Bill,
This latest fourth school is quite new and has power back up but it doesn't kick in for about five hours. So power back up is only needed for that time frame. My guess is that's because it won't be an issue for that amount of time as the heating or cooling systems, computers, and cafeteria freezers can be without power that long (the computers have their own short term battery back up ) without it being cathostrophic, and power outages in our area are rarely longer than that. But that's only a WAG from me and I could be completely wrong.
I'm pretty sure a good size cylinder could easily supply oxygen to both the tank and biofilter for that period of time. I say that because I had no issues transporting fish from Virginia and Northern Wisconsin with one of those cylinders. One of the trips was 14 hours!
OTOH I'm gravitating to an inverter and large sealed deep cycle battery for this particular school as my calculations show the battery and inverter will provide AC for the five hours needed to run the air pump AND the water pump, of which the NO solenoid and 02 will not.
One of the issues I have with the schools that I set up systems for is most, if not all of it is on my dime. My hope is to recoup that by getting the fish back grown out larger at the end of the school year. Basically they are four tanks/ systems I don't need floor space for.
The politicians in our state talk the talk about supporting public schools but at the same time they're cutting funds. Some of my fish don't get fed on the weekends because there are no custodians on the weekend to do so. They also can't keep them as they pay them so little.
There's also a higher turnover of teachers more than ever before. The state is paying someone to do a study to find out why when the consensus among teachers is it would have made more sense and been cheaper to just ask them.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 09/30/15 11:31 PM.
