Rena Filstar and Power Failures

[sophiecat22]

So, I live in Florida and as you all know, its the middle of the huricane season for us which means plenty of floading, high winds, hail, yada yada yada, and of course power failures.

What will happen to my rena xp2 when the power shuts off? Is there anything I need to do when this happens? What if I'm not at home for whatever reason when a power failure occurs, could my filter be damaged in any way by the power suddenly shutting off?

 

[Rallysman]

Dont worry about it. Every time I do a water change I shut my XP3 off at the power strip.

I turn it back on later and it starts ever time.
As long as the primer cap is tight, and all other seals are good, you should have no problem whatsoever.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

how about one of the battary back ups for like comps. that will keep it running even with out power. none of the filters i have seen have a on off switch so there is no other way then to just cut the power. i would make sure its on a surg protector.

 

[sophiecat22]

Will I have to prime the filter again? I'm looking at the section about maintenance and I'm thinking that if I'm at home, I can just remove the valve as if I were cleaning the filter and just replace it when the power comes back on, but what about if I'm not at home and can't remove it? Will the inlet and outlet tubes empty out or will the water stay in the tubes? This is most likely a common sense issue but I've never had a canister filter before and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Thanks so much!!

 

[dougall]

You won't need to do anything unless the filter loses it's prime.

So as long as there isn't a leak in the filter itself, and the water inlet and outlet remain below the water line, you won't have a problem priming the filter. The only time I've had to prime mine is when I remove the hoses at the back to clean them, so there's no water in them at all.

If the power' out for an extended period of time, you might want to worry about your bacteria colony with respect to oxygen and ammonia. But my filters have been off overnight with no ill effects.

 

[loaches r cool]

My rena xp3 is going on 1.5 years with only being primed the first time I set it up. A UPS like what is commonly sold for a computer would work but might not last very long unless you buy a really big one. My biggest problem when the power went out was the heaters since it was in the middle of winter. I actually used a power inverter hooked up to a vehicle for ~3 days (rotating between my vehicles). With all that work I still lost a bunch of fish since I couldnt keep the tank much over 55 degrees. I am thinking of getting a generator for future problems, especially since my house is all electric.