Cost Of Running A Tank

[sted]

hi has anyone ever worked out how much it costs for them to run the tanks they have if so how would u do it as i am curious??

 

[stuuk1]

Find out price of water per litre from waterboard.... and perhaps a meter on your pump, heater and lights (find out from elec provider what each unit costs)... then work out your price.

 

[Katty]

I've never bothered figuring it out since I just set myself a fish-related budget every month and stay within that range and stick it in savings if I don't use it all. I don't pay for water or electricity here so that doesn't account in.

What stuuk1 said on the lights/water, but you'd also have to account for buying filter media, bulbs, replacing broken stuff, decorations, food, livestock, medications, fertilizers, water conditioners, things you just "gotta have", etc. This part would be easier because you could just keep and add up any fish-related receipts and figure out averages for how much you spend a month/week.

 

[sted]

i set my self a £10 budget a month whats urs?

 

[Katch]

working out electricity costs is easy;

find out the wattage of your pump, lights and heater. Lets say you have a 100w heater, it'll be on for roughly 12 hours a day (clicks on and off with the thermostat)

so - 100 (watts) x 12 (hours) x 30 (days) = 36000 watts or 36 kwh (killawatt hours)

do the same for your pump;

10 (watts) x 24 (hours) x 30 (days) = 7200 watts or 7.2 kwh

lights;

50 x 10 x 30 = 15000 - 15 kwh

add them all up = 58.2 kwh a month

find out on your bill what price a kwh is - lets say 15p x 58.2 kwh = £8.73 a month.

Doing the same with water is relatively easy - 30 litre change a month x price per litre.

 

[Katty]

Oh, nice job Kstch for working out all the equations.

I personally set my budget to $20 USD a month. Sometimes I use it all, sometimes I don't. I have to disregard it sometimes though like if I need to replace a broken filter or something, which are usually about $30.