Costs of running a big tank

[kappaknight]

I'm sure the urge to upgrade is in me and besides for the initial costs, I haven't really estimated how much it'd take to maintain a giant aquarium. I was wondering how much does it cost (month-to-month) to maintain a big tank that's say... 240+ gallons?

I know everybody's setup are different but I was interested in getting some of your opinions.

Mainly I guess the factors are:
-electricity for lighting and equipment
-water bills (water changes)
-salt
-additives/filter materials
-whatever else I can't think of

I'm not sure how much of the first two you can attribute to just the tank but if you were to guess... how bad is the damage?

 

[family reefer]

I have slowly been getting larger and larger tanks through the years (75 up to 135 up to the current 220) so I haven't been analyzing the increase in the cost of operation. I am sure the new set up is running the power bill up because of all of the MH lighting. The power to run the lights themselves is one factor, then there is the cost of running the 1/2 hp chiller to cool the water because of those lights. I also run 4-4" fans in the hood to blow some of that heat out of the canopy. That then surely heats the room causing the A/C in the house to run more often and longer. As for additives I rum a calcium reactor so I only add lugols iodine once a week. The media is only replaced about twice a year($36.00) Water changes and salt aren't bad. I make my own R/O here at home and a 200 gallon salt bucket will last for four months. I look at it a little differently than most people... If you are willing to pay for a European sports car... the gas mileage is not a concern. I get really freaked out when people are willing to spend $150 on a single specimen for their aquarium and then say that it costs too much to perform routine water changes. I am not a weathy person by any stretch of the imagination...I do however know what I want and what I am willing to pay to have it. THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION. I have over $10,000 invested in this new set up and some people say that is INSANE for an aquarium. On the other hand, I wouldn't spend $40,000 for a pick up truck but people do it every day. Sorry to be so long winded but this has always been a subject that I feel strongly about. How bad do you want it? We are only here once so have fun.

 

[FutureInterest]

Cooling a big tank seems to be an issue with a lot of folks. Gotta have a chiller with those big lights since you're already going to be dealing with humidity problems.

 

[james s_]

Electricity I would say $80-100 extra a month,depending on so many factors.I would suggest looking closely at watt consumption on your main items(pump,skimmer,lights,Heaters).Im in the process of getting the rest of my Equipment for my 500,so I cant comment on the Elec. just yet.But Im going with all T5's 12x54 watts(650),3 dart pumps at 160 est. each(480) and the heaters will have to be around 500 watts(1600 total).I tried to be as conservative as possible with my equipment,and Im not sure I could get away with any less.I know the heaters will not be running all the time,since the tank is in my basement,which stays cool in the summer.I estimate that I will be running around 1500 watts constantly on average including what I allreafy mentioned + fan for cooling,SW mixing pumps,heaters for topoff water etc..........

Salt is around $40 bimonthly w/ 100 gal. water changes once a month.
Water bill is next to nothing.
Additives for my tank is next to nothing,since I do not add anything to my tanks,except for buffer occasionally during water changes.(softie tank w/500 lb. live rock for filtration)
Then you have around 20-30 a month in food for the fish.
I would estimate the tank will cost me around $200 a month to mantain.I hope for my sake Im on the high side.


When you get into the initial cost of equipment,tank,plumbing thats another story............since Im about to spend $1k on controller, $300 on plumbing,$1k+ on Dart NW skimmer,etc...................What a hobby


THEN AFTER ALL THAT I STILL HAVE TO STOCK THE THING.WE ALL KNOW WHAT THAT COSTS A MONTH.I COULDNT IMAGINE WHAT IT COSTS FOR THOSE GUYS WITH THE LARGE SPS SYSTEMS WITH MULTIPLE 400 WATT HALIDES,ETC....

 

[george]

When looking at the costs of running electrical equipment, remember to take into account how long it runs along with wattage. Many people don't bother to look at water pump power ratings because it pales lol2: I kill myself) before lighting, but the pump runs 2-3x as much as the lights do.

 

[kappaknight]

46bfinga;49242 wrote:
Then you have around 20-30 a month in food for the fish.

Surprisingly, this particular comment shocks me the most... Are you talking about live phyto and that stuff? I have about 10 fishes right now and luckily haven't had to buy any more food (other than live phyto) for the last 8+ months and all I have are 4 frozen packets, a giant can of flakes and a small can of pellets. (Trying to remember if I feed the fish on a regular basis or not...)

Luckily, I don't consider running the lights any more power hungry than having a few computers in your house on at all times. I don't have kids yet but having 4-5 computers would be the same as running a few MH's which doesn't sound too bad.

I guess my second question would be... have you guys considered alternatives to heating and cooling your water, etc... One thing I remember reading somewhere was a system that pumped their tank water in coils of tubing into their RO/DI reserve and back into the main tank. This allowed the tank water to cool while it's going through the reserve and at the same time, warmed up the reserve water to the right temperature. I'm guessing a small pump for that purpose would cost less than a chiller though I'm sure having one would be a good backup incase its needed.

Maybe we should start another thread with ways to go budget... so we can gather all the tips before I attempt the big system.

 

[flyingarmy]

PM horseziggy (Sal)....I know his tank is ginormous and I am sure he keeps track of costs.

 

[tsciarini]

mojo has done quite a bit of the calculations on energy consumption as well... I'm sure he'll chime in here eventually

 

[cameron]

You can mitigate some of the costs by simply avoiding MH lighting and using all T5 which gets you out of heat problems and reduces the daily draw. Course T5s don't punch light down into a deep tank towards the bottom as well as MH which might upset some plans, but probably worth it for the cost savings in the long run.

Water is pretty cheap assuming we get out of this drought soon.

Food is pretty cheap if you switch to Prime Reef and a Reef Chili system like I did. You would have to have a MONSTER tank to go through enough to really notice a big hit on the bottom line. Sal has a great source for seaweed at some flea market where he buys HUGE packs for pennies compared to repacked aquarium seaweed.

Not much you can do about the fixed costs such as salt, heating in the winter, etc but I would be suprised if the costs are linear. A 240g shouldn't cost twice as much to operate as a 120g.

I think the ultimate problem in cost is filling the thing up with livestock and skimming it. A 240g plus tank can hold so much more livestock and that is probably the big killer for juming into such a large tank.

 

[ouling]

Alot of people are going bigger and bigger and bigger. I say stock up your current setup to the max and make it look better instead. A smaller tank with better stuff and highly stocked looks much better than a 240 with a few rocks and few corals. Big tanks do have their appeal as to looking real, and the fish can actually do stuff. I draw out some plans of going from a 90-270. Even though I have all the equiptment suited for 150-200g, the rocks and live stock could easily set you back $1500-$2000, add another $2000-$3000 for tank, extra light and equiptment; along with $80 per month to run the fans, pumps, lights, chillers, dehumidifier, shop vacs, new carpet and all those things.

Going with a 150-180 sounds better i think.

 

[tanner86]

You can bite the bullet and buy the Solaris H4. You require no chiller and electricity cost go way down. I did and the temp. on my 140 never gets above 82.0
Yes it is expensive at the beginning but saves you $$$ in the long run.

 

[wbholwell]

Ha! I sent my wife the link to this thread and said, "Look how lucky you are, honey. See how bad it could</em> be? If I had a larger tank, MHs, a chiller, etc. we'd really</em> be poor!"

Yeah, she wasn't that grateful- go figure.

 

[kappaknight]

Tanner86;49320 wrote: You can bite the bullet and buy the Solaris H4. You require no chiller and electricity cost go way down. I did and the temp. on my 140 never gets above 82.0
Yes it is expensive at the beginning but saves you $$$ in the long run.

I'm still waiting to see the long term effects of LCD's and of course, waiting for even more competition so the prices would go down. *sigh* why didn't I pick a hobby collecting pennies?

 

[cameron]

kappaknight;49332 wrote: I'm still waiting to see the long term effects of LCD's and of course, waiting for even more competition so the prices would go down. *sigh* why didn't I pick a hobby collecting pennies?

I think mathmatically the Solaris unit can be justified over a three year period, but most people don't have that kind of cash to throw into a lighting fixture. It would take years before a Solaris unit would catch a T5 setup on cost effeciency. I know it can do more with the computer and such, but that is part of reef keeping I find more gimick than useful.

If you REALLY want to save some money (and I may do this in my next house), knock a couple or three holes in your ceiling, put in a few well placed mirrors and you have free lighting that will out PAR a 1000MH setup. My GFs parents did this for natural lighting in their living room and it works great. Don't know what it costs, but I bet it is cheaper than a Solaris unit and other than possibly a chiller and fans you have no electricity costs.

 

[kappaknight]

Cameron;49333 wrote:
If you REALLY want to save some money (and I may do this in my next house), knock a couple or three holes in your ceiling, put in a few well placed mirrors and you have free lighting that will out PAR a 1000MH setup. My GFs parents did this for natural lighting in their living room and it works great. Don't know what it costs, but I bet it is cheaper than a Solaris unit and other than possibly a chiller and fans you have no electricity costs.

But how are you going to fight the swarms of bees that get into your house?

In all seriousness, that is a good idea... or if you can build an extension with a sunroom and place the tank in wall in that room, that'd rock.

 

[flyingarmy]

Natural light would be wonderful but unfortunately we don't get the correct number of full blown sunlight days that naturally a reef would. Would be wonderful if we did!

 

[cameron]

I asked that question to the coral guy with all the killer corals in Alabama... company name escapes me right now but he was a vendor at SWU. He said he has great growth using his green house and all natural lighting regardless of season. According to him the trick isn't the odd day lengths it is getting the right amount of covering to shield certain corals from too much sun.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Cameron;49294 wrote: g.

I think the ultimate problem in cost is filling the thing up with livestock and skimming it. A 240g plus tank can hold so much more livestock and that is probably the big killer for juming into such a large tank.

I will add circulation to this too. **** tunze and vortecs are not cheap.

 

[mojo]

I'm hardly in my house, and my electric costs alone (for the entire house) are around $250.

Based on what I can figure, about $50 of that is lighting, $10 is in pumps, ~$30 in chiller costs, and figure about $10/mo in odds and ends. The rest is my A/C unit (set to 80F) to keep the house at a reasonable temperature for the tank and to keep the humidity down.

I did a lot of DIY at the beginning, and the cost by the time I had water and rocks was $6,000. Figure double that by now pretty easily.

 

[fishybusiness]

I know that my powerbill dropped when I got rid of my old 250's and my 1/2 hp chiller and went to the soalris...I also stopped blowing fuses
Also Kappa it says you live in Atlanta....are you on City Water? I was before I got my shop up in Doraville and my water bill was killing me here....still is but not so bad now.