Does the increasing cost of utlities affect your aquarium hobby decisions?

Where you are located will have associated costs for your hobby.The price of electric, water bills etc. Does this affect your decisions on numbers and sizes of fishtanks?

How about if you are in an area under drought conditions?

Al

Al, it certainly affected my costs. We had increases in water, sewage and electrical rates since the beginning of the year. Even though I use mostly sponge filters, reduced the number of tanks I'm running and drastically cut down the time I keep the aquarium lights on, my consolidated bill is more than it was was last year.

At one time I was running about 50 tanks and now I am down to about 20. These tanks are of assorted sizes from 10 gallons up to 75 gallons as I am also keeping shrimp, guppies, Endlers, regular Angels and older Altum Angels.

I am looking to tap into the water that runs through my yard meter because that water does not get charged for sewage which is 1.5 times the cost of the water portion of my bill. I'll would have to run that water from outside of the house and into my basement/fishroom through a window which will allow the bugs to come in though the open window and that sucks.

Yes, as it means less disposable cash. Disposable or non-committed cash is how I purchase fish.

I have two 20 gallon tall tanks to put fish in... one of those may stay just plants for a while. Both are cycling now.

My water is cheap compared to other places. It averages about $50 a month.

Electricity is another thing...I used to keep all my tanks at 82 including tanks that didn't require it. I now keep my mystery snail, albino BN and shrimp tanks at room temperature which this time of year is 79. For winter I used to use a dehumidifier and a oil filled electric heater to keep the fishroom warm. Last year I bought a free standing gas heater which my kind neighbor installed for me. He had to drill a hole through the kitchen wall to the fish room. He knew all the fittings I needed to buy. So now I'm able to heat the fish room with gas although I still have to use the dehumidifier once in a while to prevent rain falling from the ceiling (jk).

I'm also running fewer tanks but that's more because it's harder to take care of them than it used to be. The older I get, the slower I move.

I'm fortunate enough to be in a city where the cost of electricity is pretty low compared to the national average: $0.10/kWh. Water is also fairly cheap where an average monthly bill for my wife and I is anywhere between $70-100/month.

As far as number of tanks - in my situation I don't have reservation on the number and size of tanks I would own. The main hinderence for myself in keeping one (or more) tanks at the moment is lifestyle and space. Our basement is currently the only place where any number of tanks would reside. It's concrete walls, no insulation, no HVAC vents (so it averages about 55 in the basement during winter, 65 in summer), and the drainage situation would need to be worked on. Not very habitable for fish that need 82 and tank heaters would need to maintain water ~17-27 degrees over ambient 24/7. Lifestyle wise, the wife and I travel A LOT. Sometimes it is for PTO, other times I travel for work and I don't want to give the fish sub-par treatment when I'm gone for a week or two at a time.

I have a TOU electric meter so the electric rate is cheaper. Electric cost runs around 40 to 50 cent per KWH.


Cliff

I heat my house with wood in the winter which helps alot, but our oil fired furnace costs a bit to run for our hot water need and water changes. I'm too far from natural gas lines to get that, so my tanks heaters, well pump and oil costs all play into my aquarium costs. My electric company out here is small municipal one and its the cheapest in the state, but even so, they notified us to expect an increase of 20% as their power generation fuel costs have gone up.

My biggest other factor is my well, I'm in a rural area and there is a farm across the street, They are pretty good about not using too many pesticides and ferts there but they recently ran a whole mess of irrigation pipes and I swear since then my water has changed. We are all on wells here so its possible they are taping into our water table... who knows? my biggest fear is a dry well. Digging one is real costly.


Al

Al, have you looked at heat pumps. I would think they'd be more efficient considering the price of fuel oil. Furnace oil and some other fossil fuels are expensive and has more carbon emissions. Plus you get an air conditioner for the hotter to be summer months.

When my central AC went out last year that's what I would have used except for the cost of the unit itself. I use window units now and they are more energy efficient than my 14 yr old central unit was. Sometimes it comes down to the initial cost of the heat pump. They ain't cheap.

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Originally Posted by bluelagoon

Al, have you looked at heat pumps. I would think they'd be more efficient considering the price of fuel oil. Furnace oil and some other fossil fuels are expensive and has more carbon emissions. Plus you get an air conditioner for the hotter to be summer months.

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Thanks Mervin, Thats a great idea I hadnt even considered it.. something to look into for sure.

Al

I haven't had this problem but only as yet and I used to think about the massive water changes and it is very hot in my neighborhood and I have been using the waste aquarium water for my garden. Recently I have been using pothos and few other plants as aquaponics over my discus fish aquarium and it really helps. Otherwise I on my heater only at nights when I use aircondition and the indoor discus aquarium gets a little cold.