Lets discuss: Energy saving in your aquarium.
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- Quite a few of you have contacted me recently worrying about energy prices and affording your aquarium. In all honesty, aquariums cost very little to run when compared to other things around your house.
In this episode we look at as many points as I can think of to do with energy saving in your aquarium.
This may develop into a bigger series of looking at different things within the aquarium world. Let me know in the comments what things you would like me to discuss in the future.
Once again thanks for all the support I've been receiving on here and over on my Instagram. It means the world to me that loads of you are enjoying and finding my content helpful.
Also, I now have merch!!!
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Let me know in the comments any future videos you would like me to try and do.
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Try not to have a tank on an outside wall, you can use bubble wrap on the tank to insulate it, I use a half lid on my shrimp tank, just to stop evaporation but it also keeps the tank a bit warmer... and endlers are a good no heater needed fish that provide a lot of color and activity. Great video, especially from someone who is sleep deprived; hope you have a rocking chair, found that helped with my unsleepy babies. Glad you are all feeling better, having the flu with a little one, and having the little sick is not fun. Missed seeing your beautiful sweet dogs. Please don't get too youtube proficient; I like the Matt you are now. Take care, may you and your family have a lovely holiday.
Awwww thank you for your kind words! I will certainly try and stay as unprofessional as I am now 🤣🤣🤣
@@FishShopMatt Perfect
yep, in order to use way less energy I went to keep neocaridina shrimp and do not use a heater at all...I now use low light plants like java moss and anubias. it is crazy how much everything keeps going up, and up, and up...thank you for the ideas Matt.
Great idea Sean, thank you! ❤️❤️❤️
More videos please! I'm glad yall are feeling better! Thank you for all your educational and entertaining videos!
Light Timers, Temperature Controllers (inkbird) and going up a size in heater (from 100w to 200w) made the biggest differences for me in terms of power savings.
I’ve had heaters go bad in the past and didn’t know, with the temp controller I can easily tell now if my heater isn’t working properly.
My room is 14.5c at the moment, so if I need to warm up a bit, I just stick my hand in the main tank running at 23c. It's tempting to get in the tank with the fish but I don't think I'd fit and they might be spooked. At least I only have 2 tanks running and both have lids because of the cat.
🤣🤣🤣 that might be a bit of a shock for the fish
You can get some of these fish that eat dead cells and get a free manicure in the process
Damn! It's 18*c in our house, the fish are fine, but my wife is complaining.
I’m just in the process of downgrading from Marine back to freshwater.
The energy usage on the marine tank was insane it’s mostly lighting but all those extra pumps etc soon add up.
Hey Matt!!! Also helps with humidity, which is good for you in the winter 😀
Absolutely, another great arguement!
On another note for leaving out your water over night, a mentor of mine has been doing this to off gas any chlorine. He usually collects his water on Monday and is confident enough to use it on Sundays! Our chlorine levels are quite low where we are so that could be a helping factor! I haven’t taken him up on that tip given dechlorinator isn’t too expensive and just a habit when it comes to maintenance!
24 hours in an open container will gas off chlorine how I did it when younger. It won't remove chloramine though
It doesn't remove chloromine and heavy metals so always use declorinator as a just in case if for some reason there's an abundance in heavy metals randomly
I shall be telling my fiancee that the multiple tanks are because we have few radiators. :D
Edit: Just also wanted to say been enjoying your videos. You and MD both really cater your style to the 'normal' person :) Thanks
Glad to hear I could help hahaha. Thank you we certainly try! ❤️❤️❤️
Hey Matt - Your videos are a blessing. We need a new long form Matt and MD excursion video! Maybe to a new aquarium or fish shop or perhaps in the field on expedition!
I've seen a few of these types of vids recently and yours is the most comprehensive by far 👍. Thank you for the great content 😊
Oh wow thank you! ❤️❤️❤️
@@FishShopMatt I'm working on setting up my first tank and lot of people say heaters are more efficient at a 45 degree angle. This has never made much sense to me as I figure it still has the same amount of surface area and as long as you have water flow, it'll get circulated in the same way. Do you have any thoughts please?
@@Charlie-kp1yo the 45 degree thing has been around for years. To be honest I've ran them vertically and horizontally and it doesn't make too much difference as long as you have good flow. One of the reasons to not run them vertically is most of the time the thermostatic cut off is in the top of the heater, so it is possible that as the heater turns on it could make your heater turn off sooner and more often than it needs too.
It's possibly a thing left over from older times, when the tops of heaters weren't as waterproof as they are now and also fitting the heater in a shallow tank.
In my opinion flow is the most important thing for a heater.
@@FishShopMatt I saw somewhere (maybe Cody from Aquarium Co-op) this explanation: The heating unit is at the bottom of aquarium heaters, and the thermostat unit is near the top. With a heater perfectly vertical, a fair portion of the heat rises straight up and heats up the heater internals quite a lot, and those include the thermostat units of the heaters, which are a common point of failure of the heaters. But at a 45 degree angle, that doesn't happen to the same degree, which can extend the life of the heaters somewhat.
Just a minor thing. Heaters are always close to 100% efficient. Because, if they're not, where does the wasted energy go? For example, inefficient lighting heats up, thus wasting energy. But if you want to heat something, you're just burning up the electricity in resistors (or equivalent) to convert it all to heat, and resistors used as heaters are always 100% efficient. The only cases where heaters could be less than 100% efficient is if the heat is not transmitted to (in this case) the water, and is wasted as maybe atmospheric heat. So, electrically 100% efficient, but mechanical construction might drop efficiency.
A USB air pump uses 1/3rd of a watt and can run a sponge filter. I’ve kept a well stocked, planted 30g nano tank with just one large sponge filter. I use small HOB or small internal filters to circulate the water too. The HOB and internal filters use some power but they also contribute to heat. Lids are also extremely helpful.
I never thought about the heater having good water flow to make it more energy efficient. Thanks for the tip 👍
No problems! ❤️
I found your video very interesting Matt especially now that energy prices are so high. You work well with MD & I love the videos you do together but your own channel could easily have as many subscribers as his. You have so much knowledge, having made a career for yourself in the aquatic business. I wish you a great future on RUclips.
🤣🤣🤣 got off of auto iso
🤣🤣🤣 I realised half way through, I cut the bit out of the video explaining how you would be annoyed at me because I had forgotten to set iso. Too late now!!! Hahaha
For multiple tanks running matten filters off single air pump is an effective way to lower power consumption
Awesome video, Matt. Very helpful and informative. Please keep them coming.
Other than looking for energy efficiënt filters, lights, heaters, etc. and putting al lid on the tank, I don't have any suggestions. So I think you did a great job covering all of them.
Thank you buddy I totally agree with you! ❤️
Lids seem to make a big difference in the water temperature. I only use them on tanks with jumpers and those tanks are much warmer than the others. I don’t heat my tanks because I live in Hawaii and room temperature is perfect. There is seasonal change and the fish are fine. In fact when the tanks cool down the fish start to breed.
I found the aquael inline heaters are really good. A good wave maker and the in-line heater mix the water very well. No cold spots
Very good shout I may have to get me one of those!
I just put my heaters back in the tanks as we got cold. I hate Meta l Halide lamps/ I still have the 600watt one that still has some of my skin burned to it. 5 minute wait time was not enough. If we had a tank that had to be near a glass store front we always insulated the backs but in Sothern California it was to combat heat. In direct sunlight the glass would stop very little and temps would shoot up to 90 to 115 F (32 to 46 C) but insulation works both ways. In line with the heater issues. Submerged is cheaper to run then over the back with the same wattage especially if they are installed correctly. This is because almost 100% of the heat goes into the water. Controversial but I always did was installing heaters in smaller wattage units spread out. I have always felt that can help energy cost for those with the larger tanks.
As always thanks for a great video. This time with mood lighting. I have enjoyed them all. Mad at YiuTube for waiting 3 days to notify me but glad to watch it. If you can. Please go over any newer water testing solutions there might be. My sight is at a point where I can't count drops and yellows are white. My daughter does the testing for me but I am just interested if there are any other reliable options available these days. I just don't know if they exist outside of the high end salt systems for the price of a privet jet.
Again Thanks
You should make a video about Gravel cleaning tools. Was looking for one good one. Well there are many different. I feel confused and don't know what to order...
One which some people wont probably want to do, due to buckets ,but i basically reuse the aquarium water, in the summer it waters all the outside plants when I don’t have any rain water left , and house plants, more in the winter I have a few buckets and a big water container, and do 50%water change and save the water and use it to flush the toilet, I do a hose to drain the tank and in through a net to try and keep any sand/gravel etc out ,and basically I reuse it all so I’m not really using any more water on doing a water change on my tanks
Yeah I always try and reuse my aquarium water on my plants! ❤️
If you ever decide to use a sump you can entirely cover it in insulation, which can reduce noise and create a thermal buffer. You could also create a nice backdrop and siding with either insulation or something with thermal mass, like stone surrounded by insulation to create an even larger buffer to temperature loss. Internal pumps will impart heat into the system, as would anything else that can be run inside the aquarium.
If you leave your water out it may naturally dechlorinate (not 100% sure if this removes chloromine or anything else sodium thiosulfate will) and get to a better temperature.
My wife didn't believe that its quite cheap these days till I showed your video :) Maybe now I can get more tanks.
Always a winner!
Great vid. I got the opposite issue:
I’ve been forced to keep my fish in the garage which isn’t insulated. Here in NorCal, not much of a problem during the winter as it usually cools off to 36 Fahrenheit at night (2 Celsius), but summer it gets to 100-110 F (37+C) regularly during the summer.
I think I got no choice but to eventually buy a chiller to cool the smaller tanks down as I can keep my 45 gallon topping out at ~85F (29C) during peak heat with just using fans and keeping the lid off.
With space as a constant, fewer medium to large tanks instead of much more nano tanks so that fewer equipment may be needed. Unless, one filtration system for the whole rack of nano tanks (though, one must be very careful with the sanitation), and lit by 1 long fixture of light. There's also the heat the room instead of every tank.
Yeah absolutely agree! Not sure my wife will agree to heating the front room to 25 degrees hahaha.
Brilliant yet again. Very informative. Thanks mate 👍🏻
Thank you! ❤️
A deep sand bed can increase the temperature by 1-2 degrees Celsius
You can sell plants and own breed fish as a little income savings.
Glad you and the family are okay God bless
Thanks, Matt!
We need a video of you and MD at the pub!
Hahahaha not sure that would be safe 🤣🤣🤣
Great videos. Keep them coming.
I use polystyrene tiles on the back and sides of my tanks. Works a treat.
Yeah that's my next steps on some of mine! ❤️
Hey thanks for the tips ....cool saxophone🙂
Thank you! ❤️
Matt we need a home aquariums tour!
Bigger things are coming (hopefully) ❤️
@@FishShopMatt yay!!
I would say if you have large tanks then it might be advantageous to switch over to powder based dechlorinator (Seachem Safe being my choice), its much more concentrated than prime for example.
That's a great shout! ❤️
Awesome thanks heaps for this tip!! I had just switched to prime because it was a lot cheaper than the other brand I was using looks like I'm swapping again after this bottle
I know this isn’t particularly related to the topic at hand. But speaking of energy, my power has gone out multiple times with the snow storms in the U.S. past few days. My natural gas generator is the best investment I’ve ever made. I keep amphibians, reptiles, and fish. The peace of mind is well worth the money. I’m just a plumber trying to keep my critters alive. The worst I have to do is reset my Fluval lights through the app. If you can afford it get one!
Nice to see you back fit & well Matt.
Wait I used to live in the same province where the white mountain fish came from!! Plus I recently came across the spices when I'm looking for a fish I can keep without a heater. It's very cool seeing it here.
They came from white cloud mountain in Guangzhou, which is located in Guangdong province, China. They can theoretically survive temperature as low as 10°C, although it's pretty risky at that point.
That's amazing!!! I would like to do a big setup for them one day!
There's a yellow version and a long finned one, they are also very cooooollll!!
Awesome video Matt. Hope all of you and yours get better and start sleeping again soon.
I would like to add a money saver that I have been doing for decades. Instead of the expensive dechlorinators marketed for the hobby I use sodium thiosulfate which I buy in bulk.
Thank you, yeah everyone is slowly getting back to 100%.
I have used that stuff in the past to be fair.
very useful information. I have been keeping tropicals/Marine fish on and off for 50 years, never was concerned about the power consumption until this year, I am just setting up a 5 foot 450 litre planted tank, for Angels.
I will look forward to the pond series, as I have in the last few years moved into pond fish keeping, only shubinkins not Koi. I have a 2500litre 1 metre deep pond, with a oasis vortec 16000 pond filter and I have found the superfish eco 8000 pumps very economical 8000 l/H for only 41 watts of power. I am in east cornwall and I pass near to your shop when visiting my Daughter, so I will pop in and take a look sometime.
I've got a fishtank now. It's a fluval flex 54ltr thank you. Yes its planted
Exciting times!!! ❤️
Thanks Matt I always enjoy your work.
Thank you! ❤️
Another great vid full of good info. Thanks
Thank you! ❤️
I’m sure talking to aquarium enthusiast about power consumption is like talking to motorcyclists about fuel economy. Because yeah, that’s why we do it 😂
Costs me £1.20 to run 6 tanks a day which I think is good. I use LED lights, sponge filters and the heaters hardly need to come on lights are on timers for 10 hours a day.
That's great, a lot of people think they are massive power hungry beasts but they really aren't!
@Fish Shop Matt not now days they aren't no.
Thanks mate for the tips!
Thank you ❤️
I have saved money on food , I used to feed fluval bug bites to my oscars and they could eat a bag a week £11-£12 now I feed fresh muscles and squid for half the cost plus the garden always has free treats for them in Isopods and worms
Well my heater just cooked my betta and 3 rummy nose...snails made it out alive, so not only energy, but weigh the cost of a few degrees comfortability this winter against cooking your fish. For this reason, I will never run a heater again.
I know it was the heater because it cooked a batch of brine shrimp after this happened. It could be heat fluctuation or maybe even stray current. Who knows.
Sorry to hear that! Hope you get back on track soon!
Haha try this whilst reefing!
Yeah not going to happen! 🤣🤣🤣
Was going to say all my tanks ONLY have the FRONT glass showing..my taste really 🤷it’s like watching a TV you only view the front and not the sides lol
Yeah it certainly helps with insulation!
Very awesome information 👏 great 👍 ideas
Thank you! ❤️
Your welcome anytime my friend
Hey Matt, while these types of videos are appreciated, may I suggest a switch up to your format?
You work in a fish shop. There is always something going on there. Why not capture some of the work, capture new fish, and highlight technology as it happens in the shop? I realize it will be a bit more work for you and the staff, but I also think it will be easier for you to produce content, and it will boost the shop as well.
Regardless what you do, I do enjoy your videos.
Good and timely video! Not the best time for me to get back into the aquarium hobby, but you and MD have inspired me. So it has to be done, right? 😅 How many tetras (rummynoses/neon) would you take in 200l aquarium? With them I planned to take some panda corys and pair of rams. 🤔
Please make a video about Discus as well.
I might of mis heard but planted tanks I think work in reverse. The plants give out oxygen in the day and then take it back during the night. So you could run a air pump only at night. I'm not sure if this right.
great video
Thank you! ❤️
Awesome
Thank you! ❤️
I switched to only keeping fish that thrive at room temperature about 18 C I have white cloud minnows rice fish glow light danios moon light danios and bronze corydoras and literally hundreds of cherry shrimp. It must be working because everything is breeding iv only noticed the shrimp carry eggs for a couple weeks longer but that's it
Amazing, sometimes natural fluctuations actually cause fish to spawn. Sounds like yours is working well! ❤️
Hang on the backs use anywhere from 5 to 10 watts
They are generally very efficient
ruclips.net/video/q0kSuZFOwFE/видео.html don’t you ever dare to apologise for the beard again 😂😂
🤣🤣🤣 ok sorry!
Foam Poster board jackets 🤔
Hi Matt. Thanks for the tips! I currently use a lid on my tank to help with maintaining the temperature and I believe it has worked well. However, I just received some floating plants yesterday and I'm concerned that maybe the condensation build up from the lid might be too much for floating plants. Do you know if the floating plants would do ok with a lid? Thanks!
Hey Nicole, I've had floating plants grow under a kid before no issues. I think it sometimes does depend on the species, I know I've had limnobium and salvinia both grow under lids.
I was wondering before I made the videos how good of an insulator floating plants are. Maybe something for a future video 🤣
Awesome! thank you for your response 😊
I'm using Styrofoam on my sump & a lid as my Discus filtration is turning over 9x an hour.
I use an infrared 600w heater but I'm not sure about it🤔 Anyone use them & what's your opinion about then.
Thx for another great informative vid Matt ✌️🏴
PS,You need a shave🙈
Hmmmm I've never used one of those personally. I suppose the only way is to get one of those fancy plugs that tracks how much energy it uses.
I may now be able to get to my barber, now I'm not coughing every five seconds! 🤣🤣🤣
Get customers to put names and phone numbers in a box and pick one at random to go and review each week. Take MD and be critical....
Double glazed fish tank?
Tell me about it 🤷I’ve 15 tanks..each has a heater.I’ve noticed the difference,Just have to live with it 😮
Yeah I would rather have fish tanks than eat anyway 🤣🤣🤣
I’ve just worked it out.I’m using 3 times more electric than I was last year this time.all my lights are LED thank goodness for that.a few with in line heaters..covering over with glass ect.I lose gallons through evaporation..been looking 👀 around the room to see where it’s hiding.2 gallons approx just over 2 days in total..
Can you do what MD does and just keep the rooms heated instead?
I went from using a heater to not using 1 & went to some
cheap led lights & since I done that my power bill went
way down & I also got rid of a few tanks from 6 to 2.
Yeah have several aquariums can add up!
Matt I live in an area that doesn’t use chlorine but instead uses fluoride in the water what should I be doing if I want to start keeping fish?
I've never had this problem myself, but I believe that the small amounts of flouride they use in tapwater doesn't often effect fish.
As far as I know the only way to remove it is via RO filtration then add minerals back into the RO water.
Thanks for the advice and I’ll start with some real hardy fish and keep a close eye on them and any other fish I end up with.
Before you go out and buy coldwater fish, remember that summer will eventually arrive and it is way easier to heat a tank than to cool it down.
most if not all cool water fish can handle warmer temperatures for short periods of time, like summer time. Just like warm water fish can handle cooler periods too.
@@MrMattemannen76 summertime is NOT a short time 🤣 And the difference in temperature can be pretty dramatic, last summer my own aquariums reached 35 degrees celcius. And just because they MAY survive it, doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do.
@@Myndi78 all depends of course, I had 28 degrees celsius this summer, all fish even the hillstream loaches thrived. Variations in temperature is natural for most fish. But yeah 35 is waay too high lol
Yeah as with everything you have to be careful totally depends on your climate and housing situation.
Yeah my point was only that it is really hard to keep aquariumwater cooler than whatever temperature the room is - but a heater is easy to install. And there is lots of little tricks to make small adjustments, like for example I put a lid on all my aquariums these cold months and it actually makes a huge difference in watertemperature.
But I think if people do decide to keep coldwater fish it is their responsibility to provide the cold water. They may survive hot water for a while, but that doesn't make it right. A goldfish can survive in a bowl and a betta can survive in a cup they still shouldn't be kept like that.
😂😂❤❤
Save money eat dust !
Hmmm seems to make sense! 🤣❤️
People run their house at 16 degrees? 😅 🥶
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❤️❤️❤️
1st 👌🏻👌🏻Steve tiv
Hey Steve 👋 😁
Cup of coffee “a day” not a week, a normal 5ft 500 litre tank with 650 watt titanium heater, 21c house 25c tank, is £2 a day. @25p’kwh
That’s obviously including 30wat return, 50w planter light for couple hours.