Yiiiiiiiiiiks!!!!

[krislewis3]

Hey guys....my husband just confronted me with the water bill!!!!!! Am I going to have to make a choice here??????

[strawberryblonde]

Yes.

[Skip]

Hey guys....my husband just confronted me with the water bill!!!!!! Am I going to have to make a choice here??????

idk.. what are choices?

[Second Hand Pat]

Sounds like a choice between the spouse or the fish. I would pick the fish. :bandana:

[Kal-El]

How many tanks and size of tank are you changing that your water bill is off the roof? Assuming you must have a fish room with many tanks for your bill to be very high.

[Lenin]

I have to agree, how bad can it be, water is relatively cheap

[krislewis3]

No....all I have is a 60 gallon, and a 40 gallon....That's All......I do water changes every day (which he thinks is crazy). The water bill was 3 X normal. It's strange..I saw the water co. Looking at our meter recently...just our house, not any of the neighbors!!!! It makes me think that they saw a potential problem, and were checking it out!
We don't get a bill every month, which is why this hasn't happened before.
At this point, even if it isn't due to the aquariums, he wont buy it, because he thinks I'm obsessive and overdoing it, and now he thinks that he "has the proof"!!!!

[Floppy Fin's]

How many fish do you have in those two tanks each that requires waterchanges every day?? All Discus?? Bare bottom tanks? How filtered??

[Trier20]

How long have you had discus? My fiancé was that way when I first got them. She is much more acceptable of them now and will even help with WCs. Everyonce in a while shell get one my *** about how much I'm spending. I just explained that it's something that I really enjoy doing.

[MaiaDee]

Could you harvest your "gray" water and use it instead of fresh water for some stuff? Like if you water plants or the lawn?

[krislewis3]

Could you harvest your "gray" water and use it instead of fresh water for some stuff? Like if you water plants or the lawn?

Good idea......I can at leat approach him with the idea...however, I think he is going to use this as his proof of my instability.........anyhow.....I'll give it some time, I won't do water changes when he's home (it irritates him),and then Just MAKE him understand.....wish me luck....

[krislewis3]

How many fish do you have in those two tanks each that requires waterchanges every day?? All Discus?? Bare bottom tanks? How filtered??

60 gallon tank with 5 juvie discus in it, 40 gallon community tank, 16 gallon hospital/QT tank....I do daily wc on the 60 gallon discus tank because I want them to be the best they can be, and, I love my discus!!!! I can cut back on the wc for my 40 gallon community tank.

[MaiaDee]

Good idea......I can at leat approach him with the idea...however, I think he is going to use this as his proof of my instability.........anyhow.....I'll give it some time, I won't do water changes when he's home (it irritates him),and then Just MAKE him understand.....wish me luck....

Luck! Personally, I have found that doing water changes with little to no clothes on is distracting enough to not get griped at ;)

[mcishaque]

While the "grey" water suggestion is good, I don't know how much of the grey water she is going to be able to truly recycle to water house plants... that's 100 gallons of water per day.

Look at your bill carefully. I also have the same problem. In my city, they have usage quotas. For example, you pay the cheapo rate for the first 1,000 gallons - 3 cents per gallon. Then for the next 1,000 gallons, they'll bump it to 5 cents a gallon. Then for the next 1,000 it goes up to 10 cents a gallon. The cents/gallon and the 1,000 gallon increments are just examples that I pulled out of a hat for explanation purposes only.

If your city has a similar incremental pricing structure, looking at the bill carefully ought to reveal the "penalty" points, thus helping you to plan your WC routine so as not to hit the "break the bank" cents per gallon rates.

[secuono]

Community tank, can't you go down to 50% weekly instead? Or is it over stocked and/or poor filtration?
If nothing is in the QT tank, you can just leave it running and do small w/c on weekends or every other week.

[krislewis3]

Luck! Personally, I have found that doing water changes with little to no clothes on is distracting enough to not get griped at ;)

Now why didn't I think of that.....thanks for the tip!!

[krislewis3]

Community tank, can't you go down to 50% weekly instead? Or is it over stocked and/or poor filtration?
If nothing is in the QT tank, you can just leave it running and do small w/c on weekends or every other week.

Yes...I can and will stop doing so many wc on the community !!

[Lenin]

That'll work, give him a beer right before you start and you're set.

Not many guys would complain about that.



Now why didn't I think of that.....thanks for the tip!!

Luck! Personally, I have found that doing water changes with little to no clothes on is distracting enough to not get griped at

[JenTN]

Fish trump spouse everytime :) Of course, I'm divorced :D:D:D

[magewynd]

Well, If NADA 2014 is in Texas I may have to pass on the fishroom tours.

Luck! Personally, I have found that doing water changes with little to no clothes on is distracting enough to not get griped at

[Elliots]

Your water co. may have previously estimated your bill and now there is an actual bill. You may have a leak somewhere that you are not aware of like a toilet flush tank that runs 24/7. I am just hoping. Maybe Warlock Skip is stealing water from you for his water changes?

[DiscusDrew]

This makes me feel so blessed, Im so lucky my water changes by pennies whether I use 1000 gallons or 10, I cant imagine living in a place where water is more of a commodity. Best of luck to you, I hope it goes well with him and that he comes around, my s/o came around after about the 3rd tank. Went crazy for a while but then came around and has slowly but surely started to enjoy watching my fry grow and all the beautiful fish in the fish room.

[tbird22771]

Do you also have sewer in your city? And if so are you draining your water change down the drain or out a window? Usually your waste charges are higher then your water end, so if you are sending all that down the drain it will add up in a hurry.

[Donno]

My first 800 gallons of water costs around $20 plus a sewage charge of about half that and then it slides down from there. I figure a 50 gallon a day aquarium water change costs me about $20 a month. I'm surrounded by fresh water lakes and rivers. It's not always the availability of water, it's the cost of delivering it that costs.

[Orange Crush]

Take really quick showers and find other ways to conserve on your water.

[oldfar]

Get a nice teddy and a beer I'll help with that WC.

[oldfar]

My sewage bill 2x water used.my bill has gone up 30%.

[Kal-El]

Here I'm charge $4.98 per 100 Cubic Feet of water which is equal to 748 gallons. I calculate that if I change 100% twice a day on my 30gal juvie tank which equals to 420 gallons a week and 145 gallon WC on my 75gal show tank per week I'm looking at 2260 gallons a month. This equals to 304.14CF making my monthly WC cost about $60.79 per month or $182.37 every three months.

I would suggest looking up your charges and calculate it out to see if your bill is right especially if it's extremely high.

[YSS]

No....all I have is a 60 gallon, and a 40 gallon....That's All......I do water changes every day (which he thinks is crazy). The water bill was 3 X normal. It's strange..I saw the water co. Looking at our meter recently...just our house, not any of the neighbors!!!! It makes me think that they saw a potential problem, and were checking it out!
We don't get a bill every month, which is why this hasn't happened before.
At this point, even if it isn't due to the aquariums, he wont buy it, because he thinks I'm obsessive and overdoing it, and now he thinks that he "has the proof"!!!!

Compare the current bill to your past bills and figure out the usage difference. If you don't use that much water in general and then changing almost 100G per day, then you may be at least doubling or trippling your usage.

[Orange Crush]

I myself like to take long showers but if I had to choose between that and my discus I would learn to take quick showers. Average is 5 gallons per minute of water in a shower if you cut your shower time in half you could save a lot of water per month.
Also, replacing old showerheads with new ones can save you as much as 750 gallons per month.
When you wash or rinse dishes turn off the water whenever possible, every minute counts.

[krislewis3]

I'm NOT getting rid of my discus....I will do my best to conserve water, try to get the water bill, and pay it from my account, then start giving him as much attention as I give my fish.....

[krislewis3]

Do you also have sewer in your city? And if so are you draining your water change down the drain or out a window? Usually your waste charges are higher then your water end, so if you are sending all that down the drain it will add up in a hurry.

I didn't know about the waste charges...my water goes straight down the drain!!!!! I'll look into that!!!!

[YSS]

I didn't know about the waste charges...my water goes straight down the drain!!!!! I'll look into that!!!!

Not going to help. There's no meter in the drain. Sewer charge is calculated based on your water usage. Where in VA are you?

[brewmaster15]

Kris,
You have not mentioned dollar amounts here so it hard to really help...However...it may be beneficial for you to do some cost analysis on your other expenses in the house and present it to your spouse....for example if your water bill went up $20 a month because of the fish..how does that compare to your spouses hobbies? and is there anywhere you can save in the household budget to offset the fish passion.
hth,
al

[tbird22771]

Not going to help. There's no meter in the drain. Sewer charge is calculated based on your water usage.

Your are right about that, but some municipalities do offer people to have a sub meter installed at their own expense (which can be costly but if you use alot of water that doesn't go down the drain it may be worth while) OR you can go to your water company and let them know that you use alot of water (helps if you have the actual amount) that you are not going putting down the drain and they may give you some type of percentage based credit. (guess this depends alot on where you live too in a town of 5,000 people it wasn't difficult to do at all - but they do think I am completely insane changing my fish water that much lol)

[krislewis3]

Not going to help. There's no meter in the drain. Sewer charge is calculated based on your water usage. Where in VA are you?

Richmond!!

[krislewis3]

[QUOTE=tbird22771;915539]Your are right about that, but some municipalities do offer people to have a sub meter installed at their own expense (which can be costly but if you use alot of water that doesn't go down the drain it may be worth while) OR you can go to your water company and let them know that you use alot of water (helps if you have the actual amount) that you are not going putting down the drain and they may give you some type of percentage based credit. (guess this depends alot on where you live too in a town of 5,000 people it wasn't difficult to do at all - but they do think I am completely insane changing my fish water that much lol)[/QU

Soooo, you actually did this and got a percentage off your water bill????

[gills]

The sub meter can get costly. We get them all the time. A second meter for irrigation systems which is part of my business. I just installed a second meter this week to the tune of 1500 dollars in Raleigh NC. Some towns around us charge 2500 dollars for a second meter. The second meter is only charged once for water and not the waste disposal fee. Your house meter is charged for the water and again for the waste fee. Just check with the municipalities and permit office in your area and they can tell you the cost for a second meter. Good luck.

[krislewis3]

I found out that the water co. was estimating our bill, based on our water usage prior to my new discus hobby, soooooo, the catch up amount was for a few months!!! Add to this, the daily wc will stop soon when my fish are full grown, and until then, I will pay the bill...add to that, less wc on my community tank, add to that, all of your suggestions ie: wc in a black lace teddy, with 4" red, spike heels, (lol) etc., My husband is significantly calmed down, and the marriage is intact (at least until the next thing happens)
I do so appreciate the support from you guys.

[mcishaque]

Discus, getting their humans to spawn. :p

[eaglesfan3000]

I had the same problem last quarter. My bill was $500 and they said I used 38,000 gallons of water. There is no way I could use that much water. I only change 100 gallons a day and probably another 100 gallons for showers and other uses. So for 90 days it should have been around 18 to 20 thousand gallons of water. I had the meter guy come check out my house to see if I had a leak somewhere and he said no, so I asked him if they charge me twice for use and waste he told me yes what a bunch of crap. The bill before this one was only $175 so I don't understand what's going on. Later on in the week my neighbor knocked on my door and asked me how much my bill was and he told me his was $700 and used 70,000 gallons of water. Something is really screwed up here on our street.

Of course this happened during the time I had a nitrate spike in my water and killed two of my fish, if anything they owe me money.

[bronzie8]

This thread makes me feel extremely fortunate to live in a tiny town that charges a set rate of $41 a month no matter how much I use. I have 6 20 gal. breeder tanks a 75 gal. angel tank and 4 55 gal. tanks plus 2 55s for RO and aged tap. I can't imagine how much it would be in the big cities...whew. I'm happy you got the water bill figured out and the marriage in intact!

[krislewis3]

You said it!!!!!

[krislewis3]

This thread makes me feel extremely fortunate to live in a tiny town that charges a set rate of $41 a month no matter how much I use. I have 6 20 gal. breeder tanks a 75 gal. angel tank and 4 55 gal. tanks plus 2 55s for RO and aged tap. I can't imagine how much it would be in the big cities...whew. I'm happy you got the water bill figured out and the marriage in intact!


Really?????---thats a wow....

[krislewis3]

I had the same problem last quarter. My bill was $500 and they said I used 38,000 gallons of water. There is no way I could use that much water. I only change 100 gallons a day and probably another 100 gallons for showers and other uses. So for 90 days it should have been around 18 to 20 thousand gallons of water. I had the meter guy come check out my house to see if I had a leak somewhere and he said no, so I asked him if they charge me twice for use and waste he told me yes what a bunch of crap. The bill before this one was only $175 so I don't understand what's going on. Later on in the week my neighbor knocked on my door and asked me how much mybill was and he told me his was $700 and used 70,000 gallons of water. Something is really screwed up here on our street.

Of course this happened during the time I had a nitrate spike in my water and killed two of my fish, if anything they owe me money.

It dosent make sense..I don't get it!!!...You have promted me to ask my neighbors about their bills!

[Swedgin]

Free water and power for me as we live on the sheikh's land :)