I Thought A Power Surge Killed Off Some Of My Equipment.

[newfishy]

I have had troubles with power surges and the electricity going off before. So I have battery backups to use and surge protectors for every tank now. Yesterday the power started going on and off for a while. When it finally came back on steady the filters on the 29 gallon would not start. Ughh.

Checked everything, the surge protector hadn't blown, the hobs where primed, they should start. I ended up calling my husband at work and telling him he was going to have to pick up a new filter. Tim was not happy, he wasn't going to buy a cheap replacement and the better quality stuff is pricey.

I had taken the filters out, floated the media and was ready to trash the other parts when I noticed that the intake and innards of the filter looked pretty mucky. I cleaned everything out good, put the things back on the tank and now they run lovely.

Apparently if the inner parts of your filters get enough gunk on them they will run if they have enough momentum going, but cant get going from a stop. Good things to know.

 

[Glegorly]

I shall remember that, nice little handy info to keep in mind if your filter packs up for no apparent reason!

 

[saltynay]

Use a UPS uninterrupted power supply you can buy them from pc stores I use one to run my pc/ monitor/ speakers/ router so that I can get on the internet even during a powercut, it also filters the electricity stopping surges which will potentially kill electronics. Should power a tank for several hours I would imagine.

 

[newfishy]

my husband has several, I steal them if I know the power will be spotty or off for a while and he wont be using the computer anyways. those things can get expensive too.

 

[saltynay]

They have actually got quite cheap relatively in recent years, the batteries can still be expensive to replace. In turn can you put a value on the life of your pet? I admittedly pride my computer over my fish if there is a power outage which I know is morally wrong but financially its the better bet .