"Green" Aquariums?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
docturtle91b said:
That is a sweet set up bro. :) Way to go on that.
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Thanks, I am working on getting the funds together to finish a canopy that incorporates the grow bed. For now everything is on hold while we catch up on bills.. Hopefully soon we can move forward with more building. For now though I will happily raise my fish, plants, and worms. It's nice to have a 100 gallon tank run on nothing but a mid size air pump and a 4 foot shop lamp. I really ought to get off my butt and write up something on the geyser lift. It's dead useful and economical.

I think the best way to begin to go greener in the home version of the hobby is to try to re-create the ecosystem rather than replace a cog of it with technology. It's really kind of neat to know that my simple little setup is the most healthy and stable setup I have ever had. Seriously.. I've ran sumps, canister, etc, and none of them were as stable or had better readings than I get with vermiponics. I laugh at myself sometimes when I think of how much work I dedicated on a daily basis to my hobby and how little I have to do now, though i am always in the fish room just watching and dreaming of going bigger.
 
Cut the wattage usage for my lighting down a lot by switching to LEDs. We don't exactly need to water the gardens here most of the year in the pacific NW but I drain my tanks using a syphon out a door or window to cut water usage from a python. I try to use energy efficient pumps.
 
Solar panels require quite a bit of money rather than time.......I save as many plastic fish bags as I can and reuse them,I don't run my hood lights for hours on end,actually I hardly use them at all.....as soon as it is warm enough to do so,I turn off the tank heaters,they consume the most energy...I have not gotten around to being more frugal with the water usage as the partial changes are very crucial to our fish's well being.I have stopped using my python though as I've learned that it wastes water years ago.
 
Once I setup a larger tank/pond, I am going to try and make a waterfall pump that will partially power itself. By making a generator that would charge a batter and ran by the running water just like a turbine in a dam, just on my tank. I am also going to try and figure out how I can use the heat from the pump running to heat the setup as well
 
look into aquaponics, where you use the fish water and fish waste as nutrients for plants that you can yeild edible fruits or vegetables. I have 2 of tanks set up as natural light ripariums, which are doing great, and helps me with the waterchanges. there are some solar powered pond filter kits out there that perhaps you can rig to use indoors...
 
m1ste2tea said:
look into aquaponics, where you use the fish water and fish waste as nutrients for plants that you can yeild edible fruits or vegetables. I have 2 of tanks set up as natural light ripariums, which are doing great, and helps me with the waterchanges. there are some solar powered pond filter kits out there that perhaps you can rig to use indoors...
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If you want help getting started or just want to share let me know.
 
Cutting back is going to be one of our next projects in this coming year. We are already using LED and small wattage lighting on timers. I'd like to look into other filters to cut back on electric use there - of course that brings up the question, can it be justified spending X amount of dollars, to save X amount of electric and dollars? Or should I just buy some wind energy from our local electric provider instead to offset some costs...
 
Question: Can you cut back wattage without also cutting back on available light for plant growth? Also, are there heat exchangers on the market that tie into the ballast of the lighting system? If not, then it could be a good product to develop.
 
I just run my tank. Reallllllly don't see the need to go green with my fish tank, then again I drive a car that gets about 12-14 MPG on average so maybe I'm biased.
 
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