Hi, I’m going to be setting up a fish shed in the near future with around 20 tanks keeping plecs and corys mainly. I was just wondering how people are finding the cost of running a simliar setup With energy prices these days. I plan to insulate and heat the room with an oil filled radiator or diesel heater. Any advice would be great thanks
Cost of running a fish room
- Thread starter Bak3r
- Start date
Welcome to MFK!
To get you started, It would be helpful to know the coldest and warmest your location is on the average.
What are your plans for filtering the tanks? Will you have electricity in your fish shed or will you need to run power to it? What about a water source?
You can check your electric bill to see what you are currently paying for electricity and get a general idea of what your planned power needs are for the number of tanks you will want to set up.
To get you started, It would be helpful to know the coldest and warmest your location is on the average.
What are your plans for filtering the tanks? Will you have electricity in your fish shed or will you need to run power to it? What about a water source?
You can check your electric bill to see what you are currently paying for electricity and get a general idea of what your planned power needs are for the number of tanks you will want to set up.
Hi, I’m in Scotland which is averaging around 6/7 degrees c just now. There will be power in the shed and I plan to run sponge filters off one air pump. We don’t pay for water so will be filling a water butt from the hose and storing in the shed.
I ran a fish shed in WI, with about 20 tanks, roughly 2000 gallons, until about 8 years ago, when I moved.
Half were heated, half were not, because I kept Uruguayan cichlids in about 10 tanks, so room temp was all that was required for them,
I artificially lit about half the tanks, and 4 sumps filtered all 20 tanks, so used 4 water pumps.
In winter my energy bill ran $400 per month. About $200 per month the other months,
Half were heated, half were not, because I kept Uruguayan cichlids in about 10 tanks, so room temp was all that was required for them,
I artificially lit about half the tanks, and 4 sumps filtered all 20 tanks, so used 4 water pumps.
In winter my energy bill ran $400 per month. About $200 per month the other months,
There are calculators online that you can fill in some info and costs of local power. It then works out your usage per month and the cost.
My fishroom is a finished 2 car detached garage with 4 sky lights so no lights. It's well insulated, which is key.. I heat and cool w a split unit system, run a dehumidifier and have several fans for circulation. Can't emphasize air circulation enough. The room is almost completely on one air pump. Heaters, lights and water pumps are the big energy users normally. I have a couple of heaters and a couple of powerheads but whole thing probably costs $100-125 per month
I built a 16x18x10 fishroom in my unfinished garage in Houston, Texas. My biggest expense is cooling and dehumidifying, for which I installed an inverter mini-split system and I use room dehumidifiers from amazon. My mini-split runs on 115vac and uses about 12amps, so maybe averages around 1100w during the most extreme weather. I keep the room between 78-80 F all year. I used open cell spray foam in most of the walls, fiberglass insulation in the ceiling, and 1/8" glossy white fiberboard for interior walls. One LED shop light is on in the room for about 12 hrs daily, RGB LED floodlights over all my tanks. Most tanks are only lit for a 6-10pm feeding and viewing window. Central air system is the only filtration, which uses 86w to operate about 20 air drops, mixed in 40B to 210g tanks. These are some older pics, but who doesn't like pics?
I forgot to mention....
When all is said and done, you will have a significant investment in time and money. Make sure you have a plan for failures. Pump failures, AC or heating failures, total power loss, and even tank failures. We had a total power loss after a late freeze a few years ago. For three days I was boiling water in the dark and adding it to the tanks every 4 hours while they were wrapped in insulation on all sides. I invested in a 2200w inverter generator that can run my entire fishroom for 8hrs on about a gallon of gas. I try to have back-ups of every critical system, which will add to overall costs, but protects your investment.
When all is said and done, you will have a significant investment in time and money. Make sure you have a plan for failures. Pump failures, AC or heating failures, total power loss, and even tank failures. We had a total power loss after a late freeze a few years ago. For three days I was boiling water in the dark and adding it to the tanks every 4 hours while they were wrapped in insulation on all sides. I invested in a 2200w inverter generator that can run my entire fishroom for 8hrs on about a gallon of gas. I try to have back-ups of every critical system, which will add to overall costs, but protects your investment.