[A Hill]

well to make this short and sweet when i first started getting into planted tanks i got the 10g that was empty in the basement and set it up.. now my 55g is up and running and is using quite a bit of power... (my family's power usage went up 25%) so they want me to get rid of the 10g. i always wanted to do shrimp... so i was wondering if i could pull it off with no heater or filter... and no light specific for the tank since it would be kept off except for then i want to look at it....

the ambient room temp in the winter in my house is 67*F will it work? maybe ill get a few of the wood shrimp to use to filter it... ect ect... ive been planning on making it a shrimp only tank but now my parrents want only one tank :icon_roll

so my question is how low do the shrimp go!

(i got this idea from the people talking about their office tanks LOL)

-=- fish newb -=-

 

[TAF CAF]

Hummm... not sure about the low temps, but I do know that your wood shrimp would probably die off pretty quick. They need areas of good water flow to filter stuff out of the water. I do however just run mine with a heater and a bubbler (to create good flow) and light from a morning window.

 

[Wasserpest]

now my 55g is up and running and is using quite a bit of power... (my family's power usage went up 25%) so they want me to get rid of the 10g. i always wanted to do shrimp... so i was wondering if i could pull it off with no heater or filter... and no light specific for the tank since it would be kept off except for then i want to look at it....

the ambient room temp in the winter in my house is 67*F will it work?

Just thinking about your reasoning...

You said your power usage went up 25%... Either your family doesn't use much power or your 55W is uhm, very powerful...

In any case... for a 10 gal you need light (20W), a HOB for ex (6W) and a heater (25W). That's about 50W. Now the light and the heater are only on for say 50% of the time. So on average, the tank consumes say 30W. Times 24 hrs, times 365 days, gets you to 263 kWh/year. With me so far? Say a kWh costs $0.12, that means to run your 10 gal tank would cost you $32 per year, or $2.63 per month. You decide if this is a big deal or not.

 

[tekknoschtev]

I agree with wasserpest - either your family doesnt use much on electricity or yoru tank is hogging the power (or, something else has increased the power useage like the furnace fan running more during winter or something to that effect).

At any rate, wasserpest gave a good run down as to how expensive a 10gal tank would be to run normally. If you're family consumes a fair bit of electricity and your 55 still made the power jump that much alone, then I'd look into what equipment you have running on it.

 

[TAF CAF]

I would also think it is more the winter weather that is doing it. Really, I would suggest that you look up lots of info on how to reduce the usage of your house in general. Like replacing the regular incandesent bulbs with little mini-flourecents. They put out more light for using MUCH less electricity. That way you can outfit your tank like you would like and just point out how much electricity your family is saving by doing all the little things you did to improve your whole house savings.

 

[Rebgen]

In addition to all of the terrific advice in the previous posts concerning power consumption, here's some on the cherries.

Your cherry shrimp will survive very well in 67F water. I have my 20 gal. tank set at 70F and they are doing fine. The one thing you might trade off with a lower water temp is lower or no reproduction levels. I've read that they should be in 70F temps or above to reproduce consistantly. I remember reading Lotus posting that she tossed some cherries into her patio pond and they were surviving just fine in 50F water.

The bottom line is that I doubt you are spending anywhere close to the amount of dollars you think you are to power your tanks. I don't think it has to be an either or choice. Good luck either way.

 

[hedge_fund]

Two things:

1. There is no way that your power consumption went up by 25% from those two tanks alone. For example, when I bought a refrigerator for my dorm room the sticker said that the total power consumption was $35 a year and the thing runs 24/7. Yep, and that's a refrigerator. Life is too short to worry about the little things.....I'm 23 right now and if I live one more time what I lived, I will be an old man at a whopping 46!! Live as if it were your last day and don't worry about the miniscule things. :thumbsup:

2. Cherries can definitely last in cold water. The other day we had somewhat of a heatwave in New Jersey where it was in the 50s and 60s. Anyway, I took 5 Cherries and stuck them outside on my window sill in a one gallon container to see how hardy they are. Brought them in after a day and they were going about their business as if nothing has happened. Needless to say, my shrimp tank hovers around 67 degrees right now with no heater because I am breeding Bumblebee shrimp which require the cold water. I have over 200 Cherries in that same cold tank and they are breeding like rabbits.

 

[A Hill]

2. Cherries can definitely last in cold water. The other day we had somewhat of a heatwave in New Jersey where it was in the 50s and 60s. Anyway, I took 5 Cherries and stuck them outside on my window sill in a one gallon container to see how hardy they are. Brought them in after a day and they were going about their business as if nothing has happened. Needless to say, my shrimp tank hovers around 67 degrees right now with no heater because I am breeding Bumblebee shrimp which require the cold water. I have over 200 Cherries in that same cold tank and they are breeding like rabbits.

thats good news... im not sure about the power thing exactly but thats what i was told lol.... i dont really have a choice over that i think it might be that my parents:icon_evil want me to take the tank down so its a little more of a reason... ill have to see about it:icon_roll

also with the wood shrimp i didnt think about that thanks!

also i was wondering... what do you guys keep your tanks at? i keep my 55 at around 75 and when the lights start to heat it up it gets to 76.6-77 i have 4 foot long lights over my tank atm im having trouble with GW so i have it half off so i have 2 4footers on.

thanks for all the ideas!

-=- fish newb -=-

 

[A Hill]

Just thinking about your reasoning...

You said your power usage went up 25%... Either your family doesn't use much power or your 55W is uhm, very powerful...

In any case... for a 10 gal you need light (20W), a HOB for ex (6W) and a heater (25W). That's about 50W. Now the light and the heater are only on for say 50% of the time. So on average, the tank consumes say 30W. Times 24 hrs, times 365 days, gets you to 263 kWh/year. With me so far? Say a kWh costs $0.12, that means to run your 10 gal tank would cost you $32 per year, or $2.63 per month. You decide if this is a big deal or not.

thanks! thats lots of good info... and well my tank makes my room glow and you can see it from outside once and awhile lol....:icon_roll

 

[Betowess]

You might want to check and see if the "rates" went up as opposed to the kilowatts too. Is somebody leaving lights on in the house, computer monitors on etc?

 

[jasonh]

Simple answer: parents like to exaggerate things. a LOT.

 

[bastalker]

well to make this short and sweet when i first started getting into planted tanks i got the 10g that was empty in the basement and set it up.. now my 55g is up and running and is using quite a bit of power... (my family's power usage went up 25%) so they want me to get rid of the 10g. i always wanted to do shrimp... so i was wondering if i could pull it off with no heater or filter... and no light specific for the tank since it would be kept off except for then i want to look at it....

Well just give yer parents $30 or $40 a month an do what ya want with the tanks!!

 

[bastalker]

You could up the chore list!! If money is not an option!

 

[dschmeh]

maybe the bill was a estimated and not a actual reading!!!!!