reducing electricity bill....

[Lionhead88]

just a few questions i need answers too.
currently i have 5 fish tanks set up. as many of you know, i am a college student who brings their hobby from home to school. so i bring a 20gal, 10gal, 6gal, 5gal, and a 1gal tank home with me every vacation. when i go home, the electricity bill goes up ALOT!

i had an idea, i was thinking about putting all of my goldfish in the same tank. a 55gal on my dresser. that way, ill have the one light bar, filter, and bubble wand for that 55. i will also have the 2 betta tanks. so thats 2 lights and 2 filters.
so i was wondering if consolidating my goldie tanks into one 55, if it would lower my electricity bill....

thoughts?

also....weight. the house is like 30 yrs old. floors arent bad. but id like to hear anything about that too...

thanks in advance!
Amanda

[afnaveils]

Which of electricity or water bears a higher rate? You will also have to do more water changes with more fish being together.

[Lionhead88]

im alright with doing more maintenance on the tank...i really need to reduce the elec. bill because we had a death in the family...he was helping to pay the bill, and now we have to make up for his loss.
i have ample filtration...i just need to know if this idea will work...

[afnaveils]

It's hard to tell just like that. I think you should compare the wattage you use for all the tanks at school and the ones you'll use at home. All equipment has a wattage in the specifications. Check these! Bulbs wattage, filters etc.

[afnaveils]

Reduce lighting time. Anyway spring and summer are almost here.

[Lionhead88]

ill definitely do that!
although the place that i plan on putting the tank is in a corner...and doesnt get a whole lot of light...

what about a light bar? 48"

OR

two tank hoods w. those smaller lights?
im looking for cost effective.

thanks for the help so far!

[afnaveils]

The higher the wattage, the more the energy used and hence the cost. Let us know how many watts each, compare and you'll have your answer.

A 55 gals will weigh about 200 kg (water only) which is about 450 pounds but if the surface area of the stand is large, the pressure per square foot will be lower. Look for lower pressure per square foot.

[afnaveils]

A 48 inch fluorescent will use about 15 watts. So any total of bulbs with higher wattage than 15W will use more electricity.

[Lionhead88]

here is the list of Wattage Pr. Tank
20Gal light:20 watts
20gal filter: im not sure what brand, but its basically the same thing as an Aqua-Tech 30-60 Powerfilter. i cant get behind my tank to look, and i dont want to take the filter off to look....

Aqua Culture Air Pump (2): 3.5 Watts

6Gal Eclipse Bowfront: .32 amps

10gal: 50 watts

5gal: 52 watts

so...now that you have my wattages, would keeping all my goldies in one 55gal tank w/ a lightbar reduce my light bill?

thanks,
any imput is appreciated!
Amanda

[afnaveils]

For 55 gals:

Fluorescent Light 48" : 15 Watts
Filter : 7 Watts
Air pump : 3.5 Watts

Total 25.5 Watts assuming they all work as mush as your combination of tanks

For combination of tanks:

20 gals light: 20 Watts
20 gals filter: 7 Watts
10 gals light : 50 Watts
5 gals ??? : 52 Watts
Air pump : 3.5 Watts

Total : 132.5 Watts SO, YOU ARE BETTER OFF WITH THE 55 gals which uses only one fifth the energy of the combination of tanks

I'm not an electrical engineer but I don't think I'm off.

[small_ranchu]

Also don't forget to check your very old device which consume more electricity than it supposes to.

[Lionhead88]

sweet! thanks for the help!
now i need to convince the person that i live with to let me go through with this idea!