[you] how many watts does your system use?

[John]

Add them up... I want to know who has the most energy effeciant tanks for their overall size.

So...

Watts / total water volume = what I want to know.

If you want show how effecient the tank is at night and during the day.

[rmalone]

Total volume about 200g, 180g with a 100g sump. Tank is mostly sps with one end OWNED by my ridiculous RBTA's.
lights 2x250 halide driven to about 330 watts each and 2x60" t-5s driven to about 110w each
So lights at 880w
Skimmer ATB medium cone at about 60w
Return ATB 1500 flowstar, according to amp draw I would say 90w.
Heaters 4x250w ebo yager, obviously I rarely run all four but it happens in Jan and FEB.
So worst case on heat is 1000w, now that never happens during light on.
I wont even bother with the 1/4hp chiller for now, though mid summer is likely my most inefficient time.

So lets say half the heat 500w
lights 880w
and skim/return call it 150w
So round it all up and I would say 1600w/200g gives 8watts per gallon. But that is just a ballpark and none of us will have consistent energy draw through a 24hr period.

[Poseidon]

Well before I took my 90 gallon tank down, I had:

Return Pump 154W
Vortec MP-40 x2 56W max
Heater 300W
Skimmer 21W (Warner Marine K2)
Ca Reactor, recirc pump 20W, feed pump 9W
Kalk reactor recirc pump 9W
Lights... the big one 480W (6 overdriven T5)
Sump lights 4x24W T5 96W
Misc other stuff I am forgetting... 100W

For a total of... 1245W

Now, I can tell you that my tank AVERAGED $60 a month on the power bill. Some months a little more, some a little less depending on the temp outside/inside the basement.

Oh, and my display was 90 gallons, with a 30 Gallon fuge, and a 50G skimmer/heater holder.

Accounting for rocks etc, I estimated I had 100 gallons of actual water. Or 12.45W per gallon...

[John]

Alright, I was just doing the math for mine.

DAY
876 - 916

Lights 432Watts
Return Pump 165
2x Vortechs 16 - 56
Skimmer 2x Sicce Pumps - 58 watts
Heaters 3x 250 Watt heaters (Calculated only 215 Watts constant to maintain Temp)



Night
648 - 688
Fuge 48 Watts
Frag Tank 156 Watts
Return Pump 165
2x Vortechs 16 - 56
Skimmer 2x Sicce Pumps - 58 watts
Heaters 3x 250 Watt heaters (Calculated only 215 Watts constant to maintain Temp)



180 Gallon Display Tank (Volume after rocks and sand ~156 Gallons)
120 Sump (Volume after sand and rock and water levels ~84 Gallons)
18 Gallon Frag Tank (Volume ~15)

Total Water Volume - 255

Watts Per Gallon
Day Min - 3.43 WPG
Day Max - 3.59 WPG

Night Min - 2.54 WPG
Night Max - 2.69 WPG

[jolson10450]

for my 29g with a 10g sump, and my 5.5g frag tank, and my 1g micro pico my total wattage of all 3 combined tops out at 350 watts! my combine volume is roughly 35 gallons so total is roughly 10 watts per gallon with everything on.

my main 29g tank is about 250w so judging by total water volume which is roughly 30 gallons i technically use 8.3 watts per gallon on it.

[jimsflies]

My equipment consists of the following...stock biocube return, 150 HQI, MP10, six 3w blue LEDs, 100w (I think...need to verify) heater. Not sure if things like apex controller and osmolator count?

I should be under 300 watts...but only have 29 gallons (actually less) water volume.

[EMUreef]

90g RR with 50g sump maybe half full so will say about 125G total volume.

-2 175w MH - 350w
-2 Koralia evolution 1400's 6w - 12w
-Sicce psk 2500 skimmer pump - 30w
-Quiet one 4000 return - 50w
-heater - 250w
- fuge pump MJ1200 - 30w
-Fuge light LED - 13w

735w day time / 5.88 WPG

[XSiVE]

120g display, 55g sump, 29g fuge, 10g frag tank, probably about ~190g total volume

day usage total: 510W nominal, 910W Peak with both heaters on (they don't run a lot), rounded up to the next 10.
return pump, other circulation pumps & skimmer: 310W
Heaters:400W (two 200W)
Lights: 200W (LED on both display & frag tank)

Night usage total: 300W nominal, 700W peak with heaters.

Day: 2.68W/gal without heaters, 4.78W/gal with heaters.
measured with kill-a-watt

Night: 1.5W/gal without heaters, 3.68W/gal with.

edit: if I calculate my heaters as an average like John did, then I come up with ~120 watts of constant heater so...

daytime: 630W, 3.31 W/Gal
nighttime: 420W, 2.21 W/Gal

[reefdr]

15 gallon Zoa and paly garden, 150w MH and a sub current wet dry filter 20w and one K1 3w. so im at 173 watts :>

[lamnguyen1313]

I have 120 gallon acrylic tank. double over flow. 2 metal halide.
2 x 250. 2 VHO x 110
mag 18 return
mag 3 calcium reactor
mag 5 skimmer
2 heat 2x250

[Mike]

My new 125 gallon Rimless system will be using

100 watt heater
Led lighting 210 watts
Return pump 60 watts
Skimmer 80 watts
Vortech x2 36 watts (total)
Profilux and dosers 30 watts
Denitrator 30 watts
_______________________

Daytime = 546 watts
Night = 336watts

[BK's Reef]

90 fowlr display, 40l sump(around 25g filled, with coral), 29 quarantine.
lights: 2 cf 23w ea. on display( worst lighting lol) 4x24w t5 on sump. 130w on qt when fish is in so not on all the time.

Pumps/powerheads. Rio 2100(25w), 2 sunsun 1300gph(24w together), k2 in sump(9w), penguin 660 in qt(? watts) hob filter penguin 200b (15w?)

2x 200w heaters(display) 1x 100w heater(qt)

845 all together.
600 on display, usually only have one heater plugged in so 400 mostly. night 258.
245 on qt w/o known wattage of the powerhead. when no fish probably around 25w(estimating the powerhead) because i turn off the heater til before i get a fish.
6w per gallon on all systems with everything on totalling 140g total approxamatly.

[Manoj's Reef]

Daytime: 370watts/90 gallons = 4.11 w/g
Night time: 170 watts/90 gallons = 1.89 w/g

[LunaReef]

50 gal cube- approx. 80 gal total volume

Return- 90 watts
Skimmer- 38 watts
Vortech- 9-28 watts
Heater- 250 watts
LED light- 17 watts

Total watts= 423
Total Watts per gal= 5.28

I also have a fridge and dosing pump set up but can't find watts used for either :confused:
so didn't include them

[boodare03]

Right now I don't have a system. We bought a house so I sold everything but am looking to get back in. With my last system I had my 120 display with 2 mp-40's, euro reef rs180, and 8 overdriven icecap t5 retros, and a mag 12 return pump and then I had the 200 gallon with a mag 36 return and cheap lights, and a 75 gallon with a 4 bulb t5 fixture with hob filters and 2 hydor korilia 4's. I don't know what it cost to run that but is wasn't cheap.

[Bluering]

Day: 561watts/65g = 8.6w/gal.
Night: 237watts/65g = 3.6w/gal.

[John]

120g display, 55g sump, 29g fuge, 10g frag tank, probably about ~190g total volume

day usage total: 510W nominal, 910W Peak with both heaters on (they don't run a lot), rounded up to the next 10.
return pump, other circulation pumps & skimmer: 310W
Heaters:400W (two 200W)
Lights: 200W (LED on both display & frag tank)

Night usage total: 300W nominal, 700W peak with heaters.

Day: 2.68W/gal without heaters, 4.78W/gal with heaters.
measured with kill-a-watt

Night: 1.5W/gal without heaters, 3.68W/gal with.

edit: if I calculate my heaters as an average like John did, then I come up with ~120 watts of constant heater so...

daytime: 630W, 3.31 W/Gal
nighttime: 420W, 2.21 W/Gal




Awesome. Thanks for updating that.

[John]

Part 2 or this thread will involve find out how much we REALLY spend monthly on electricity...

So far I'm noticing smaller systems use MORE Watts Per Gallon... than a larger system does.

[Tropicorium]

Add them up... I want to know who has the most energy effeciant tanks for their overall size.

So...

Watts / total water volume = what I want to know.

If you want show how effecient the tank is at night and during the day.

On average, we run 40 400 Watt MH lights about 6 hours per day and about 65 4' 40W std flourescent bulbs abour 8 hours per day. 5 furnaces around 90,000 BTU run a lot in cooler weather. 3 1 HP blowers run continuously, and about 20 powerheads run all the time. The shop's electric bill is around $1600 per month in winter and a little less in the summer. The gas bill is around $1200 per month in cooler weather, little in warmer weather. Staggering?? Dick

[John]

What's the total water volume?


On average, we run 40 400 Watt MH lights about 6 hours per day and about 65 4' 40W std flourescent bulbs abour 8 hours per day. 5 furnaces around 90,000 BTU run a lot in cooler weather. 3 1 HP blowers run continuously, and about 20 powerheads run all the time. The shop's electric bill is around $1600 per month in winter and a little less in the summer. The gas bill is around $1200 per month in cooler weather, little in warmer weather. Staggering?? Dick

[Stoner's Reef]

75gal tall with a 20gal long sump/fuge=95gal total

Day 793 watts
Night 447 watts

[jolson10450]

On average, we run 40 400 Watt MH lights about 6 hours per day and about 65 4' 40W std flourescent bulbs abour 8 hours per day. 5 furnaces around 90,000 BTU run a lot in cooler weather. 3 1 HP blowers run continuously, and about 20 powerheads run all the time. The shop's electric bill is around $1600 per month in winter and a little less in the summer. The gas bill is around $1200 per month in cooler weather, little in warmer weather. Staggering?? Dick

better get back to work and start selling more, seems like you got some big bills to pay lol! just kidding!! that is a huge amount though but considering everything you have there it really cant be that bad when you add everything up.

[2pairs]

I have two separate setups, so I will list them separately.


#1 Seahorse tank Water = 65 gallons total
WATS Day = 330 = 5.08 WPG
WATS night = 220 = 3.38 WPG
Day cycle is 14 HRS


#2 mini reef Water = 65 gallons total
WATS Day = 280 = 4.30 WPG
WATS night = 220 = 3.38 WPG

And I am still working on bringing it down more.

WOW if you do the math that is 12,940 WATS A DAY. (I never should have done this)
I guess this means LED lights soon and more efficient pumps and on and on.:hypnodisk:

[Gyyro]

Display 120 gal, sump 200 gal, frag 30 gal = 350 gal total.

Lights 96 3w Cree leds 240 watts total - Kill a watt meter
skimmer 26 watts
return hammer head gold 337 watts
2x 200 watt heaters only one runs the second is on a different setting on the RKE in case first one fails.

Day 803w with heat 603w without
night 563w with heat 363w without

[dewey]

14 gallon nano :
74W PC lighting, 80W heater (not on always of course), 3W led for chaeto, koralia and return pump I assume 15W. Total wattage excluding heater 92W.

Watts per gallon = 92/14 = 6.5 W/gallon

Damn.. mine is too high compared to big tanks.

[180wall]

Total Volume about 365 gallons

2 250w MH Measured usage 271w ea 6 hrs a day 542w
1 Reeflo Dart 111w 111w
2 Heater 200w 400w
1 skimmer Bubble Blaster 5000 45w
1 Tunze Wave box 30w
1 Tunze 6215 60w
2 Tunze 6105 45w
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1233w

[2pairs]

You know, I think the electric companies MUST love reef keepers!

[rmalone]

It' all realative really. I'm sure Dicks numbers at the Trop make most of us cringe. But look at his volume and consider that its a business. At my greenhouse I saw a natural gas bill of 16 grand one december, yep one month, typically this time of year I run 5 or 6 k dollars /month. I know another greenhouse who is on city water, the bill is 30k/month in the spring, just for h2o now THAT makes me cringe. Again it's all realative.

[JasonP420]

lighting - 219w
Return pump-110w
Protien Skimmer-35w
Heaters-400w
Powerheads-10w
total wattange-774
total water volume 220g
3.518w/g