20140916 Power Outage and Fishtank

One of fish keeping hobbyist's biggest nightmare- power outrage. What should you do and prepare for expected (known approaching hurricane or winter storm) and unexpected (thunderstorm, fire, flash flood, and other disaster) power outages.

An example of what power outrage can do to an aquarium is New Orlean's Aquarium of the Americas' major disaster after 2005's Hurricane Katrina. Just about everything that was not mammal or reptile perished during the disaster. The lone survivors were the mammals and turtles as they breath from the air.

Living in Wisconsin, the long, brutal winter can often cause power outrage during strong snow storms. And the threat is not only the immediate oxygen deprivation from uncirculated water, but the rapid temperature drop from the elements. For this reason, depends on where you live and what capacity your tank is, it is strongly recommended that you have a backup generator as your tanks' lifeline during times of emergency.

So the question is- how long can things survive without any back up? If the power outrage is temporary and will not last long during a relatively warm, summer day, no need to panic-
well, without flowing water to generate dissolved oxygen, most creatures will begin to display distress within a few hours depends on your bio-load. Imaging a fish can do alright in a bag of water during its transport from store to home (typically anywhere from 30 minutes up to 2 hours + acclimation time). That sac of water is definitely no more than 1/4 gallon. Now multiply that by how many gallons of water you have in your tank, and decided by how many fish/critters you have, you should get a pretty good rough idea of when your "deadline" is. That said, it's definitely not optimal to leave things as is. You can find battery operated pumps in stores or online. Don't be cheap on this, it can save hundreds of dollars in livestock for you.

The bigger problem will present if the outrage is more than a few hours. While the back up battery operated air pumps can last a day or two, your water temperature will begin to decrease overtime, especially if you live in colder climate in winter. This is when you must invest in a backup generator.
Once again, don't be cheap, this can save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of livestock. When choosing a back up generator, I would add up the wattage needed for heater and at least one powerhead for the fish tank portion of your household needs. corals and clams can survive a few days without light so light is not your priority for short term outrage.

Aqua Illumination SOL super blue- Controller set up

Hello again,
Today's episode is about the controller set-up. This is the most important part of your light installation as the controller is what really gives you the ultimate power to control and customize the color, timing, and even weather effect of your reef tank.
Drs. Foster and Smith will ship this new controller if you order it along with the light.

Controller basics: left square is select/enter, right square is escape/back
Up and Down arrow allow you to go through items
left and right arrow allow you to adjust attribute/value in these items.

Caution: Don't plug in the fixture until you have this set up, the fixture will run at its full intensity until this controller is programmed to link to it. I recommend you set all lights at 50% intensity and then increase/decrease as needed after you have connected them.

Step 1 is lighting. You can choose to go to the custom lighting set up to set the hourly color % of each light. Or you can cheat and do a simple set up by designate a sunrise and sunset time. The ramp time is a cool feature no other lights can offer- mimic sunset or sunrise in a slow-progressive way.

After pressing enter, you will come to this screen. You can choose the amount of energy you want to dedicate to each of the three colors offered in SOL super blue. You can also choose the % of light in the nite/lunar mode. I choose 3% royal and 1% blue to give it a slightly brighter look.

Or you can also pick the light condition to resemble some of the world's most famous tropical waters ranging from Fiji to Great Barrier Reef, Florida Keys to the Philippines.

If you keep arrow down on the main select menu, you will come to screen#2, the cloud icon is for weather effects.

You can "test drive" it  by start now. And you can set the chances of severe weather to happen, how often, and the time range it will take place. You can also choose to have lightning or not. If you are sitting in your room you can tell the storm is coming when all of a sudden all lights dims down to deep blue, to mimic heavy cloud.

The lunar cycle is another cool feature to allow your tank as natural of a light experience as it can.

Once you set up the lunar cycle, your tank will actually go through the cycle by having a few brightest nights with some totally dark nights to mimic the lunar cycle.

If your previous lighting system is less intense than this light, you can use the coral acclimation program to gradually increase the intensity of your light to where you eventually want it to be.

Now, to actually activate all of your settings, you must choose which light and what channel your fixture will be one (if you have multiple units) This controller can be use to control AI vega wirelessly, Sol and Nano with wire or wirelessly with an adopter sold separately.

Besure to pick the correct unit for your setting to function properly. You can now plug in your fixture to see it lit up, and make any necessary adjustment now.