, power here tends to be restored pretty quickly when it goes out.