The best investment that I've ever made in the aquarium hobby...

[jsodwi]

Generators are a necessity for me. I have been using a portable 6500 watt for years but am in the process of having my Generac 11kw hooked to house now. Seems like storms and power outages are becoming more frequent in the tri state area. I would have lost everything with hurricane sandy if it weren't for my generator

 

[Chicxulub]

Hi gang
After moving my classroom out of the school I worked at - my fish tanks are now in my plant house and I would like some advice on what to get for a generator? Nothing too expensive - low budget here - $300 sounds great - but what does it run on? I do not want the hassle of a gas hookup - so what are the options ?
Thanks!

I bought a used portable generator at a pawn shop for $300. It runs on gasoline. Its noisy as all get out and pumps out exhaust fumes like no tomorrow, but for temporary use it works quite well.

 

[E.C.]

I bought a used portable generator at a pawn shop for $300. It runs on gasoline. Its noisy as all get out and pumps out exhaust fumes like no tomorrow, but for temporary use it works quite well.

it's the fumes that keeps me away from generators...

 

[Chicxulub]

it's the fumes that keeps me away from generators...

I put mine on the front porch and ran extension cords. Problem solved.

 

[E.C.]

I put mine on the front porch and ran extension cords. Problem solved.

Can't do that here, probably it would be stolen.

 

[Chicxulub]

Can't do that here, probably it would be stolen.

Interesting lol.

With most generators you can hook up pipes to the muffler so you can have it exhaust outside of the house. You might want to look into that as well.

 

[fwprawn]

I certainly could leave it outside - how much gas does it use ? (How long does it run, before needing a fill up? How much gas is used?)

 

[Chicxulub]

I certainly could leave it outside - how much gas does it use ? (How long does it run, before needing a fill up? How much gas is used?)

It had a full tank when I started my eight hour adventure and it was nearly empty when the power came back on. I think it holds about 4 gallons. Running my fridge, freezer and fishtank only, I wasn't anywhere near full load though so I was getting decent fuel economy.

 

[E.C.]

Interesting lol.

With most generators you can hook up pipes to the muffler so you can have it exhaust outside of the house. You might want to look into that as well.

I'll consider that.

 

[Oddball]

Hi gang
After moving my classroom out of the school I worked at - my fish tanks are now in my plant house and I would like some advice on what to get for a generator? Nothing too expensive - low budget here - $300 sounds great - but what does it run on? I do not want the hassle of a gas hookup - so what are the options ?
Thanks!

The least expensive natural gas generator puts out 6500watts of power. But, unless you can find an awesome deal for a working used model, these generators start at $800 new.