myfish Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Hi all, Im currently running 10 tanks most have 300watt heaters in them, 2 are running canister filters. 4 have internal filters, and on a 6fter im running 2 hang on filters. I also run a 120lt per min air pump to airate 8 of these tanks. while the other 2 have twin outlet pumps running. I just got my power bill and it has cost me $800 for the three months. What can i do to lower the cost in running this type of setup. I would like to hear about how many tanks and what type of setups do you guys have, and how much roughly is your powerbill over a 3 month period. Regards Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colfish Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 tell us a bit more about where you keep the tanks. is it a dedicated fish room or are the tanks spread around the house ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfish Posted August 21, 2007 Author Share Posted August 21, 2007 2 of the tanks are in the house and the rest are in my garage. its a brick house the garage is brick, The door is always left open so my rottie can go in and out as he pleases. The 2 tanks inside run the canister filters and the twin outlet pumps, The ones in the garage have the rest of the info which i supplied in the first post. Not a dedicated fish room, just a garage i have started to put tanks in along 1 wall. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Build a fish room, insulate it a run a single room heater. A 1200w collum heater should eb enough depend on the size of the room. That will cut you heating from 3000w to 1200w. Next decided on how you want to filter your tanks. I run all air filters 12 tanks from 3-6 footers with 4 air stones each. I am using a highblow 40 which does this quite easily and total wattage is 40-odd watts, this probably wouldn't be much less wattage then you use on filters Heating is what is costing you so much money. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ps. Saulosi Girl Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 I agree with josh, insulate the room. We use a reverse cycle a/c which we use both in summer and winter, it works on a timer, we also have two 300W heaters in each section to act as a back up just in case, in the winter only. If you use a mini reef there are low voltage pumps on the market, they are a little more expensive but save you alot of money in the long run. Lou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Look at the wattage of each item you are running, they will all have them listed. A rule of thumb is 1 watt = $1.00 per year to run. While you may not need 300 watt heaters (and it is in fact better to have a heater to match the tanks size), in effect what ever sized heater you use will have a thermostat, so once temp is reached it will turn itself off. In addition, heaters are only really required in winter (though I see you are in VIC), so the heaters will not even be turned on in summer. However, it makes no sense to have doors open. My garage (though insulated) gets nice and toasty in winter, as the tanks heat the room. If the air stays cold (due to a door being left open) the heaters will have to be on more to maintain their temperature = more cost. So I save money by making sure the door is closed. If tanks nearby were plumbed together and you could filter them via one sump for example, you’d have one pump to run them all, thus cutting costs by not having multiple filters (which have to stay on 24/7). Often cheaper equipment will have a higher wattage (running cost), so if you have for example Eheim filters they have very low running costs, so you won't do better than that for running, but you'll have to sell the kids to buy them, but you get what you pay for so in the long run such filters will have other benefits. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_to4 Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 mate sit down and have a look at all the tanks you have, grab a pen and paper. Draw your self up a plan for a rack to hold them, get down to your local bunnings or timber yard and buy a heap of 4x2 and some bolts and glue. Knock yourself up a rack and get your tanks drilled and fit them out with plumbing. build your self a sump with an old second hand 4fter and get your self a nice big pump. Stick maybe 2 300watt heaters in the sump. (depending on how many total Litres you have) It might cost you abit to do this initially but it will definately tidy up your garage and save you a lot of money in the long run, i dare say youd make the money back in your savings on the first bill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtank Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Definately the way to go as scott said, Multiple tanks running into a mini reef has lots of other benefits as well as keeping down running costs. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfish Posted August 23, 2007 Author Share Posted August 23, 2007 hi all, First let me thank you for all your replies. 1st let me say i leave the door open so rottwieler can have access to enter the garage his bed is in there. Thats the only reason why. 2nd im in a rent premises so insulating the room i cant do. there reverse cycle air con is out as well, The only option i see is running a sump, but the problem is that the racks i have just recently got made are made from steel and the 1st tank only sits about 100mm of the ground. These racks hold 3 x 4ft tanks. I could seperate the stands i think to put a 4ft tank in between both stands, and maybe run a sump filter for 4 tanks, Will a 4 ft tank be enough to handle 4 x 4ft standard tanks. If so what size pump would i need. Can anyone recomend any sites with diagrams of setups, as i have no experience in setting up sumps on what to do or how to start. Also i think i could get hold of a 3ft sump pretty cheap would that be ok to run 4 tanks. Any info regarding setups and diagrams would be much appreciated, Also roughly what would it cost to get holes drilled into the tank and what size do you guys recommend for holes. If i cant fix this i might just have to pull the pin. Looking forward to your replies thanks in advance mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milhouse Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Last post by myfish thanks in advance kyle First quote by myfish Regards Mark Ive added a few tanks to my setup recently so I'll be interested to see the power bill I get for this quarter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellow Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 ill post some sump pics up for you tomorrow photobucket is down at the moment.another way to combat cold is to insulate the tanks with foam i did this when renting and found i had a two to three degree increase in temp after having done so. ill speak to you more about sumps tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0oks Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Its probably couple sharing the same account. Getting holes drilled could cost you $15 to $40 and an extra maybe $50 just to come to your house to get it done. For a 4fter you'll a need 25mm bulkheads. hth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Hi Kyle Why not get a kennel for the dog? That way you can keep the door shut which should help keep your costs down. Also consider using styro to line the garage or to line the tanks as Yellow suggested. Styro can be easily removed when you next move house. There's plenty of ways to achieve your goal, depending on how your tanks are set out. I've seen garages divided in half with a bubblewrap curtain, divided up with styro 'walls' and I've seen small 'sheds' inside garages to keep in the warmth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakes Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Or get a 2nd hand door from a demolition yard. Put a doggy door in it with a spring loaded flap that seals relatively well. When you eventually move out you can put the original door back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellow Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v223/yel...ishroom%20pics/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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