[Mattfish]

Just came home to a big bad surprise. We rent our house and the owner doesn't charge us for the power as long as it stays reasonable. Well, it seems that last month, the power bill was about $600 higher than usual. We've had the tank going about 6 weeks, and the lights on ffor about 4 weeks so that's about the right amount of time.

We share the washer/dryer with others, and the house is split into 2 1/2 units, so not all the power is us, but most of it is - the other 1 1/2 units are rented by people who aren't home much.

Is this possible for a 125g tank with light to run this high in power costs? We've got an 1800 gph recirc pump, 4 powerheads, the Solaris, and the skimmer with air pump. Naturally, our usual lights, computers, etc are about the same as before....

Before I get used to this kind of additional expense, I want to make sure it's ours - I didn't expect such a steep change.....

[rlcline76]

You need to quit coming home if you are going to have all of these surprises!
$600 seems nuts, but I live on a military installation and they haven't figured out how to bill us for power yet. It would be cheaper to kill the lights in your house, buy candles buy a few coolers for the crap in the fridge....

[Mattfish]

Seemed crazy to me too, but then I haven't actually seent he bill - I'm taking my wife's word for it.... On the other hand, she has an honest face, but her father's in the Thai military so I try to be nice....

And if I stop coming home, I lose airline miles. By now, I must own oneof the mid-size Hitlon's, at least a 737 from United, and a fleet of Hertz cars....

I've got the haircut to live on a military reservation, but not the energy or the commitment to being physically fit. And I doubt the Army would take me - after all, when you're from the Bronx, "Be all you can be" has a different meaning.... We used the golden rule - "do unto others before they do it unto you"....

[Krazy]

600 seems like ALOT !!!

I pay 300 for gas and electric, same summer/winter, the gas/electric just switch as the gas goes down and the elec goes up because of the A/C's..

I also live in an apartment so yes its HIGH for even me....

[e_baer]

alright, so, i have a question for those who live in appartments. if you live on the 2nd floor, how much weight can the floor take without clapsing from the fish tank?

[rlcline76]

Elliot, don't worry about it, you'll be living with your parents for awhile!

lol

[NATIVEVAMAN]

The floor should support about 200 pounds per square foot minimum.If you have a stand with legs (4). Then devide the total weight of your tank by 4 and that will give you a total per square foot.If the entire length of the stand rests on the floor devide the total tank weight by the square feet the tank covers.Thats 8.8 pounds per gallon for ALL water plus the total weight of the live rock, tank or tanks and sand.(no cheating lol)

[jimw369]

Figure how many watts and amps everything is. 1 amp=100 watts. Come up with that total and multiply it times the amount of hours this equipment runs on an average day. Divide that amount by 1000 (1 kilowatt) Here in atlanta we pay 7.2 cents for a kilowatt hour. I know where krazy lives he has NYSEG or Niagra Mohawk so he probably pays more. None the less. Your bill did not go up any ways near $600. Thats absurd!

[e_baer]

i know ill be with my mommy and daddy for a few more years, i was just wondering out of pure curiosity.

[carmanimports]

my bill went up about 63 bucks a mounth on my 90 gal so 600 is insane unless u have 8 tanks goin

[Mattfish]

Thanks - this is helpful. I gotta calculate what I got that's on, check the kwh cost, and then see if they read the meter right. Something's way off, and hearing this borne out by the experts here helps. If I'd committed myself to that kind of expense, I'd buy the power company before adding any more fish and shut it all down....

[glampka]

Maybe the guy's wife (sorry ladies) didn't pay the previous month's bill & it's for 2 months.

[rlcline76]

Yeah, you better be looking real close at that wife of yours, Matt.

[Mattfish]

It's gotta be something - maybe it was a bad meter reading. As for looking at my wife, I try as often as she let's me.....

[Krazy]

See if it was an actual reading or an estimate...

Also ask to see the actual bill...

Look into a "kill-a-watt" meter off ebay, then plug in all your devices and see what they are using up.. and compare....

Good Luck and let us know how you make out...

[blind1993]

yea 600 is just way tooooo much

[Mattfish]

Mystery Solved!

OK, so here's a lesson in translation - wife to husband translation. It turns out that from last year to this year, same period, the KWH went up about 700+ per month. Not the monthly power bill. My wife misunderstood the issue and told me the wrong thing - naturally, I'd just gotten back from a trip and let it get me in an uproar without the facts.

So that means I agreed to give our house owner $100 more per month until we can prove how much of the power use addition is really us. Betweenthe big TV, computers, dishwasher, and lots of other stuff, all aside from the tank, this isn't too bad. Beats the hell out of $600 in power!

[Krazy]

ahh yes !!

$100 more a month isnt bad !!!

[Mattfish]

Not to mention the medical costs I would have to pay for the heart attack that the larger number would have given me....

[e_baer]

haha...glad you solved the problem!

[Mattfish]

And now that we have solved the problem, I've added a QT, just to run up the bill further.... I'm sure I'll quickly find other stuff to add....

[jimw369]

You still need a propogation tank, calcium reactor and an automatic top off unit if you do not already have one. I cant remember. Are you using a refugium? Make sure you figure in the cost of running these in the electric bill also. Have you ever considered a seperate tank just for clams? They are so cool! Another tank is needed for seahorses. Of course there will be the upgrade of your main tank to consider down the road. Maybe after the upgrade you will have 2 tanks one could be fish only. You will not need the solaris for that one. It never ends.

Enjoy the trip!

[Mattfish]

I'm feeling dizzy.... the room is spinning.... the lights are going dark.... HELP!!

OK, I'm over it now. We just got a second tank, primarily QT, but can be used for other stuff...

Have to look at a Calcium Reactor as we get into corals.....

Automatic top-off is a nice-to-have - we do it manually, just to make my back ache...

No refugium - yet - project for next year when we're smarter and have less money from spending it all on fish stuff....

Oh, yeah, and will have to add on to the house so we have room to sleep.....

[jimw369]

If you are getting dizzy and the lights are going dim make sure you figure something in for those things as well. lol

I mentioned aqua farming to my wife last week.

I shouldnt have.

[mtfabel]

Yeah Ive been preaching the add on to the house thing for almost a year now. Not making much ground on it either. What makes it worse is I can get most of the materials to do it for free and I am a carpenter so the labor is free. Its just the convincing the other half that I get all the space that I am adding on.