Looking for ways to cut operating costs???

S

smstrick20

New member
Im starting to mod and rebuild by 90gal reef after moving and have found that energy costs here and everywhere are steadily on the rise, short of building a wind mill or solar panels anyone else have ideas or suggestions on cutting costs? Im already adjusting and reworking the tank to produce more efficient flow and use of pumps but any other ideas are welcome.

What lights or pumps are rated the most energy efficient etc.
 
Hey, If you can't afford it, give it up !!!
Just kidding !
Any of the florecent lights will cut cost
LED's are the new thing and some claim to provide enough for sps too. They will cut cost dramatically, but not initially.
with a wide variety of colors you can mimic sun faily close and
a led is a chep bulb to replace
 
a bit more info would be helpful....what do you have now? How is your system setup? What lighting did you use when it was setup? What do you want to keep in the tank?
 
The tank is a standard AGA 90gal, I just moved and am scrapping the old set up and modifying the tank to allow more flow to the fuge and other filtration as well as more circulation. I was usuing PC lighting since this was my first reef tank and I got a deal on it, but now that I have taken it down I want to revamp the whole thing and make it what I want. I would love to set up my 300 as a reef but I just dont have the room for that one right now. So at this point the sky is the limit as far as the plan goes, trying to get input now before I start shopping for new lights and pumps.
 
reeflo snapper, plumbed with a manifold on the output and valved, you can run various pieces of equipment with this, mainly reactors. split the returns and possibly put some educators on them and run them through sea swirls. Tunzes and koralias if you need more flow in the tank.
a sicce or askoll based skimmer depending the skimmer budget.
lighting, doesn't matter unless you do LED or the SUN and I'm assuming both are out of the question so...If heat can become and issue T5s. But halides won't cost you too much to run or maintain.
 
Look at equipment from Europe in general. The cost of energy over there is much higher than here so they have been developing energy efficient equipment for longer than companies in the US. They tend to be a bit more expensive though.
 
I recently decided to stop using my Iwaki pumps in winter, and go with submerged pumps. All that supposed benefit of heat not being added to the water is just money out the window when heaters are running close to 24/7 in my tank in winter. :)
 
Actually these days wind turbines are not too uncommon. I know they can be an expensive investment but they really do pay off in the long run.

:)
 
One of the biggest this is to look at the equipment that runs 24/7, like return pumps, skimmer pumps, etc... Look at gpm and get the most efficient pump you can get to do the job. Lighting is next, supplement MH with T5, cut back on photo period. Little things like that add up big in the end.
 
I would like to ditch my fuge and have a sump elevated on the side next to the DT. I could run a smaller return pump then because of less head pressure. My current one is to big and I have to have it throttled back some but it's still using full power. Wife is not for this, she wants it to remain out of site in the stand. Like Konadog says look at stuff running 24/7 I too am interested in saving watts and removed one of my 250 watt MH and replaced it with some CF's I'm thinking of trading both my 250's for 175's as growing sps corals is not my desire as much as having a 6 ft tank for Tangs
 
Just my thoughts on this since I have a 90 gallon cube (same gallons as OP)

T5 for lighting
recirc skimmer run off overflow
Tunze streams for circulation
oceanrunner or ehiem for return pump...Randy has a great point of using the heat in the winter
Do your homework on lighting times..can save you a ton
I read a thread about people keeping the lights off once a week or every other week to simulate cloudy days

Im sure there is plenty more
 
You may want to look elsewhere in your house in increase efficiency. What uses the most?

It sounds like people are giving some good advice on the tank but what about insulation, geothermal heating, no reservoir water heater, etc?

If you could target a few things and bring down those costs maybe you could cut back less on your reef system.
 
buy a killawatt and then you can see what is sucking up how much power, and make changes based on that.

here are a few things I will be doing to save on operating costs.

A oversized recirc skimmer that will only be run 12 hours a day and plumbed off my drain line.

my closed loop is timmed so its only on about 40% of the time and only durring the day.

Check your elec company to find out when "on peak" hours are(mine are 3x the price durring on peak) make sure your lights and stuff arnt running durring that time.(my on peak is 2pm to 7pm, so I just turn off the halides, skimmer and CL durring those hours)

If your tank runs cool, insulation on the sump and fuge will help alot, and so will covering them.

If its running hot, fans and an auto top off are serious money savers instead of a chiller.

Minimize the number of pumps you have. I will run my reactors and stuff off the one return pump. I will use the overflows to supply the skimmer, then fuge then frag tank in line thus needing no pumps but a power head for flow.

If you need power heads use stream style ones. more flow for less wattage.

if you have a closed loop, get eductors or flow accelerators. More flow for the same wattage. or use a oceans motions, more flow in different spots at different times.

Use controllers to make sure things only run when they need to(heaters/chillers)

Get good reflectors to utilize all the light your making.

Not electricity but still operating costs...make your own food, and use home made two part stuff for dosing.
 
I think what many people overlook is the payoff or break even period required to pay for the "new" energy efficient equipment. Spending $3000 dollars to save $20 a month in electricity is not a wise investment.

Your first order of business is to make a detailed list of your equipment and what it costs to operate.
 
I agree with Bean about payout, but for me it is not only about money savings. Higher end, more efficient equipment tends to be more reliable, quieter, and lasts longer that the less expensive alternatives (IME). There are also fewer issues to struggle with like heat/temperature, etc ( live in a hot climate). Overall the hassle of my tank as gone down with the use of more efficient/fewer pieces of equipment. SOme of this can be equated to cost savings.

Making my tank consume as little energy as possible has become part of the hobby for me. I also managed to sell most of my used equipment that was less efficient to help offset most of the cost of the new equipment.
 
Agreed, also check Reefcentrals sellers forum, Craigslist.com and Ebay for used equipment. I got a really nice skimmer I modded to needle wheel for 20.00 ,I built my sump after looking for a used one.
used a mag pump for circulation(insump) as Randy mentioned helps with heat. Use the Koralias for good intank circulation @11 watts each.
Lighting I went with a Ati Power module (4 bulb unit)54 watt not overdriven. I have owned 250 watt and 175 watt halides . I would say this fixture appears brighter than my dual 175 watt with 2-40 atinic.I donot have a par or lux meter to confirm that but Im sure it is easily.I have a 72 gal bowfront and have my total system operating at under 500 watts including skimmer,lighting,heater,centrifugal pump,powerheads,kalkreactor,and doser.
Not trying to promote anything just thought it maybe helpful.
-Graves
 
1. Skimmerless tank with corals, requiring low light and low flow, near window to be able to see them :lol:
Alien landscape of colorful tube anemones is ideal candidate: moonlight or very low combo light, just to see them, not for growth. Low flow. Just feed.

2.
- Gravity fed pumpless skimmer,
- energy efficient pumps (like Ocean Runner, pumps, not PH) and powerheads (compare MaxiJet 900 with Sure Flow 1600 kit and Koralia. Note, that Koralias tend to lose the small black bearing and become rattling),
- insulated back and sides of the tank,
- I have read, that MH require bulbs change only once an year, comparing to twice an year for PC. Only one part of light could have bright light, everything around could be covered by low light tolerant corals.
- liquid phosphate remover.
- side sump could be hidden inside cabinet. But you still will need some gradient in water levels for surface skimming or have powerhead-powered separate surface skimmer. Last resort - paper towels, but they could be formalin treated.

My 2 cents :rollface:
 
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