# Fishroom Savings.... any creative suggestions?



## beachtan (Sep 25, 2008)

I have a small-ish fishroom - in our finished basement in a 14' square bedroom in a corner of the basement (so two walls are concrete covered with drywall). I have recently (due to flooding  ) started pulling up the carpet down to the concrete floor. I think I should leave the floor bare with some rugs.

There is one window which I have sealed with clear plastic for temperature stabilization. I also run a dehumidifier to keep it down to around 40% humidity.

I have heaters in all tanks and keep them 70-80 degrees each. I set each tank on a layer of wood and Styrofoam. Most tanks are glass. I have 22 tanks ranging from 75g to 5gal. I've tried to cover all tanks as tightly as possible with various lids (plastic, plexiglass and tempered glass). The room is usually close to 72 degrees in any season.

About 6-8 months ago, I took down all my individual air pumps and installed a central air system for all tanks using an older used Alita air pump rated at 60watts. I also replaced HOB's with air driven sponge filters. I thought this would help my electric bill, but my bill has consistently been $175/mo over what it was before my fishroom was in place 4 years ago. I understand costs may have gone up some, but And does anyone have suggestions besides heating the room itself? I don't trust setting up a heater since its a bit isolated on that end of the basement. *could the old air pump be drawing more than the listed 60watts / hour?*

Does $175 sound right for what I'm running? If so - I may have to take some of that room down :?

I'm looking for any possible ideas , suggestions, or things I might have missed...

Thanks!! (PS: we replaced our 15yr old fridge this spring and I unplugged our basement mini-fridge and this also had no impact on our bill)


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

$200 a month sounds like quite a bit for just a fish room but I'm sure that with the increase in electricity costs from suppliers, I don't think it can ALL be attributed to just the fish room.

The dehumidifier is probably the biggest user of electricity in your fish-room, especially if it runs quite often. Ventilation of the room, depending on where you live, might be a better option to help reduce the humidity. What state are you located in?

Lighting may also be a big user of electricity depending on whether you are using incandescent, fluorescent or LED and the length of time the lights are on.

Individually heating the tanks will also use some electricity and if all your fish require the same general temperature, a room heater may be more efficient.

Are you aquariums set up on individual stands, racks or a combination of both?

You can buy a Kill A Watt meter and plug various devices in to measure the amperage, wattage, etc of the different devices in your fish room. The more advanced model allows you to enter in your electric company cost to get a good guesstimate of what you are paying for.

Vampire electric usage is also a big factor in unseen costs. TV's and other home entertainment devices, coffee pots, computers, etc are well known for using electricity when you aren't actively using them.


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## beachtan (Sep 25, 2008)

all my tanks are glass and set up on individual racks & stands. Most have a layer of wood or Styrofoam under the tank. Maybe I should tape styro onto the backs and sides?

I don't trust heating the room with a 1500watt space heater : ( heating the room seems to cause way more humidity problems as the dehumidifier kicks off a lot of heat and the moisture in the room has been going up to around 60% with leaving the dehumid. on auto all the time. The cooler the room, the less humidity I notice. I lowered my tanks to around 74-76 degrees. Tangs I keep closer to 80.

In Michigan. I removed the carpet in my 14' x 14' fishroom (basement bedroom) in early September and have noticed much greater humidity problems since then... my tanks evaporate somehow about 2" every 5-6 days now. there is some dark mold on the wood trim of windows in the main rec room outside the fishroom that I'm told to treat with bleach... but if my fishroom is ruining our home, i'm going to have to dismantle it...


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## SupeDM (Jan 26, 2009)

The best way to deal with the humidity in my opinion is to ventilate the room. the easiest way to do this is with a bathroom style fan installed in the room. also keep door closed to the room as much as possible. The idea for this is to keep air from room flowing outside and air from rest of home flowing into fish room. Yes evaporation will be higher but it is either this or moisture issues. Another trick that has been mentioned on some forums is tighter fitting lids for the aquariums. I have found this to slow evaporation slightly. As for electric bill issues heaters run it up big time. As well as lights. Keep lights off unless you are working on the tank or growing live plants. If you live in Michigan then you probably keep home around 70 degrees in winter that is acceptable temperature for most cichlids. I have removed all heaters from my tanks and I live in Minnesota. Also i saw you went to a central air filtration system. I also did that and it lowered my costs substantialy.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

It's the dehumidifier. They are like small refrigeration units and will draw a tremendous amount of juice.

I would invest in a heat exchanger. This brings in fresh air from outside and evacuates out old stale (humid) air from inside but convserves the heat so it doesn't cool the room too much.

There is a bit more investment up front but it's definitely worth it.

To heat your tanks up it's more efficient to heat the room. An electric space heater connected to a Ranco controller can maintain a warmer room temperature if you wish.

Andy


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

I think the reason your tanks are evaporating up to 2" per week is also down to the dehumidifier. It will suck the water right out of the tanks.
I also use one in my house, but not in the fishroom. I keep the doors closed and the window cracked to let air out. Any sign of mold in my house and the fish tanks would be gone.


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