fish running cost

Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2009
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3,626
my housemate has a fish tank probably measures 500x300x300 which he has a heater running constantly and a light and pump running for maybe 6-12 hours a day

are these efficient or gobbling up energy like it's going out of fashion?
 
Find out the wattages and do some simple maths. Overall though, a fluorescent lamp is a few pence a day, a heater is around 30 to 50 watts (so less than a small normal light bulb) and a pump again only a few watts. Your PC uses more. ;)
 
the heaters really are pretty good in my experience. In practice they are not on very much as the ambient temp in most houses is not that far below what most tanks need, so the heaters just top up and don't use a lot of juice anyway.

Tight ass.;)
 
i'm not being tight about it but i don't see the need to leave the light on when there's no one in the house

is this some sort of philosiphical extrapolation of whether a tree falling in a forest makes no sound if unobserved - does a fish exist, needing light, heat and a normal day and night cycle when you are not in the house? Interesting existentialist play on a seemingly mundane problem, but I think the answer is yes it does and stop being so tight.
 
The most important thing with fish is they require a lot to drink. :p

Freshwater fish actually drink very little :P As their bodies salt levels are more concentrated than that of the surrounding water then the water will constantly pass into their bodies via osmosis. Fresh water fish pee a lot though!

Sea water fish on the other hand drink a lot as the salt water is more concentrated than their bodies so they are constantly loosing water :p
 
how am i begrudging them their pet fish?

Well, I'm assuming that you're moaning about their tank could be bumping up your average split of the leccy bill by a few mere pennies and you'd rather they didn't have it so costs stayed down.

You've come here looking for a rough guide/sum for some sort of proof to wave it in their face.

I could be wrong, you could be just curious but thats the way it's come across in your posts.
 
It will just mess them up if you never have the light on apart from when people are there.
That'd be an awesome day/night cycle... *cough*

When we were on one of the top up meters, I didn't notice any real difference per day before&after setting up tank. The cost is negligible, but you could get your housemate to give you a few pence each day if it makes you feel better. :p
 
Well, I'm assuming that you're moaning about their tank could be bumping up your average split of the leccy bill by a few mere pennies and you'd rather they didn't have it so costs stayed down.

You've come here looking for a rough guide/sum for some sort of proof to wave it in their face.

I could be wrong, you could be just curious but thats the way it's come across in your posts.

i haven't come to gather proof at all, i wanted to know. if it turned out it was costing £1 a day to run then i would've had to tell him but as it's only a matter of pence (as you are saying on here) it's not an issue, other than an environmental one which is why i wont be leaving the light on in the day
 
Yup, the light is not for the person looking in but the fish and plants in the tank...

See how you like it if you can only have lights on in the house when your housemate is home!:rolleyes:
 
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