View Full Version : 400 watts of trouble
dmoneymaker
01/30/2007, 08:57 PM
I'm at a point were enough is enogh my electric bill is regular 400 dollars a month starting to take is toll any suggestion beore i decide to walk away.
225 gal tank
3 -400 watt lights
1/2 hp chiller
barracuda pump on close loop
mag 18 return pump
G3 skimmer and 160 watts of vhos
beaniebeagle
01/30/2007, 09:18 PM
smaller pump for return, some people say slower flow through the sump is better, ie 1 to 3x main tank volume (mag 7)...60watts instead of 145
then theres the 200+ watts from the barracuda, well its drilled already, so you can consider using a slower pump than the 4000+gph,
you can increase the flow in the tank with tunze powerheads or even a few koralias (8.5watts for 1200gph). pair of tunze 6100...45 watts each with max gph 3170gph each
1200 watts, wow, cut back on the lights and the chiller will come on less, then another 160watts of vhos...ouch. do you really need all that light???
little newbie here, but any suggestion may help
highly likely that someone will pick up your used equipment if you have to sell it
TandN
01/30/2007, 09:26 PM
On my old 180 I used 2- 400w in lumenarcs and it was fine for my sps dominated tank or go to 250w also go to T5's there less watts then VHO also if you have the money go for a red dragon pump on the return the one I use is 45 watts and pushes 2200 gph also like up above states tunzes
dmoneymaker
01/30/2007, 09:26 PM
I have a complete sps tank running with very high end sps I also run electronic ball valve I can go to a smaller pump and down size my lights to 250's
rob020880
01/30/2007, 09:30 PM
On my old 180 I used 2- 400w in lumenarcs and it was fine for my sps dominated tank or go to 250w also go to T5's there less watts then VHO also if you have the money go for a red dragon pump on the return the one I use is 45 watts and pushes 2200 gph also like up above states tunzes
Tanya, I was just gonna buy two lumenarcs...I have a 30" deep tank should I go with the 250s or 400s?
casingbill
01/30/2007, 09:34 PM
switch to T5's
TandN
01/30/2007, 09:42 PM
Rob do you have a sandbed ? and how far down do you really keep your SPS the 250's will be good for SPS up to like 20-22" down> I mean lps and softies do not need all that light so I dont think 250's would make a diffrence
dmoneymaker
01/30/2007, 09:47 PM
T5 have not showed me enough yet
dmoneymaker
01/30/2007, 09:48 PM
I have lumenarcs aslo
casingbill
01/30/2007, 10:07 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9119676#post9119676 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dmoneymaker
T5 have not showed me enough yet
check the t5 q &a thread....hahn and grim are both runnin with t5's sps lps....everything
justin-branam
01/30/2007, 10:10 PM
toss the mag pump. in my 75 i had a 9.5 and when i replaced it with a little giant external, my temps dropped 3-4 degrees! that will also make you chiller run a lot less. should help a bit.
dmoneymaker
01/30/2007, 10:56 PM
I will change a few pumps
rob020880
01/31/2007, 10:09 AM
Rob do you have a sandbed ? and how far down do you really keep your SPS the 250's will be good for SPS up to like 20-22" down> I mean lps and softies do not need all that light so I dont think 250's would make a diffrence
So you think that the two 250's will be plenty. I will have a sandbed of about 2".
GSMguy
01/31/2007, 10:34 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9120495#post9120495 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dmoneymaker
I will change a few pumps
go t5 they showed everyone who looked enough, nobody thinks t5 is bad t5 is amazing
all the germans are going t5 americans are just slow on the uptake.
also ditch the closed loop and get some curculation pumps like the tunze they will much more efficent and will help your corals grow allot faster oh and slow that sump down 3-4x turnover thru the sump is much better than what you have going
GSMguy
01/31/2007, 10:37 AM
oh man you have a chiller no wonder you bills are so crazy go t5 you will save tons on your bills
Wryknow
01/31/2007, 11:02 AM
Well, if you pumps for the following:
Replace Barracuda 4500gph/325W
with
Tunze Master Electronic Circulation pump - 4226 gph/235W
and
Mag 18 - 1200gph@5' head/145W (mfgr spec - optimistic IMHO)
with
Eheim 1262 - 750 gph@5' head/80W
That would save 115W right there and I doubt that you will notice any difference in results. Every watt of energy not put into the tank is going to result in less heat needing to be removed by the chiller as well.
The big opportunities are in the lighting though. Just dropping from 400 to 250 HQI will save 450W in power right there. I would encourage you to reconsider the T5s though. In my experience they are quite effective and produce a lot less waste heat than the metal halides do.
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