Is it irresponsible to not have a backup in case of loss of power?

[fishtal]

First off I'd say that the initial question is a bit simplistic. For that I would have to give a simple answer of, yes. In general I believe it is irresponsible to not have some type of back-up plan in place for problems such as power outages.

Before I got my generator I totally freaked out during the first power outage that only lasted a few hours. Luckily I had a nice neighbor that had one and allowed me to tap into it to keep my pumps running. For me it's not the amount of "$" I have invested, more the "life" I am responsible for.

I now have a generator that runs most everything in my house for 12hrs on one tank of gas. I still have to connect it to the house and start it when the power goes out though. It's not one of the expensive ones that starts on it's own but it does the trick.

I lost power last week for 36hrs. The worst thing was the high temp so I had to come up with more creative ideas for keeping my multiple systems cool. I'll be writing an article on this soon.

I currently don't have A/C but it is something that I'm going to have to invest in as I don't see the trend of hotter summers declining in the future.

I don't mean to sound harsh but we are responsible for the lives of the animals we care for and should take responsibility for them. I don't have a large income that affords a $10K generator, I'm a fish breeder for goodness sake, LOL! But I do feel that everyone should have some type of plan in place for emergencies. If you're spending hundreds of dollars on coral frags you can certainly afford a small generator from Home Depot.

[jimsflies]

For me it's not the amount of "$" I have invested, more the "life" I am responsible for.

I agree totally which is where the term "irresponsible" enters into the topic. If it weren't for the fact that we are dealing with live animals that we have assumed the responsibility to care for, I would say that whether or not someone has a back up or not is none of our business.

Most of us have limited means to provide backups and unfortunately economics plays a role.

I wonder if there is a percentage of allocation that we could agree on that one should be spending on backups relative to the amount of investment in the reef? Should 1% or 10% of the funds you have spent on your reef be budgeted on emergency equipment?

[MizTanks]

Good food for thought Jim

[BC United]

I was without power for about 16h last week. I used two battery operated Azoo air pumps to keep by 29 gallon tank oxygenated, and I had no problems with livestock. I think I purchased a 3-pack of these air pumps for about $15...a really inexpensive backup. If the airstones are placed low in the tank, these help with water movement as well.

[Tom Toro]

I feel folks should do something for emergencies just because of life. I don't have a lot of money here, but I'd feel bad if I didn't try to save lives.

Here's how I backed up my systems before I left for vacation. It was only four days so I didn't go hog wild. Best case scenario for me would be a guy coming in everyday to check but I didn't do that. Will do that for longer stays.

240g with all the big fish.
4 blue air pumps that come on when the power goes off. Each with two D batteries that's supposed to last 4 hours or more. In the display tank.
1 blue air pump ""in each of the two sumps.
UPS Hooked up to a tunze in DT.
5 gal reservoir bucket so the R/O wouldn't dump 50 gallons of fresh water all at once. The system can take 5g.
Timers for all lights
Feeder with lots of food for fish.

135g with the corals
2 of the same blue air pumps in the display tank
1 blue pump in the sump
5g reservior bucket for top off.
ups hooked up to a tunze in DT.
Feeder with minimal food.
Timers for lights
Not sure these measures would've saved any lives if an extended power outage happened, but at least I did something. Also I figured I needed them anyway in case the power goes out overnight while I'm sleeping. UPS also sound off pretty loud when they kick on.