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Do you know how much it costs/month to run your tank?


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  1. #1
    redemer123 - Reefkeeper
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    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    clio michigan
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    511
    First Name
    Andrew

    Default Do you know how much it costs/month to run your tank?

    today my fish tank was pinned on the high electricity bill so that made me wonder how much my tank was actually costing to run/month. the total came out to about $36 to run my 120. so if any of you ever wondered how to figure out the costs of your tank just do these few easy steps.

    1. Total up the watts per day for the item to get total watts/day.
    2. Divide total watts/day by 1000 to get the total kilowatt hours (Kwh) per day.
    3. Multiply the Kwh/day times the cost per Kwh to get your total cost/day.
    4. To find out the average total cost per month, multiply the total cost/day by 30. (Power company monthly billing cycles vary from 28-33 days)

    here is the equipment I run 24-7
    heater = 100w
    AI modules = 75w*2
    Ocean runner 3000 return pump = 65w
    Sedra 2500 skimmer pump = 25w
    Mp40 powerhead = 28w

    the total comes out at 368watts
    so now you want to calculate the amount you consume per day simple multiply by 24 hours
    368w*24 hours =8832w/day

    now you take the watts per day and divide by 1000 to get the kilowatt hours which for me should come out to
    8.8kwh.

    then just multiply the kilowatt hours by your power companys rate, ours is $0.14/kwh
    which should come out to about $1.20 to run/day for my tank
    then multiply by 30 to get the total about monthly which came out to $36.95/month.

    of course it wont be exact because some things like the lights and heaters dont actually run full capacity 24-7 but its a good estimate of how much your tank actually costs to run monthly hope this helps, im actually a little curious to see how much its costs some of our members with multiple tanks or very large tanks!
    It takes a long long time to build a coral reef. Step by step the reefs survive on partnerships. And the most important partners are you and I.

  2. #2
    jimsflies - Reefkeeper
    Admin/Founder

    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    Michigan
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    Jim

    Default

    Or you can use this:
    Captive Reefs - Electrical Cost Calculator

    Located at the bottom left corner of every page on CR...

  3. #3
    larryandlaura - Reefkeeper
    Team CR

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    Nov 2010
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    Houghton Lake
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    Larry
    Awards Monthly Giveaway Winner Fantasy Football Champion Referral Award Monthly Giveaway Winner

    Default

    Lol nice Jim. My tank runs about $60 a month on electricity.
    Hi my name is Larry and I'm a coral addict!

  4. #4
    redemer123 - Reefkeeper
    Graphic Designer

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    Aug 2010
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    clio michigan
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    Andrew

    Default

    i just got shot down...lol
    It takes a long long time to build a coral reef. Step by step the reefs survive on partnerships. And the most important partners are you and I.

  5. #5
    Heidi - Reefkeeper
    Queen of Chat

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    Dec 2010
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    Michigan
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    Heidi
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    Default

    $30 for electricity
    $10 for water
    $10 saltmix
    $5 fish food
    $12 additives
    $5 superglue
    all equaling about $72 give or take
    but the the entertainment my family and I get from it is priceless!

  6. #6
    bluwc - Reefkeeper CR Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Clio, MI
    Posts
    829

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Heidi View Post
    $30 for electricity
    $10 for water
    $10 saltmix
    $5 fish food
    $12 additives
    $5 superglue
    all equaling about $72 give or take
    but the the entertainment my family and I get from it is priceless!
    I don't even want to know...but I figure about $100 a mth. Since setting up the cube and the 60g, it's about 100 more a month on my bill.....so I'm just assuming.

  7. #7
    AZDesertRat - Reefkeeper
    Subject Matter Expert
    Water Treatment

    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Phoenix AZ
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    376

    Default

    Frys Electronics has Kill A Watt meters on sale all the time for $15. Plug the tank in to one of those and you can get an exact amount of energy it uses and if you have the upgraded Kill A Watt it even calculates costs and other usage patterns.
    I bought one 5 years ago when I added a chiller and 3 years ago sold the chiller in favor of fans.
    I also found my lighting was the main culprit so converted to LED 3 months ago and cut my tanks electric usage by $50 a month. It does not take long to pay for LED with savings like that especially when I sold my MH/VHO retro for $200 to help with the cost of the new lights.

  8. #8
    jimsflies - Reefkeeper
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    Quote Originally Posted by redemer123 View Post
    i just got shot down...lol
    Sorry not shot down...just trying to help.

    Good topic though. I researched my current equipment on my 29 biocube and came up with the numbers below... ~$8/month.

    energy costs - Do you know how much it costs/month to run your tank?

    electrical costs2 - Do you know how much it costs/month to run your tank?

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Canton, Michigan
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    First Name
    Manoj
    Awards Fishbowl Drawing Winner Tank of the Month

    Default

    My next big investment will be lights. Not sure which one to buy....

  10. #10
    redemer123 - Reefkeeper
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    clio michigan
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    Andrew

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    yup i have LED's i like them
    It takes a long long time to build a coral reef. Step by step the reefs survive on partnerships. And the most important partners are you and I.

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