[MintyFresh]

I know this probably sounds silly but for the people here who use a UPS for their light(usually the Fluval), do you leave it plugged in while on vacation?

I was looking up on this and while everything I found was for computers, most said they leave it on 24/7 while others said they unplug everything. I was just wondering if it would be okay to leave it on while on vacation in case there was an outage.

Thanks.

 

[minorhero]

I know this probably sounds silly but for the people here who use a UPS for their light(usually the Fluval), do you leave it plugged in while on vacation?

I was looking up on this and while everything I found was for computers, most said they leave it on 24/7 while others said they unplug everything. I was just wondering if it would be okay to leave it on while on vacation in case there was an outage.

Thanks.

I've used ups for computers before. I can't imagine a reason to unplug them.

 

[Deanna]

A computer-type UPS generally won't supply power for more than several hours. If your lights retain their program settings when power is restored, then it would be ok to put them on the UPS. However, if your lights don't retain their settings AND remain on 24/7 when power is restored, I'd leave lights off if you typically lose power often. Your plants will survive many days without lights, but having light on 24/7 would make a mess of your tank (algae, plant uptake problems, etc.).

In any case, my preference is to have only my filter/pump on the UPS in hopes of extending those critical-to-life things as long as possible.

 

[evil8]

Taking nothing else into account but the UPS plugged/unplugged issue - it's fine to leave stuff plugged in while gone. Personally if I'm gone more than 4 days I hire someone I know to house sit. Unfortunately my normal house sitter is no longer available and I'm looking for someone new for a planned trip in the fall.

 

[Darkblade48]

I agree with Deanna, just double check how your lights behave after having their power cut and then restored. If it 'forgets' its schedule, it would be problematic.

 

[Savetheplants]

I just got a UPS today. I just now set it up before seeing this thread. What a coincident. I would unplug your lights from the UPS but leave your filter plugged in while on vacation. The reason I got mine was for the filter since I have an overhead sump that drains out when the power is lost.

 

[Immortal1]

Maybe a little overkill, but this is how I have my system arranged.

APC SMX1500RM2U battery backup running the following;
3 canister filters (need to keep oxygenated water flowing past biomedia)
4 air pumps (air stones in the 3 tanks and water holding tank)
pH meters (data logging)
WiFi equipment (well, I like my internet)

Not connected to the UPS;
CO2 solenoids (if the power goes out, they turn off)
Tank lighting (if the power goes out, they don't need to be on)

 

[MintyFresh]

A computer-type UPS generally won't supply power for more than several hours. If your lights retain their program settings when power is restored, then it would be ok to put them on the UPS. However, if your lights don't retain their settings AND remain on 24/7 when power is restored, I'd leave lights off if you typically lose power often. Your plants will survive many days without lights, but having light on 24/7 would make a mess of your tank (algae, plant uptake problems, etc.).

In any case, my preference is to have only my filter/pump on the UPS in hopes of extending those critical-to-life things as long as possible.

Thanks. The light resets back to 00:00 when there's a power outage so I'd have to go into the app to restore the settings. The UPS keeps the lights from losing the settings if the power was to go out. My lights stay on for 10 hours a day.

I do have a filter that I use for circulation only but my tank is a Walstad tank so if the filter were to stop, the tank would be fine. The lights are the most important thing for these setups.

I agree with Deanna, just double check how your lights behave after having their power cut and then restored. If it 'forgets' its schedule, it would be problematic.

The lights reset to 00:00 when the power is out so in order to restore my settings, I have to to into the Fluval app to restore them. If I'm not home, they stay all messed up until I can get back which is something I don't want.

The power has blinked out while I've had my UPS and I've never had to restore my settings.