1000 gallon aquarium heating?

[TwoHedWlf]

It only comes on when I turn on hot water. So im not sure how you'd rig that. It's "on demand". At first I thought I was a genius. That only lasted a few seconds...

You'd probably want to have the water going through a heat exchanger rather than tank water straight into the heater. I think it's probably just a pressure or flow switch, should be easy enough to bypass and have a heat controller switching it on and off.

 

[stempy]

Look up vldesigns 2500 gallon. Quite a few people use their water heaters to heat the tank by running a closed loop system. They run spa flex? In a long closed loop with a majority of the pipe coiled up in a sump to heat through exchange.

Mines a 700 gallon system that I heat simply through a hot water drip. Simple, cheap, and I get the bonus of a 24/7 water change

 

[Drstrangelove]

Hi everyone I'm planning on building a 1000 gallon plywood aquarium. Currently have a 125 gallon. I'm just trying to work out all the kinks befor I embark on this journey. I'm planning on using a 3 barrel system for filtration. Barrels are 45 gallon a piece. My question is what would be the cheapest way to heat this freshwater monster?? Any help, opinions, or inight will be greatly appreciated thanks.

I don't think you mentioned what you are keeping in the tank. Freshwater monster fish come from all over the world from a wide range of environments.

There isn't one temperature, or even one small range of temperatures that's correct for all those. With some fish, at 69, you'll want to cool the water down, while with others you'll want it heated.

Also, where is the tank going to be located? Basement, garage, bedroom, living room, etc. Your heating options are often dictated by where the tank is.

Also, is this your own home or a rental? In other words, are you planning on putting everything back to the way it was at some point? Some choices that look cheaper now will be much more expensive than others if they have to be reversed later.

 

[Eric gibson]

It is gonna be in a theater room for the family and the wife has agreed to let me build it there so it's a win win situation. And no it won't ever be moved. We just done a addition to our home because of a new baby and there is a 19x19ft patio beside our house that is already enclosed so all I have to do is tie it into the house. It also has a concrete slab under it all so weight won't be an issue. I was just trying to figure out the most cheap and efficient way to heat it. I would love to have some rays in it so I figured that the water would probably have to be heated alittle??

 

[Drstrangelove]

If you're keeping rays, then a sticky on the stingrays sub forum says it needs to be 75-80 F.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/rays-12-tips-for-prospective-owners-by-burpz.2402/

(I don't keep rays, so I am only using that for a reference.)

If you keep the room at 69, you will need 1,600 watts of heaters to maintain a temp of 78; at a room temp of 71, 1,350 watts, and so forth. That's assuming you have 200 watts of pumps, cover the tank, use glass and lose 70 gallons per week to evaporation.

Each state has different costs for electricity, plus it typically varies by utility and by season, and by what the total usage is per month, so it's impossible to accurately reflect the end result. E.g., Hawaii has triple the average kwh rate than Louisiana. In California, the top tier, due to surcharges, in the summer is astronomical compared to the lowest tier in the summer, and far more than the winter.

But assuming the national average of $.133 per kwh and that the heaters run non-stop (they won't), it works out to ~ $131/month. Since I don't know, let's say that one could save 40% of the cost by changing the heating method. That would be amazing, and that works out to $53/month.

If it costs $1,590 to change the heating, it would pay itself off in 30 months (30 x $53=$1,590.) In Hawaii, it would be paid off a lot sooner (since the electric savings would be much higher), in Louisiana, longer. But if you are a low tier user in Louisiana and it costs $3,000 to fix, it might not warrant the spending due to how long it would take to break even.

The other point however is that other things might achieve the same result at a lower cost. E.g., if the evaporation is 7% per week (70 gallons), then cutting that in half would also cut the electricity usage by 40%. (70 gallons a week to 35 gallons requires 824 watts, not 1,357 watts.) So, there are other fixes that might be less expensive but still as good as a different heating method.

I'm not suggesting that this is a better method, (or that other methods are better), but that without a tank already built, with known heating demands, actual electric costs, and actual evaporation rates, plus some real estimates on the equipment costs and plumbing charges (if needed), it seems like kind of a difficult decision process to get right.

 

[JK47]

You'd probably want to have the water going through a heat exchanger rather than tank water straight into the heater. I think it's probably just a pressure or flow switch, should be easy enough to bypass and have a heat controller switching it on and off.

^ this. I am just finishing up a 1k system using a similar approach. I use stainless coils as heat transfer. The drip system is heated as well.

There is a manifold off of the hammerhead pump that returns in the center of the coils for better displacement as well.

 

[mudbuttjones]

I'm a proponent of heating the room, not the tank. if you have some more temperate tropicals that are happy in the low 70°s this is a good option. a big tank won't fluctuate in temperature very quickly.

I expirimented with insulating tanks a few years back. i was breeding african cichlids in a small unheated basement storage unit. wrapping 3 sides of the tank with 1" xps foam insulation made a huge difference in how much the heater was on.

I'd go with an electric heater. keep the room warm, and insulate the tank the best you can

 

[fishguy306]

I'm one that heated my 1500 gal system with my house's water heater. Obviously must be gas to be worth doing, but it is pretty simple to set up and dirt cheap to run.

 

[eddiegunks]

I'm one that heated my 1500 gal system with my house's water heater. Obviously must be gas to be worth doing, but it is pretty simple to set up and dirt cheap to run.

Please elaborate on how you did this. Thx

 

[wannadivesteve]

I tend to think people REALLY over think heating their aquariums.

Years ago, when I was 24, I went hog wild and put 14 40 breeders of saltwater in the living room of our 3 br house to run at 78-79 degrees. A couple roommates cried foul about the future power bill and I said I'd pay the difference from the previous year's bill. I had 200 watts per tank, no extra insulation other than I put a sheet of plastic over the inside of our living room window December through February.

The power bill went up about 12-15 bucks a month, and the living/dining/kitchen never got cold so we never turned on the gas heat, saved about 60-70 bucks our peak month. That was a long time ago, so the prices will likely change, but heating the tanks was a LOT cheaper than heating the room. The heaters only turned on every now and then for a few minutes at a time.

I'm thinking plywood is a better insulator than 1/4 inch glass. You'll have a large body of water that essentially will have it's own thermal mass that doesn't want to change once it gets to temp. The most likely spot for temperature exchange is where water meets air, if you cover that thing it'll retain heat pretty well.

Insulate the sides/bottom/top if you want. If you have a wet dry setup that could be an area for temperature exchange. Cover the tank, keep the sumps kind of covered. Depending on what kind of pump you use it may introduce some heat.

I could be totally wrong because it was not the exact same situation. I'd put 1500-2000 watts of decent heaters on that thing and see if the power bill runs amok.

Put a Kill-a-Watt power consumption meter on it for a few days if you are curious. It would be interesting to see if anyone on MFK has actually measured their power consumption. I'd bet heaters aren't necessarily the biggest power hogs on most setups.