How much of electric power draw can one expect?

Geo007 · Dec 28, 2022

I know this is a very debatable topic, so let me narrow the parameters a bit. I'm still saving up to get into saltwater aquariums, so I'm asking...

What I would like to know is how much power will all of this draw?

I want to get a 20-30 gal saltwater aquarium, and not an AIO, and I'll try to get it setup with:

Obviously saltwater
Live sand
Live rock
6-8 fish and 2 cleaner shrimp
A few SPS and Soft Corals
Canister filter
HOB Protein Skimmer
Flow pumps
Lights for the corals

No sump, at least at first. If I missed something important, help me out please.

I live in a retirement community apartment complex and I'm limited to what I can have in the way of electricity.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Dec 28, 2022

Once you decide on the equipment you want to use, you can look on the manufacturer pages to find how many watts they use and calculate from there.

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Dec 28, 2022

As a comment on your coral and fish selection, it can be difficult to meet the requirements for both soft corals and SPS in a smaller tank, and 6 fish in a 20 gallon might be pushing it depending on the specific types.

JDCagley · Dec 28, 2022

My tank is much bigger than yours, but I measure and trend all useage. My daily average is 7kWh. When it is super cold, I might jump to 11-14 kWh. The monthly totals come in ~385 kWh - 450 kWh (here I pay $0.09 per kWh = < $41 / month). Tank is total 200g with LED lighting and mostly DC pumps. All devices are amp/voltage monitored giving me real Wattage totals.

damsels are not mean · Dec 28, 2022

If you want to limit your wattage, go with LED lights, drop the skimmer and canister filter and opt for a very low wattage heater with no temperature control so it's just always on. In a heated home this is sufficient to raise the temp by a few degrees above room temp. Might be worth having a bigger heater for emergencies. IMO your best bet would be an AIO tank like a biocube or something. There is a filtration basket in the back and it comes with 2 circulation pumps. Add a little jebao and you should be able to grow pretty much anything.

OfficeReefer · Dec 28, 2022

Geo007 said:
I know this is a very debatable topic, so let me narrow the parameters a bit. I'm still saving up to get into saltwater aquariums, so I'm asking...

What I would like to know is how much power will all of this draw?

I want to get a 20-30 gal saltwater aquarium, and not an AIO, and I'll try to get it setup with:

Obviously saltwater

Live sand

Live rock

6-8 fish and 2 cleaner shrimp

A few SPS and Soft Corals

Canister filter

HOB Protein Skimmer

Flow pumps

Lights for the corals

No sump, at least at first. If I missed something important, help me out please.

I live in a retirement community apartment complex and I'm limited to what I can have in the way of electricity.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

@Geo007 This is somewhat a relative answer depending on what you buy but I'll try to share some numbers below. I doubt you will use more than 200W total in most cases.

Obviously saltwater (this can make power, is conductive but doesn't draw power that I know of)
Live sand (It's live but not with electricity)
Live rock (same as before)
6-8 fish and 2 cleaner shrimp (These require power, because one must heat or cool/chill them, 50-100w)
A few SPS and Soft Corals (These require lighting and flow, but water changes and/or dosing is the cost)
Canister filter (Nothing unless you have a pump attached, probably 25W)
HOB Protein Skimmer (20-40W)
Flow pumps (These are less than you think, 3-7W on my ReefWave25)
Lights for the corals (2nd only to heater, 50-90W)

Geo007 · Dec 28, 2022

OfficeReefer said:
@Geo007 This is somewhat a relative answer depending on what you buy but I'll try to share some numbers below. I doubt you will use more than 200W total in most cases.

Obviously saltwater (this can make power, is conductive but doesn't draw power that I know of)

Live sand (It's live but not with electricity)

Live rock (same as before)

6-8 fish and 2 cleaner shrimp (These require power, because one must heat or cool/chill them, 50-100w)

A few SPS and Soft Corals (These require lighting and flow, but water changes and/or dosing is the cost)

Canister filter (Nothing unless you have a pump attached, probably 25W)

HOB Protein Skimmer (20-40W)

Flow pumps (These are less than you think, 3-7W on my ReefWave25)

Lights for the corals (2nd only to heater, 50-90W)

Thank you OfficeReefer! This is somewhat what I was looking for. But you made me think of some more. Not the actual $$ cost of the saltwater mix, live sand and rock, the fishes and whatever else makes up my tank. But the electricity used to use all of it effectively.

An in-tank pump, as well as flow pumps (not a canister filter)
Mixing of the saltwater mix (probably another in-tank pump)
Heater (which I forgot)
RODI unit
LED lights for the corals
HOB Protein Skimmer
Air pump? (are they useful in a Saltwater Aquarium?)

If your guesstimate was ~200W, if I were to double that figure (~400W) then I would most likely be safe as far as my power draw goes. I have two desktop computers that draw about 1500W, so I am guessing that this would be okay.

Geo007 · Dec 28, 2022

And thanks to all of you for helping me get an idea of my Reef Tank-to-be's electrical power draw.

o2manyfish · Dec 28, 2022

For that size tank you can easily run it off a single outlet. Your power usage isn't going to be that high. Your biggest consumption is going to be your heater. All the other pieces of equipment are pretty low wattage. Depending on the size of the LED light you choose consumption will vary a little. But for this size tank you should be able to run it all off a power strip.

Dave B