Cutting Energy Costs on a Large ReeF

[coolkidtr]

I am hoping that everyone can benefit from this thread. I am looking to cut some energy costs. I currently have a 400 gallon reef display (96*30*32) and 180 gallon sump + 40 gallon frag tank + 90 gallons dedicated to my breeding clownfish pairs all on the same system. I have a really heavy Bioload with large tangs and angelfish. Predominatly SPS with some shrooms

My equipment is as follows:

Protein skimmers: I actually run two skimmers
a PM XL3 dual beckett with a barracuda
SWC cone 250a with askoll laguna pump

Filtration: all via PM reactors teed off the hammerhead gold
GFO
Purigen
Sulfur denitrator

Lighting:
4 250 single ended watt metal Halide
aquabeam led over my frag tank
standard marineland LED over my breeding pair tank

UV:
80 watt UV sterilizer (teed off the hammerhead gold)

Circulation:
Tunze Wavebox
4 Tunze 6100's, 1 6200
Hammerhead gold for my return (water is pumped up approximately 15 feet from my basement fish room)


Water parameters:
5 nitrate
Kh 8
Ca++ 440

I was thinking my best bet would be to switch my lights out for LED. Any suggestions? I am also looking for an alternative for my beckett. It works well but sucks alot of electricity. I was thinking of a $1500 replacement for the beckett, maybe the vertex alpha kone 300? Any suggestions. I know these are the costs that are associated with a big system but I am looking to see if I can be more efficient. Wouldn't hurt to burn my money on livestock versus electricity. I appreciates everyones input in advance.

 

[SaltwaterAdict]

IMO a $1500 skimmer is not necessary. I bet you could get a really nice energy efficient one for around $500. What LED's were you thinking?

I would consider taking the UV offline. I'm not a firm believer on them. Also you could look into seeing how the tank would do without the reactors. Possibly downsizing the return pump?

 

[PAUL327]

Yes LED lights will become the wave of the future, but many reefers still believe they are unproven on large sps tanks. Im 50/50 on them. I still need to see improvement on larger tanks smaller might be the way for Led now. You might want to consider a solar panel installation job to reduce your power bill. Solar hot water heater, things like that will reduce your power bill greatly. Spray foam in your attic on the ceiling that will keep the attic cool and the electic bill low. Also consider a gas dryer and stove. The Govt. has awesome rebates for solar and gas installations. If you plan this well you could reduce your electic bill by 50% or more.

 

[Forfend]

What about supplemental energy eg; solar, wind? I also saw a thread where someone hooked up his hot water heater (gas) to heat up his setup.

 

[LOTUS50GOD]

Switch to LED. I had 1200w of MH and switched to 450w of LED and I saved about 100 bucks a month on the energy bill.

You can replace the hammerheads since they are 350/ 3 amps running 24/7

Remove the UV. that will save you 80wx 24x7.

I love my Alpha 300 and dont really think skimping on the skimmer is a good move. The skimmer is the heart of your system and you really do get what you pay for.

 

[Allmost]

IMO a $1500 skimmer is not necessary. I bet you could get a really nice energy efficient one for around $500.

examples ?

an Alpha kone 300 uses a Red dragon pump, which pulls in 3600 lph of air, at 76W ! I am certain no other pump can beat it, and if it can, it would cost more.



also, running pumps on wave or pulse would lower power consumptions alot,

 

[PAUL327]

I f you have a large enough piece of land a windmill is not out of the question to generate electricity for your home. My buddy has a windmill and solar panels on his 12 acre plot and his power bill is crazy low he has led light bulbs in his home. Like I said if you plan this right you could cut your power bill by 50%

 

[OceanDweller]

I will be doing a 400 or so as well. I was thinking sola tubes x3 and running t-5's or leds, that will save some $ right there as the tubes run 300 or so. If your north you'll have to angle them and compensate in snow etc. That said, I would also look into vortechs and getting rid of the insanly large return unless you have to pump from a basement or across the house. I don't know why people use overly large external return pumps. Personally I prefer two small above sump external pumps like ehimn.

 

[PAUL327]

sola tubes are a great idea they would pay for themself in less than a year

 

[dahenley]

his external pump is pushing water 15ft up, so little ehiem pumps wont work or similar pumps.

vortechs are great, but he is running tunze 6100's which dont pull much power, so hes not going to save much there. (not enough to see)

you could probably get rid of both skimmers and get a decent external skimmer.
externals are rated higher because the pumps dont ahve to fight head pressure, and take up less room then internal skimmers. (if you have the room for an external skimmer)

the HH gold is a juice eater, but most pumps that are pushing that high of head pressure, your going to use some electricity.... no matter what pump you choose

your doing good by using your return for feeding your reactors.
so, the main things that i see are the 250W lights and the UV. because your keeping the breading pair, im sure its the main reason for running it, but i have never run one and never needed one.....

so, those are the big things.

How is your tank setup? do you have SPS all over the tank? if not, you can swap out some of the 250's for misc lights to save the electricity, but still make it look like there is light. lots of people do it with DIY led's

 

[Mark]

With good reflectors, you can get away with 3 250's over 8 feet of tank. The newer pendants will cover 3x3 area pretty decently. The cost of LED's over your tank will be $$$, and it would take a while to recoup the cost.

Is your basement heated? If not, reduce the size of your sump, so that there's less water to heat. Also, a good quality needlewheel can replace your two skimmers. And ditch the UV.

 

[LOTUS50GOD]

examples ?

an Alpha kone 300 uses a Red dragon pump, which pulls in 3600 lph of air, at 76W ! I am certain no other pump can beat it, and if it can, it would cost more.



also, running pumps on wave or pulse would lower power consumptions alot,

The Vertex alpha has 2 RED DRAGONS... LOL

 

[Just2Many]

Do you have to run the UV 24/7 if your not adding new stuff?

 

[coolkidtr]

All great suggestions. Please keep them coming. My sps are mainly on the two ends so I can put an led in the middle and ditch the two center mh's. Any suggestions on a good replacement skimmer that is more efficient and does a great job with the bioload. Thanks again for everyones suggestions and time.

 

[pciscott]

I am pretty sure you can get a baracuda impeller to go on the hammerhead, 100 less watts and 1000gph less flow. If you add a few Led strips or T5 supplements you could cut down your halides to 5 hours a day I have a friend who cut his to 3.5 and his growth has slowed, but colors are great. Changing out all the bulbs in your house to led will will free up some watts. Get rid of the Beckett. The cost of Led and there effectiveness on a large tank is still out so I would wait it out until the price comes down. Good luck.

 

[PAUL327]

does your friend have any pics to share of that tank that only gets 3.5 hrs a day with halide lights?

 

[coolkidtr]

Anybody have experience with ATB 10 and 12 cone skimmers on large systems. I am now looking for a more energy efficient skimmer. Any other suggestions.

T

 

[pciscott]

I will get some pictures on Sunday, but I know a tank you can see now on a video. World Wide Corals 300 which they are breaking down for a larger tank ran 3 400 watt Radiums for three hours a day 8 48" t5 tubes for 6 hours a day and several 18" coral sky led strips from 8 am to 8pm the store hours. The tank is one of the nicest I have ever seen as far as color goes. They also have a ton of fish and feed more than most and skim skim skim this is part of their success as well. If you are ever within a few hundred miles of Orlando WWC is a trip that you will not regret except maybe your wallet. Can't wait to see there new tank mature. 10 foot tank with 5 250 Radiums, 4 60" t5, 4 60" led strips and 6 24" led strips with a similar light photo period as stated above. I think many Reefers can dial back their photo period and save some Killowatts.

 

[frank the tank]

How much are those solor plans u guys are talking about ?

 

[Ldagger]

You did not tell us about the temperature(s) you are running, being far north you probably aren't going to see much savings in switching from MH atleast in the winter months, they heat your water and room. Do you use heaters? What are your summer and winter tank temps? Let you tank run hotter in summer and cooler in winter, but of course depends on area your tank is located in your house, what the temp swings are etc.