Very new to saltwater....

[mrnish]

Hey everyone...I'm new to saltwater, but not new to aquariums....I have a 55gal. freshwater with a Jack Dempsey, Convict and Firemouth. I have a 10gal. that I would like to make into a lil' saltwater tank. So now I'm just reading as much as I can so I can do everything right the first time!....Hopefully I can get awesome opinions and advice!!

 

[Bifferwine]

Hello and welcome to the site! Glad to have you.

 

[BL1]

Welcome to the hobby and the site!

 

[dcantucson]

We are full of opinions here at Living Reefs! :lol:

Welcome to the site. :wave:

 

[yote]

Welcome aboard.

 

[OhNoNemo]

Hi and welcome....my first thought would be to turn that 55 into the saltwater:Cheers:...

 

[mrnish]

Hi and welcome....my first thought would be to turn that 55 into the saltwater:Cheers:...

That's what I thought too, but my neighbor has a 40 gal. and he says he pays up the you-know-what in electricity. If my bill goes up like 10-20 bucks I can live with that, but my neighbor says he pays like 100 bucks a month

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you.

 

[Bifferwine]

That's what I thought too, but my neighbor has a 40 gal. and he says he pays up the you-know-what in electricity. If my bill goes up like 10-20 bucks I can live with that, but my neighbor says he pays like 100 bucks a month

Hmmm that doesn't sound right at all. A 40 gallon shouldn't be that expensive to run. I think your neighbor is exaggerating significantly!

You can calculate out how much your electric bill will go up. Just find out the wattage of all the equipment, convert them to kilowatts, multiply by how many hours the equipment will be running, add them together, then multiply by however much your electric company charges per kilowatt hour.

A small tank like that shouldn't really have a noticeable effect on electricity consumption.

Here is a calculation I just did for someone else in another thread, for lighting a 220 gallon tank. It came out to be around $30/month for a 220 gallon:

Lemme see about that electric bill...

My electric rate is 11.3 cents per kilowatt hour.
3 x 250 watts + 6 x 65 watts = 1,140 watts = 1.14 kw per hour
1.14 kw x 9 hours = 10.26 kw hours
10.26 kw hours x 11.3 cents = $1.16 per day

95 cents a day in an area with cheaper electricity sounds about right. You will have to look at your own electric bill to see what your rates are, though.

 

[mrnish]

You just made my day Bifferwine...I just posted a new thread that I'm going to convert my freshwater. Electricity cost was one of my main concerns....I'm going to need everyones help cuz this is going to be a long process

 

[reeffreak]

Welcome to the site and to your first foray into saltwater.