"StringerBell" wrote in message news
Is there a power-outage contingency? What if you go away for a week and the
circuit breakers go? I guess the Live-Rock continues to do some work for a
while---but are there battery systems out there that kick-in in case of
power outage?

Go get yourself a Sump Pump and Furnace Fan Backup System
http://www.thermotechs.com/Sump%20Pump.htm
http://hometips.com/help/bac1.html
http://www.sump-pump-info.com/batter...mp-system.html

Connect a skimmer and the return pump to it only
to provide necessary water circulation and aeration
during the power outages...

If you are handy, you could build such backup
system yourself with a marine type battery,
12V-120VAC inverter and a simple relay...

The concept is very easy and will last long
hours during power outages... Connect only
minimum neccesary equipment to make battery last.