Power bill

[Kfactor]

Am trying to cut my power bill down . I have a 75g with 30g sump my discus are around 7to 8 months old and keep the tank around 86 . I think with my tank and ageing barrel and all heaters it’s uses around 100$ in power . I have 2 200w and a 150w in my maain tank and a 300w in my ageing barrel . Does anyone have any ideas I can try . I tried getting rid of my discus but I can’t do it I have to much money and care about my discus to let them go !

[jeep]

You might take a look here... After all these years I still use this stuff...

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ight=reflectix

However, in my experience, the power companies always know when you are cutting back and always find a way to increase your bill to compensate!!!

[Filip]

I would try to find an cheaper alternative for heating the aged water .
Instead of heating it 24/7 in a course of a couple of days between Wcs , maybe you can heat it instantly with bigger / stronger water heater couple of minutes right before you WC ?
I don't heat my aged water , I just pour 5 pounds of boiling 100 C water in the aging tank right before WC .
That gets my 20 C room temp water to 26-27 C , where I want it to be for a WC . My aging tank is only 20 gallons though , so i guess you may need more than just a couple of pounds of boiling water.

[LizStreithorst]

Take the temp in your tank down to 82 F. Discus are quite comfortable at 82. You can also wrap your barrel and part of your tank in that shiny metal looking insulation that comes in a roll. Don't know the name of the stuff.

[jeep]

Take the temp in your tank down to 82 F. Discus are quite comfortable at 82. You can also wrap your barrel and part of your tank in that shiny metal looking insulation that comes in a roll. Don't know the name of the stuff.

Reflectix. It's in my post above, although the photo's may have disappeared over time...

[jeep]

Yeah, photo's are all gone on that thread. Here's a link to the product. I know Lowes sells it off the shelf...

I also used it to insulate all my duct work when I installed my new furnace and central air...

https://www.reflectixinc.com/product...ve-insulation/

[Adam S]

Unless the new water is 20+ degrees different, a dip into the 70s isn't going to hurt your fish.

[Kfactor]

Thanks for the reply’s . Am slowly lowering tank temp over time right now . I do 50 % 50g daily water changes and I ordered that reflex stuff from amazon should be here in a few days .

[Willie]

Here's what I did for my storage containers:

1. Fill them with warm water, not cold water
2. Wrapped the outside with insulation
3. Covered them up
4. Put them on 2 X 2's, so they're off the cement floor

Worked like a charm, Willie

[brewmaster15]

Am trying to cut my power bill down . I have a 75g with 30g sump my discus are around 7to 8 months old and keep the tank around 86 . I think with my tank and ageing barrel and all heaters it’s uses around 100$ in power . I have 2 200w and a 150w in my maain tank and a 300w in my ageing barrel . Does anyone have any ideas I can try . I tried getting rid of my discus but I can’t do it I have to much money and care about my discus to let them go !

Look up diy solar hot water heaters... depending on where you live you can make a solar collector for ridiculously little money ..cooler climates you may need to invest in vaccum tubes for winter.

Al

[candymancan]

Turned my heaters off a year ago.. temps are 78-80f discus have been fine for over a year eith those temps.. i know breeders who breed in 70s as well.. mine lay eggs in those temps.

Discus dont need 86f bash me all you want but im not the only one who noticed this.

RO and aging water is also silly.. I go straight from the tap into the tank and no issues.

[RogueDiscus]

Turned my heaters off a year ago.. temps are 78-80f discus have been fine for over a year eith those temps.. i know breeders who breed in 70s as well.. mine lay eggs in those temps.

Discus dont need 86f bash me all you want but im not the only one who noticed this.

RO and aging water is also silly.. I go straight from the tap into the tank and no issues.

Except you just posted about losing discus to the plague or something.

[candymancan]

Except that started over 2 years ago and i mentioned i turned my heaters off a year ago. Sorry lol.. but the heaters have nothing to do with that AT ALL

[Paul Sabucchi]

I agree with all the advice given so far to minimize unnecessary expense on your electricity bill, so insulate your water barrell (and fish tanks!) as much as possible, keep it lifted from the floor and possibly in a warm room (in winter I keep mine by the radiator in the kitchen) and if possible fill the barrel up with water heated by cheaper means, at least here in Italy electricity is more expensive than methane, so I fill up my bins with hot water from the tap (I have supervised as the plumbing was redone from scratch with multilayer tubing and the boiler has a stainless steel heat exchanger).
What I may add is: how long do you actually need to age your water for? If your tapwater does not show a massive drop in pH then you may get away with just a few hours. This appears to be the case with my tap-water, where the main problem is just micro-bubbles, I fill my bins at 1 p.m. (in winter with warm-ish water) and turn on a wavemaker (Sunsun JVP 110, it only uses about 3w), by 8.30 p.m. the water goes in the fishtank.
As to the possibility of keeping discus at considerably lower temperatures, although it may be possible (and I would welcome reports of more people doing so with no adverse consequences), I still keep mine toasty at least while they are growing. A lower temperature may be even compatible with breeding (that at the end of the day is the strongest drive in nature) but it will slow down metabolism so also growth rate and effectiveness of the immune systems. I regard the advice generally given on this forum not as a dogma that must be followed blindly but as the result of a huge amount of cumulative experience that is likely to give, particularly to those new to discus, the best chances of achieving good results with minimum problems.
Justy my 2 (euro) cents

[Pices]

Paul,
You give such reasoned and well thought out advice. Glad you are part of this forum.
Patty