In the April 2006 issue of Fish 'N' Chips I announced a UPS Survey. A UPS or an Uninterruptible Power Supply/System (or battery backup) is considered basic equipment for most computer users. The survey was to see if Fish 'N' Chips subscribers felt a UPS has become the same for fish tank setups? The survey closed on June 30, 2006. The following questions were asked:
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Do you have a UPS included in your tank setup? [Yes or No]
If yes, what make and/or model are you using?
If yes, would you buy it again? [Yes or No]
Why or why not? Please add any comments you might think would help others decide to buy this unit or not.
What equipment is protected by the UPS? (filter, lights, etc.)
If no, are you planning to install one? [Yes or No]
What equipment would you protect with the UPS? (filter, lights, etc.)
Your Name? (Only needed if you want it to be published with your comments)
Only 29 responses to the survey were received. Out of those 29, 24 did not have a UPS currently connected to their fish tank setups, leaving 5 that did.
23 responses were received to the "are you planning to install one" question. 10 respondents said they were planning to install one and 13 said they had no plans for a UPS.
Only 5 respondents said whether they'd purchase their current UPS again, 4 said yes and 1 said no. The models that received the "buy again" votes were the 1.5kva APS, apc back-ups es, APC (no specific model was given), and UPS ES 500. The model that received the "wouldn't buy again" vote was the apc 750. Please see the comments below for the respondents reasons for saying whether they'd buy again or not.
13 respondents listed the equipment they are currently protecting with a UPS or plan to protect when they purchase one. The equipment most protected are the pumps (main circulation pumps, sump pumps, and powerheads are included under this heading) with 8 responses, filters came next with 6 responses, and lights finished the top-three with 4 responses.
Following are the comments that were sent in with the survey responses:
Make/Model: 1.5kva APS
Equipment Protected: everything - doesn't last more than 15 minutes but it's enough for my systemEquipment to be Protected: Don't know - there is so little information on this subject. Perhaps some kind of generator.
Power supplies in UK are normally only off for 1 to 2 hrs max. (unless extreme weather hits - in which case other things might become a priority anyway). So my fish & inverts tank is unlikely to suffer in that time. Biggest pain is to remember to sort out all the timers for lights/powerheads/fans etc. Once the power is back on ... mind you, last power cut did result in a minor leak from the external filter box - a timely reminder to replace the "o" rings on the lid!
Make/Model: apc back-ups es
Why would you buy it again? Keeps it going while the thunderstorms rage overhead.Make/Model: APC
Why would you buy it again? Long life in a power failure.Make/Model: UPS ES 500
Why would you buy it again? Got it used for $20.... While we have UPS's here on the computers, I haven't used them on the fish tanks yet. I would back up the air pumps ... i.e. the filters. Lights are not as important as keeping your fish oxygenated during a long power outage.
Never thought about [it,] will be looking into it or a generator.
I am planning to use a Deep Cell Battery w/ AC/DC converter and Trickle charger. The battery will support, filter, powerheads and heater.
I don't [plan to get one] mostly because there doesn't seem like a clear unit to buy. A skimmer is a skimmer, and that I understand. But I don't understand electricity and that makes the research for a UPS hard enough that I keep putting it off.
Make/Model: apc 750
Why wouldn't you buy it again? Does not power my rio 12h pump.
Thank you to all of you who took the time to respond to my survey. Thank you to everyone for your patience in waiting for me to find the time to put the results together into a nice and easy to read format.
