How to keep tank energy effeicient?
- Thread starter Oscar123
- Start date
Lol. Or leave it empty and learn the art of origami fish
Sent from my DROIDX using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Sent from my DROIDX using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
LOL, yeah.. To think about it. There aren't shortcuts around this problem.. And I wud never be able to get rud of my tropical tanks, especially my saltwater one! Hhaha
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Simple solution. Invest in solar technology. And then enjoy being paid money every month by the city.
I think there are many ways to make a tank more efficient. As previously stated, minimizing heat loss will help a great deal. In some of my native tanks, I keep them in the windows where solar energy heats the water, but this also causes 5-10 degrees of temp fluctuations not suitable for many species. Like others said, use insulation. Instead of painting the back of your tank black, use insulation to create the background. If you are using a canister filter instead of a HOB, it is not that difficult to completely seal(rubber seal, dont silicon it) the tank. If it is completely sealed, you can add insulation to the top and minimize heat loss even further. The problem that creates though, is airation and gas exchange. Live plants help oxygenate the water. If your tank is heavily planted and understocked, you shouldnt need an airator. The plants will also help cut down on waste and pollutants. The plants would also help with the pollutants and might help solve the gas exchange problem of a sealed tank. If you do enough plants and a big understock, you could probably use less, or smaller filters. On some of my tanks I use 3 filters, if i had alot of plants and a smaller stock, my tank would thrive with only 1 filter and no airator. Natives or coolwater species would take away the need for a heater. If you did all of this you could have a tank that only uses 1 filter and no other mechanics.
It was said that it is cheaper to heat the whole room. when I need a heated tank, I keep it in my herp room that is already 80+F from all the heating elements. So I still dont need a heater.
Really, I think it is difficult to make your current tank alot more efficient. But if you plan from the begining to create an efficient tank, it is fully possible to design a highly efficient tank.
Im not completely sure about some of my ideas such as the sealed tank and whatnot, so please offer some constructive criticism on problems I overlooked.
It was said that it is cheaper to heat the whole room. when I need a heated tank, I keep it in my herp room that is already 80+F from all the heating elements. So I still dont need a heater.
Really, I think it is difficult to make your current tank alot more efficient. But if you plan from the begining to create an efficient tank, it is fully possible to design a highly efficient tank.
Im not completely sure about some of my ideas such as the sealed tank and whatnot, so please offer some constructive criticism on problems I overlooked.
Reading this post I started thinking about getting tighter fitting glass cut out ( not that expensive a local shop around here will do it on the spot ) but I have a lightly planted tank and alot of cichlids I try to keep a few small gaps between my 4 planes of glass that top off my tank to make sure fresh air can get in - anybody know how sealed a tank can be and still get enough fresh air to transfer oxygen into the water ?
That questions a tough one since it depends on a lot of factors and will vary greatly. I think it would be tough to get both good sealing and good oxygen exchange based soley on what you are describing. I would think you would want unrestricted air flow to properly allow gas exchange, which completely undermines sealing the tank to avoid heat loss. I wouldnt want to trial and error to find out where a happy medium is
Well a simple fix there would be to add the airator. The airator would add air, and the disturbance at the surface would allow the gas exchange out of the tank. Even if you try to seal it with a tighter fit, but not a complete seal, then the pressure added from pumping in air would allow the gases to escape through the small gap that would still remain. Adding the airator would make it that much less efficient, but you wouldnt have to worry about any sort of loss to your current stock. Like I said, this would certainly be better and much safer to experiment on if you have a very light stock. I dont think I would be willing to try it if you have alot of cichlids in the tank.
Another thought, What about solar heating? Alot of us use sump tanks. What if we designed our tanks that the sump tank could sit in or near a window that takes on a lot of light. You could place a solar cover(the cheap ones used for pools) to try to heat up some of the water in your sump before it goes back into your tank?Also if its in the window, you could either paint the entire sump black or line it with a black rubber to try to absorb more solar heat. The solar cover would also help minimize heat loss from the sump. This wont be practical for many of our set-ups, but it could be an option. Im just not sure how effective it would be in heating the constantly moving water, but overall it might help heat the water a few degrees and take some of the work off of your heater
Another thought, What about solar heating? Alot of us use sump tanks. What if we designed our tanks that the sump tank could sit in or near a window that takes on a lot of light. You could place a solar cover(the cheap ones used for pools) to try to heat up some of the water in your sump before it goes back into your tank?Also if its in the window, you could either paint the entire sump black or line it with a black rubber to try to absorb more solar heat. The solar cover would also help minimize heat loss from the sump. This wont be practical for many of our set-ups, but it could be an option. Im just not sure how effective it would be in heating the constantly moving water, but overall it might help heat the water a few degrees and take some of the work off of your heater
