Ways to save electricity bill for your marine tank

[mousecat11]

That is one question that is hard to quantify. Overkill chiller consumes more power, hence running might be short but higher consumption might offset the saving. Neverthelss, i will go for slightly overkill chiller as the amout spent and feeling i got from the livestocks will want me to ensure the chiller is able to support my tank and overstocking. Always got 2 aspects to an issue, the saving from utility bill derived from buying a branded and reputable energy saving chiller vs the saving from buying lower end chiller. It also depends on the years that you are in this hobby and durablility of the chiller in enjoying the saving. For me, i choose the first, buying slightly overkill and energy saving chiller.

Buying a slightly overkill chiller is always a good choice.. as it will take lesser time for the chiller to cool the water.... this will also save u on the money when you decided to upgrade your tank next time..

Any idea how much a LED aquarium lighting cost ?

[Solo77]

Bro, branded LED lights are rather expensive. Heard from some reefers that the LEDs can last but the so called transformer/adaptor is not able to last. Hence, not worth getting. Notwithstanding the fact that initial cash outlay may not justify for the saving in long term. U can try Solaris, hehehe...can get quote from Reef Depot...hehe.

Buying a slightly overkill chiller is always a good choice.. as it will take lesser time for the chiller to cool the water.... this will also save u on the money when you decided to upgrade your tank next time..

Any idea how much a LED aquarium lighting cost ?

[mousecat11]

yes.. i hear about Solaris.. price is scary..

Maybe another cheaper alternative for chiller is using of fan then... ?

[arcanehacker]

yes.. i hear about Solaris.. price is scary..

Maybe another cheaper alternative for chiller is using of fan then... ?

Then you will see yourself topping up water almost everyday. Fan only covers surface..problem if you have a deeper tank.

[tunicate]

I've also been thinking about how I can make my next tank a low carbon footprint one. So far, below is what I've come up with:

4 x 1.5 x 1.5 custom IOS design without sump

(1) The relatively shallow depth should allow for T5 FL without the use of MH.

(2) Smaller return pump as less head pressure is required.

(3) No chiller as it's gonna be a FOWLR

(4) Basically only 2 pumps running. (1 for return & the other for skimmer)

Would welcome any comments.

[mousecat11]

Wow.. from the look of this setup.. you are already saving quite a few bit... only important to get a reliable and lesser engergy consuming return pump.. since i believe this will be the power head which will have the highest flow rate in the setup..

Are you using any FR ? maybe you can have a two way piping from your return flow from sump to main with one side going to the FR and back to the sump.. i have that and so doesnt need any extra pump for FR..

[tunicate]

Wow.. from the look of this setup.. you are already saving quite a few bit... only important to get a reliable and lesser engergy consuming return pump.. since i believe this will be the power head which will have the highest flow rate in the setup..

Are you using any FR ? maybe you can have a two way piping from your return flow from sump to main with one side going to the FR and back to the sump.. i have that and so doesnt need any extra pump for FR..

Thanks for the tips Larry. Have never use FR before. Does FOWLR need FR? Only have a bag of carbon & Seachem's PhosGuard hanging in my overflow compartment now.

[Underwater]

Thanks for the tips Larry. Have never use FR before. Does FOWLR need FR? Only have a bag of carbon & Seachem's PhosGuard hanging in my overflow compartment now.

That should be fine IMO.

[tunicate]

That should be fine IMO.

Thanks for the reply Underwater bro

[mousecat11]

i have tried Seachem's PhosGuard before.. but it is not as effective... the best way , cheapest and environmental friendly way is to use Mangroove or Chaeto to absorb your P04 and no3..

if not, very soon you will see brown algera growing all over your tank..!! you cannot imagine how much shit your fish can produce in one day..

[tunicate]

...you cannot imagine how much shit your fish can produce in one day..

I agree with you on the detritus produced in the tank. Especially on a BB like what I have now

Stirring up the bottom with an extra wavemaker/pump to encourage detritus extraction to overflow filter is not easy. As a result, I'm contemplating to include an underflow design in my new tank. Has anyone tried this before?

[oceanus]

Just to add that MH is much hotter and takes up more watts, so a chiller is almost a must to go with it or the tank could be "cooked". Whereas for T5, you can still do without chiller, and using fan instead...and less tubes such as just 1 blue 1 white too, esp for FOWLR.

Since Aquarium lighting make up of about 50% of the total energy usage of your tank.. getting a good sets of enery saving lighting thus is very important in the long run...

[Reefaholic]

WaY TO save electricity bill is to stop reefing.. now..

the electricity just went up again. luckily i already stop long time ago, if not my monthly bill will be $1k in a hdb flat.

[thairun]

Oh no!

IMHO I think u cannot save so much in Reefing

[gny]

With electricity cost per kilowatt going up ~21% and public transport cost going up starting 1 Oct 08,

there are reefers who downgrade to smaller tank size or even stop their belove hobby for now.

On LED lightings, this has being discuss on-and-off.

But current Solxxx & Lumixxx LED lightings initial cost is very high.

Looking at Ocean-light.com web site, with its lower cost compared to above two brands.

Will Oceanuslight give some insight into your LED products???

[kelstorm]

Ya, that also happened to a reefer whom i once bought his equipmt after he decomm. He said that after a chiller failure, all his precious corals perished within a day being 'cooked' by the MH. Advice wld be important to carry out regular chiller maintenance/checks to lower the risk.

u can get a temp sensor unit to avoid such mishap.. once u program the temp to cut off at say, 29 degrees, should ur chiller fails, this unit will then cut off all the lights.. small amt to pay for such high investment inside the tank.

i happen to be selling a unit after i decom.. hahaha

[kelstorm]

Then you will see yourself topping up water almost everyday. Fan only covers surface..problem if you have a deeper tank.

agreed.. an issue of penny wise, pound foolish

[kelstorm]

Thanks for the tips Larry. Have never use FR before. Does FOWLR need FR? Only have a bag of carbon & Seachem's PhosGuard hanging in my overflow compartment now.

understand the use of FR.... Using FR to agitate the carbon, which is a much better way than letting a bag of carbon hanging on the overflow. Carbon helps to clear water clarity and remove toxic elements but some brands do leech back.

As for Eheim Phosguard, u can save it.. IMO, it is a real waste of money. Go for stuff like Rowa, which had been proven to work very well. Yes, expensive but it works. U can also use kalkwasser to control phos..perhaps control is not the right word to use.... go a search

BTW, care to share y u using phos removal media when u are keeping FOWLR?

[kelstorm]

i have tried Seachem's PhosGuard before.. but it is not as effective... the best way , cheapest and environmental friendly way is to use Mangroove or Chaeto to absorb your P04 and no3..

if not, very soon you will see brown algera growing all over your tank..!! you cannot imagine how much shit your fish can produce in one day..

chaeto is very effective but u need to provide it with lights and tat means increasing ur electrical consumption by a bit...

using good skimmer helps too

[dfstan]

guess this has made me to decide my lightings setup!

[kelstorm]

guess this has made me to decide my lightings setup!

using torch lights? hahaha

[MAG]

Ya, that also happened to a reefer whom i once bought his equipmt after he decomm. He said that after a chiller failure, all his precious corals perished within a day being 'cooked' by the MH. Advice wld be important to carry out regular chiller maintenance/checks to lower the risk.

Good Day,

May i know how to do regular chiller maintenance?Do you get ppl to service it or you open up and clean? Currently im using artica 1/3 and the most ill wash the front cover. Also pls share how to do regular checks-what to check?

Thx alot for sharing.

[oceanus]

Good Day,

May i know how to do regular chiller maintenance?Do you get ppl to service it or you open up and clean? Currently im using artica 1/3 and the most ill wash the front cover. Also pls share how to do regular checks-what to check?

Thx alot for sharing.

the basic maintain you can do is to use a vacumm cleaner to suck allt he dust on the cooling coil... other than that, you should engage professional to do a maintance it for you.. which should be every six month i think..

another way to check is also to see if the chiller take much longer time to kick in or not ?

hope it helps..

[mousecat11]

the electricity bill in sg has started to go up by 22% starting from 1st of OCT !!! which is the highest in last ten years.. Omg...

i think i also really need to look into energy effective equipment for reefing from now ..

[gny]

Thanks for yr reply Oceanus.

Yes, I've read 'your' products in the other web-site.

Also saw one demo unit at Iwarna last week.

Not very 'bright' in my opinion.

But with electricity $$ going up by 21% fr now, its an alternative lighting method that will cost less to run in the long run.

Its reliability wise needs to be access also.