Amtra Air System UPS is a battery powered aerator; it is extremely useful in case of a blackout.

As you all know a blackout is very dangerous for our aquariums, because they totally depend on electric energy. Even more so if the aquarium is very populated, or if it’s a marine aquarium with many corals. Historically, you could use a UPS connection to maintain return pump activity, but it’s not the best solution. It would be a lot better to have a battery powered aerator available that powers up when there’s a necessity.

Until today, doing this required having an external battery and making a relay circuit in order to make the UPS work in case of a blackout. Then you’d need an inverter circuit to recharge the battery. This system can get expensive and complicated, and you still wouldn’t know for sure that the aerator would work when needed.

Well, now a battery aerator exists, practical to use and very well built: the Amtra Air System UPS.

Amtra Air System UPS

The images in this article are of the Amtra Air System 360 UPS. But Amtra has three aerators, the 60, the 120, and the 360:

• Air System UPS 60: 20 hours of autonomy, 33,50 euro ($38 USD);
• Air System UPS 120: 11 hours of autonomy, 39,50 euro ($45 USD);
• Air System UPS 360: 14 hours of autonomy, 59 euro ($67 USD).

The aerator can work in classic mode, in which it stays on, or in standby mode. In this modality, the aerator mainly stays off, and will only turn on when there is a lack of energy; it will work until the electricity returns or the batteries wear out.

The package contains:

• Charger of 5V 1000 ma;
• Non-return valve;
• Pipe of 300 cm;
• 2 flux regulators;
• 2 tiny porous stones;
• Deviator to Y.

Technical characteristics of the Air System UPS 360

The unit is pretty compact, and it’s lifted up from the support plane with 4 little rubber feet. The aerator measures 11.5 cm in length, 8.5 cm in depth, and 4.5 cm in height. It consumes 0.8 watts and it has a rate of 6 liters per minute. The battery it uses is a lithium battery.

And let me say that 14 hours of continuous use are a lot, in case of a blackout. My suggestion is to use one every 60-80 cm of length in the aquarium.

On the small control panel you can see the ignition button, the + and – buttons to increase or decrease the outgoing air, and the level of the battery. The PULSE button activates the pulsation mode in which the aerator works for 10 seconds, stops another 10 seconds, and so on endlessly.

Conclusions

We really love this tool, and we objectively can’t do without it. It’s cheap, 59 euro, if you consider that it is a device that can literally save our aquariums. Sure, if we used it like an ordinary aerator it would be considered to have a high price, but it’s a very important and efficient backup device. In my aquarium of 400 liters just one of them might not be enough, but I consider it to be a great value.

PROS

Device that can save the life of our aquarium at a low price
Extremely quiet
Well built
Lithium battery

CONS

Expensive only if used as a standard aerator

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Amtra for providing us with the Amtra Air System 360 UPS for this review.

[Translated by Agnese Poggi]