Battery Powered Air Pumps?

[JayM]

I know that proper reef disaster prevention calls for battery powered air pumps, in the event of a power failure. I had them in my old system, but the move to my current house has my system in chaos.

I'm going to fix that, starting with a new tank.

I know that there are the old stand-by Silent Air B11 air pumps.

http://www.aquariumguys.com/silentairpump.html

Marine Depot also carries a Hagen one....

http://www.marinedepot.com/Hagen_Ba...erated_Air_Pumps-Hagen-HG10790-FIARBO-vi.html

There is also one by Azoo

http://www.marinedepot.com/Azoo_Bat...perated_Air_Pumps-Azoo-AZ15001-FIARBO-vi.html

Does anyone have experience with one of these over another? I plan to try to make my system more resistant to a disaster, if I can, and I'm going to buy a few.

Wanted to make sure there wasn't a better solution that the B11's.

 

[focus]

I only have experience with the azoo. I would not recommend them they sound like a jackhammer.

I know that proper reef disaster prevention calls for battery powered air pumps, in the event of a power failure. I had them in my old system, but the move to my current house has my system in chaos.

I'm going to fix that, starting with a new tank.

I know that there are the old stand-by Silent Air B11 air pumps.

http://www.aquariumguys.com/silentairpump.html

Marine Depot also carries a Hagen one....

http://www.marinedepot.com/Hagen_Ba...erated_Air_Pumps-Hagen-HG10790-FIARBO-vi.html

There is also one by Azoo

http://www.marinedepot.com/Azoo_Bat...perated_Air_Pumps-Azoo-AZ15001-FIARBO-vi.html

Does anyone have experience with one of these over another? I plan to try to make my system more resistant to a disaster, if I can, and I'm going to buy a few.

Wanted to make sure there wasn't a better solution that the B11's.

 

[JayM]

^ now THAT is helpful info....

Strike Azoo.

That leaves the other 2....

 

[Cjtabares]

I have one of the Hagens and they need to be manually turned on. I don't think there is a way to have them turn on automatically if the power goes out. I think I am going to get one of the silent airs so I don't have to worry if I am not home or on vacation

 

[JayM]

I have one of the Hagens and they need to be manually turned on. I don't think there is a way to have them turn on automatically if the power goes out.

ewwwww........

will research that, but it looks more and more like my B11's are going to be the way to go.

 

[pillowfish]

I've always used the B11's, insert batteries, plug in and they never fail as long as the batteries still work!

 

[s_kelley]

I need to get one or two of these too! the B11's that is.
Does the airstone get covered with coraline while not in use? will it still allow air to pass when they activate?

 

[pillowfish]

Shane, I use the (cork?) wooden airstone, it doesn't get coraline on it but it does shrink up and seem to get eaten a bit by the salt water so I usually change every 6-8 months depending on the way it looks. But on the upside they are pretty cheap, around .50cents so I just buy a dozen or so and keep them around.

 

[Greg Hiller]

>Does the airstone get covered with coraline while not in use? will it still allow air to pass when they activate? <

I recommend that you hide the airstone in the back of your display out of the light. I've never had one plug up. I recommend the high quality ceramic airstones from Aquatic Ecosystems. They are not expensive and never break down. Put them at the bottom of the tank at the end of a rigid piece of airline tubing. While the B11's are good, they are not the highest quality. Sometimes you will get one out of the box that will not work. If in doubt put an extra one on the system. If you want some water movement as well you can leave one without an airstone on the end (just rigid tubing to the bottom of the tank). The large bubbles created will not transfer much oxygen to the water, but they will move the oxygen from another airstone around the tank better.

 

[s_kelley]

thanks for the info guys!

 

[JayM]

>Does the airstone get covered with coraline while not in use? will it still allow air to pass when they activate? <

I recommend that you hide the airstone in the back of your display out of the light. I've never had one plug up. I recommend the high quality ceramic airstones from Aquatic Ecosystems. They are not expensive and never break down. Put them at the bottom of the tank at the end of a rigid piece of airline tubing. While the B11's are good, they are not the highest quality. Sometimes you will get one out of the box that will not work. If in doubt put an extra one on the system. If you want some water movement as well you can leave one without an airstone on the end (just rigid tubing to the bottom of the tank). The large bubbles created will not transfer much oxygen to the water, but they will move the oxygen from another airstone around the tank better.

Greg, if not the B11, what do you suggest? Looking at an MD order today

 

[DoctaQ]

i have the penplax one, the first one, it has defintatley worked for me thus far.

 

[gweston]

I have two B11's but have yet to hook them up. I like the rigid airline suggestion. I may end up doing that. Maybe there is a way to take some PVC. Like a 1" cap.. drill some holes in it, and run the airstone under it. Basically to keep it out of the light and hopefully reduce growth/clogging. I'd stick it behind some rock work, so maybe not so unsightly then. Viable?

 

[JayM]

I think the cap would cause the bubbles to aggregate before they escape up, and that would somewhat limit oxygenation, but it might work....

 

[wrassefan]

as an alternative, i've always used a tunze 6060 powerhead connected to an APS...I think it uses 11w and I ran it for a day to test.....tank survived the disaster test...never tried to find out what the capacity was but I'm guessing more than the battery air pump

 

[Royalty]

I have two B11's but have yet to hook them up. I like the rigid airline suggestion. I may end up doing that. Maybe there is a way to take some PVC. Like a 1" cap.. drill some holes in it, and run the airstone under it. Basically to keep it out of the light and hopefully reduce growth/clogging. I'd stick it behind some rock work, so maybe not so unsightly then. Viable?

how much are the b11's going for?

 

[pillowfish]

They usually run around $11-15 which is worth every cent if you lose power...a must for any reefer without a generator(or even those that have them)

 

[Greg Hiller]

>Greg, if not the B11, what do you suggest? Looking at an MD order today <

I think the B11 is the only inexpensive, easy to implement choice. I'm just saying you need to check them.

 

[MikeG]

They usually run around $11-15 which is worth every cent if you lose power...a must for any reefer without a generator(or even those that have them)

A must for any reefer without an AUTOTRANSFER generator. I know my generator won't wheel itself out from the shed, run the power cords, and then start itself up. I have 2 B11'2 in the tank that take care of oxygen until I get home to get the generator going.

Another plus of the B11 that I am not sure the others have is it runs on 2 D batteries but only one is needed to run it so if one battery is dead, it will keep on going. I test both of mine about once a week when feeding to make sure the batteries still work.

 

[number1gsxxr]

I have two of the Hagen and it does not automatically turn on if the power goes out. I wish I knew about the B11 but usually someone is always home to check on the tank.