Low electricity cost 290 gal, how I did it

[Chihuahua6]

Well I shouldn't say how I did it because I didn't set it up yet. I have done an equipment list however and here's what I came up with.
The tank is 290 gallons 75x30x30. Here's the list followed by a detailed explanation. My goal was not only to build it on a budget but to run it on a budget as well.

Lighting: 2 x 250 watt 10k halides, 160 watt vho actinics
The halides and actinics will run for 10 hours a day. I also have three sun tubes above the tank that will provide dusk/dawn as well as extra par equivalent to 1 or 2 250 watt halides (estimate here from my research)

Flow: 2 Seio powerheads at 5200 GPH total, 110 watts total;
2 Tunze nanostreams 2380 GPH total, 14 watts total; 1 Koralie 3 850 GPH, 6.5 watts (I already have the Tunzes and Koralie so to save on start up costs I will use them until I can save for a large Tunze Stream) 1 Pan World pump for return 130 watts

Heaters: 900 watts total, I estimate they kick on for 6 hours a day three months out of the year in my mild climate. This is just an estimate from watching the tank I have now and how often the light comes on.

I forgot to add the skimmer pump wattage but it's not that much, maybe a couple bucks added to the monthly bill. I will not be using a calcium reactor, kalk reactor or chiller. This will be a colorful softie tank which I actually prefer and always have.

My electricity costs are low here at .065 per kilowatt hour! The total costs to run the tank as stated above is only $30.00 per month. Even if I still lived in NY and I doubled the cost it would be a nominal $60 per month.
The pumps were chosen for maximum flow with low wattage.

So you can operate a tank on a budget, even a big one. I will make another post about the tank build on the cheap. The tank cost me $100 + $75 in repair costs. I will start that thread once I get it running.

[jjakes24]

Why not go with all T5's with lights? You save on energy and bulbs at the same time

[Chihuahua6]

Well as far as par for par goes you save more with halides in the end when you compare the output in that way. I would be happy to point you to Anthony Calfo's articles on the subject if you're interested. Also in my situattion there is not a whole lot of room to add lights with the three sun tubes above the tank. Also the tank is 30" deep. I chose 10k bulbs to get the most growth particularly since I will have only two (65k would be better but a bit too yellow for my tastes) .

[chrissreef]

"My electricity costs are low here at .065 per kilowatt hour! "

That's 50% of how you're operating on a budget... everyone else is paying at least 2x that.


"Lighting: 2 x 250 watt 10k halides, 160 watt vho actinics"

75" tank? So you're going to have 1 MH per 36.5" of tank? Even with the VHO's it will look like 2 spotlights... or are you raising them like 20-25" or something?

So, no chiller but no mention of fan electricity?

Refugium lighting?

ballasts take electricity too

any controllers?

[WarrenAmy&Maddy]

Originally posted by Chihuahua6

Lighting: 2 x 250 watt 10k halides, 160 watt vho actinics
The halides and actinics will run for 10 hours a day. I also have three sun tubes above the tank that will provide dusk/dawn as well as extra par equivalent to 1 or 2 250 watt halides (estimate here from my research)

would you mind talking more about the sun tubes
you mention using... are these solatubes??? and do you by chance have any links to the ones you will be using?

i am interested in using sun tubes also
incorporating them into the system... right now am only aware of the solatube brand though

regards

[chrissreef]

oops, I missed the suntube mention!

[Lucky-rc]

lol...
Gee Wizz...

Amanda, I think you hit a sore spot some how with trying to be efficient...lol

Anyways, good thinking even if you blow that estimate at least your trying and doing your part to be conservative.

Lucky

[Mark]

To be honest, I really don't see much difference to an average reef tank here, with the exception of your lighting.

There are more specific suggestions you can add though.

1) Use electronic ballasts for the mh and flourescents. I would personally use T5 for actinic dawn and dusk over VHO, to save even more electricity. An additional benefit to t5's, is that they take up less real estate than VHO, thereby possibly allowing more natural sunlight via your suntubes. If you are seriously using sun tubes every 3 feet, I would forgo metal halides all together. Just add more t5's.

2. Your powerhead suggestions are a mixed bag of nuts. I would stick with Tunzes. And NOT the nano's. I would use 6100 or 6200's. And I would use only 4 total. Sell your nano's and coralia. If you want to keep them, then just add two 6100's, instead of the Rio's. I believe in using quality equipment, and while the Tunze's cost more, they are worth the piece of mind.

3. As far as other equipment, I think you need a calcium reactor or at least a kalk stirrer. What's the point of saving on your electricity bill, if you are spending a lot on liquid supplements for calcium/alk replenishment? A deltec kalk stirrer uses a tiny amount of watts, and kalk is cheap(pickling lime). It would easily meet the needs of a softie tank.

These aren't cheap suggestions, I recognize that. But setting up a big tank the right way isn't cheap. I admire your efforts to consume less electricity though. I run a 180 gallon. I use only eheim pumps in the sump(reactor,skimmer, return), and tunzes in the tank. I also only run my MH for 5 hours, and use T5's the rest of the time. My tank is quiet and doesn't hurt the electricity bill to much. I hope to eventually swap the ballasts to electronic for even less noise(I hate the tar ballast hum) and less electricity.

[chrissreef]

^^ hehe, didn't mean to sound that way =) Just didn't want her to be "surprised" when she gets her bill by bringing up things she may have overlooked. I think we should all look into energy reduction.

The sun tubes sound really cool... always wanted to do that but I can't in an apartment.

In my case I'm raising the lights reaaally high up to reduce tank heat... and I switched to 100% wind energy so I wouldn't have to worry about coal pollution.

[grundig5]

You didnt mention any return pump. Are you running a sump? The skimmer pump and return pump are often two of the biggest power draws since they run 24/7. Knowing those two would be relatively important in estimating your efficiency.

[drudude]

if your looking for high flow for electrical output check out the sequance pumps. Im getting a snapper for my 180. I believe they are most energy efficent for the flow.
98 watts avg.- 110max for 2500gph.
http://www.reeflopumps.com/flowbiasedpumps.html

[Chihuahua6]

Warren I have Sun Tunnels. There is a long ongoing thread in the DIY forum about solar tubes. If you search Solatubes it should come up.

Mark- Yes I do have electronic ballasts. I was thinking T5 too but I just wanted to quickly get the wattage to do the calculation and plugged in the wattage of VHO instead. I'll have to look up the T5 though. I still don't want to lose the halides. Without getting into debate I feel they are more efficient in the long run and better for the depth I have. As for the power heads I certainly would go for two or three Tunze 6201s however since I am on a tight budget I will start out with what I already own as mentioned above. I can always upgrade as time and budget allow. As for a calcium reactor or kalk stirrer I will most likely add kalk later on if/when needed. I believe in frequent water changes which supplies most of my tank's needs.

Grundig5 the return pump is mentioned above, a 130 watt Pan World for now.

Drudude yes I know the Sequence pumps are great. I was considering running an overhead manifold powered by a Hammerhead but that's a project for down the road. I figure I can get it running with what I have now and upgrade once I have time to build the manifold and money put aside to upgrade. Right now this is going to start up as inexpensively as possible and I feel I have enough to get it going nicely with 9,600 GPH flow, about 30x turnover.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming.

[dendro982]

If I understand right, the trick is to live in mild climate, and in place, where the cost of electricity is low
500W for the light and 900W heater still are 1400W

[AquaKnight407]

Chihuahua6, not to throw the thread off, but what 'colorful' softies do you plan on keeping? I'm looking to get some ideas for my 125 when its back online.

[scottdwh]

Not to sure, but this sounds pretty much like a normal set-up for a salt water tank.

[bureau13]

Could you explain this a bit more, or point to the artlicle in question? People seem to be getting comparable PAR values from a proper T5 setup, and even if I used an 8x39W T5 fixture rather than a 3x250 HQI, the T5 has nowhere near the power input that the HQI have.

jds

Originally posted by Chihuahua6
Well as far as par for par goes you save more with halides in the end when you compare the output in that way. I would be happy to point you to Anthony Calfo's articles on the subject if you're interested. Also in my situattion there is not a whole lot of room to add lights with the three sun tubes above the tank. Also the tank is 30" deep. I chose 10k bulbs to get the most growth particularly since I will have only two (65k would be better but a bit too yellow for my tastes) .

[Chihuahua6]

Dendro yes the lower cost of electricity helps here but like I said even at double that it would still be about $60/ month.

Scott it's not really a normal set up for a tank of this size. Soft corals were specifically chosen with costs of upkeep in mind. Most large tanks we see on RC are stony corals with more equipment to run so choice of corals was a factor here. Also I chose only pumps that were extremely efficient, well most of them. That's why I chose powerheads over a big closed loop with wave maker or timer. Don't forget the sun tubes allow me to use less halide bulbs not to mention I chose 250 watt 10K bulbs as opposed to 400 watt bulbs which in most circumstances I feel are overkill and not necessary. I don't want to start that debate though so if anyone is interested on further reading on the subject please just send me a pm.

AquaKnight they won't all be colorful but I wanted as much color as possible with keeping with the reef flat biotope, not adhering to it strictly but mainly choosing light loving corals. I do want a large colony of Yellow Fiji Leather (Sarcophyton elegans.) These are so bright and beautiful. I plan to have them spread over a large area closer to the top. I just got a small green polyped toadstool which will grow into my centerpiece. I plan to put three colors of Xenia, hoping to find the blueish one, on a rock completely seperate from the rest of the rockwork. The other variety is the one with the slight pink hue. Giving them their own rock surrounded by rubble will keep them from taking over and I can sell the rubble frags as they spread onto it. I also want to start collecting clove polyps. I have seen them in a purplish color, blueish color and some have nice green centers. I may add some ricordia which comes in many colors. These will be toward the bottom of the tank. I would like some sun polyps as well which aren't considered softies. I think they add phenominal color and since I need to feed my anemones anyway I don't think feeding them would be such a chore. There will be no anemones in this tank. I keep them in a species tank only.
So I will have green, yellow, purple, blue and whatever color I choose if I add ricordia. I will probably choose only two or three colors of these. I will also have some brown stuff inbetween choosing them for their form. I have a beautiful nepthea type softie that I find is beautiful even though it's brown. I think the brown stuff inbetween the colorful stuff will help the colors pop too.