Reef Winterizing: Tweaking your tank to save money during the cold?

Do you have a plan to "winterize" your reef tank?

  • YES (tell us what in the thread)

    Votes: 27 9.7%
  • NO and I will not

    Votes: 195 69.9%
  • I will think about it now

    Votes: 49 17.6%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 8 2.9%

  • Total voters
    279

revhtree

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This thread by @zoa what inspired our QOTD today!

winter is coming GIF


So yes winter is coming and is already here for some of you and with that comes higher energy bills. Of course lights, pumps, heaters and all of our aquarium equipment add to the mounting increase is costs so what can we do about it? What do you do about it? Let's talk about it!

1. What are some things you can do to help bring down the cost of your aquarium during the cold months?

2. Do you have a plan in place to reduce cost or do you just absorb it and leave everything like it is?

reef winterizing.jpg
 

blaxsun

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1. Switch to DC devices. Even before they paid for the difference in a year - and now with the looming rate hikes, even faster.

2. I'm going to turn my protein skimmer and possibly one reactor off at night, ramp down my two pumps from 45% to 25% and look at possibly shortening my light schedule by 2 hours.

2a. I'm also toying with the idea of possibly lowering the temperature by 1-2 degrees and turning my UV off for 8 hours every night, but this means redoing all my temperature settings and alarms - and I consider the UV a mission critical component.

2b. Suggestions to reduce shower times at lower temperatures was met with "you don't have the same amount of hair", dimming the lights with "unlike you some of us aren't blind" and not putting up the Xmas lights this year with "you can sleep with your fishes then". Guess I'll be looking to cancel my Netflix subscription...
 
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OrchidMiss

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Already cheaper to run in the winter as the cooling fans don't need to run as much.;Happy
unless you're like me and have a wood burning stove in the same room as 2 of my 3 tanks....
 

Paulandreti

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1. Switch to DC devices. Even before they paid for the difference in a year - and now with the looming rate hikes, even faster.

2. I'm going to turn my protein skimmer and possibly one reactor off at night, ramp down my two pumps from 45% to 25% and look at possibly shortening my light schedule by 2 hours.
Is this to emulate winter behavior? I've never considered it, does it brings any benefits?

Just curious
 

blaxsun

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Is this to emulate winter behavior? I've never considered it, does it brings any benefits?

Just curious
Not necessarily, just that my Nyos skimmer is AC - so I save x number of watts times y hours. I slow the powerheads down at night anyway, and thought I might as well match this with the main return pumps. I don't want the water level affected too much, so I'll have to play around with the numbers a bit.
 

Ippyroy

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It gets 40 below here regularly and I don't see above freezing temps from November thru Mid March. I run an extra heater, and have extras on standby. I seal all of my windows and keep extra blankets and duck tape close to the tank. I also feel up plastic bottles with RODI to heat up. The power around here seldomly ever goes out thankfully. I only need 150 watt heater for my tank technically, but I run 200 - 250 watt heaters due to the extreme cold.
 

Coxey81

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1. Switch to DC devices. Even before they paid for the difference in a year - and now with the looming rate hikes, even faster.

2. I'm going to turn my protein skimmer and possibly one reactor off at night, ramp down my two pumps from 45% to 25% and look at possibly shortening my light schedule by 2 hours.

2a. I'm also toying with the idea of possibly lowering the temperature by 1-2 degrees and turning my UV off for 8 hours every night, but this means redoing all my temperature settings and alarms - and I consider the UV a mission critical component.

2b. Suggestions to reduce shower times at lower temperatures was met with "you don't have the same amount of hair", dimming the lights with "unlike you some of us aren't blind" and not putting up the Xmas lights this year with "you can sleep with your fishes then". Guess I'll be looking to cancel my Netflix subscription...
Splash of antifreeze per gallon should do it.
 

cocoReefer

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I actually run my tank a degree cooler in the spring/summer as a “just in case” buffer, and then turn it back up in the fall/winter.
Similar with my lighting schedule. If its real hot i will lower the on time, and in cold i will run them 12 hours or more. My tank is happier (warmer and better lit) in the cold months. My electric company is happier too
 

Casket_Case

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I downed costs by getting rid of it uwu

nah but I did used to turn the heat up two or three degrees just to keep it warmer and less likely to get chilly
 

vetteguy53081

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As a person who thrives on stability, I tweak nothing
 
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