▷ Electricity and electricity costs of an aquarium | All info

What you should know about electricity in the aquarium Owning your own aquarium is the dream of many animal lovers. In order to offer the fish living in it an optimal habitat, many factors must be taken into account. This includes, among other things, ensuring that the animals have optimal water quality. To achieve the goal you will need a few electrical devices. There are a few things to keep in mind. Because of the water in the area there is a great potential for danger. In this text you can find out what the difficulties are when installing technical devices, which devices are required and how high the power consumption is.

For which devices do you need electricity in the aquarium?

There are three essential power consumers in the environment of an aquarium. In addition to the heater, which heats the water to the desired temperature, the lighting and the filter pump are also included. The heater is the consumer that needs the most energy. About 60 percent of the electricity consumption in an aquarium is caused by heating. The second largest consumer is lighting (35 percent). The consumption share of the filter is quite small at five percent. It does not matter whether it is an internal filter or an external filter. The numbers show that heating and lighting in particular have a high savings potential that you should use. One way to save on lighting is, for example, to switch to energy-saving LEDs

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What influences the electricity costs in the aquarium?

The annual electricity costs for operating an aquarium cannot be easily estimated. They depend on various factors. The first thing to mention is the size of the aquarium. The more water it contains, the more work the internal filter has to do. The rule is that the volume of water in the aquarium should pass through the filter twice an hour. As a calculation, it is advisable to multiply the amount of water by the number 2 (represents the number of runs). A throughput of 400 liters per hour is achieved for a 200 liter tank. The filter pump should at least provide this performance.

However, it is not enough to rely solely on the information provided by the manufacturer. They are measured under ideal-typical conditions. These operations are not found in reality. The flow rate is reduced by the filter material. A tolerance of 20 to 30 percent should be allowed for. For the 200 liter aquarium mentioned, the filter capacity should be 280 to 320 liters per hour. Logically, the required filter performance and energy consumption increases with a larger volume of the tank.

The same applies to the heating. In order to heat the water in a large aquarium, it has to be more powerful than in a smaller tank. The fish species that live in the aquarium have a significant influence on the required water temperature. Native fish such as the goldfish or the veiltail need a water temperature of 17 degrees Celsius to feel comfortable. Fish from tropical waters feel comfortable at a water temperature of 24 to 26 degrees Celsius. For fish species that love warmth, the required water temperature is even over 30 degrees Celsius. This requires intensive heating of the water. The necessary heating energy can be reduced by a strategically chosen installation location of the aquarium. Heating cannot be avoided completely.

What are the electricity costs in an aquarium?

Bru-nO / Pixabay

Since no general statement can be made, a sample calculation should be made at this point. An aquarium with a capacity of 200 liters is assumed. If the temperature is to be kept permanently at 20 degrees Celsius, the annual power consumption is 300 kWh. If a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius is aimed for, the consumption is around 500 kWh. At 28 degrees Celsius, the power requirement is 600 kWh.

At an average price of 29 cents per kWh, the costs for heating are 87 euros, 145 euros and 174 euros. When calculating the total costs, the above assumption about the distribution of the energy requirement helps. Heating costs account for 60 percent of electricity consumption. This results in annual electricity costs for operating the aquarium of 145 euros, 242 euros or 290 euros.

The energy costs for lighting can be kept low by using modern LED lamps. They are expensive to buy, but have a decisive advantage. They emit the light at a narrow angle. It’s easy to explain what that means: A conventional fluorescent tube emits the light at a 360-degree angle. It is not only thrown down into the aquarium, but also up and to the side. However, it is not required there. Only about 40 percent of the light from a fluorescent tube serves its intended purpose. Although efficiency can be increased with reflectors, fluorescent tubes remain an unsatisfactory light source overall.

How powerful the lighting must be depends largely on the plant density in the aquarium. The denser the vegetation, the brighter the lamps have to be. The brightness they can achieve is measured in lumens. In the case of the 200 liter aquarium mentioned (dimensions: 100 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm), a medium light requirement of the plants is assumed. To ensure this, the lamps must be able to generate a total of 6000 lumens. It depends on the efficiency of the lamps, how high the power consumption is to achieve this brightness.

What seals should you look out for?

So-called residual current circuit breakers, also called FI circuit breakers, are essential in places where water and electricity can come into contact. This situation is given in the bathroom and in the vicinity of an aquarium. The circuit breakers trip easily, quickly shutting down the monitored circuit if a fault occurs. A socket can be secured by mobile or permanently installed circuit breakers. Retrofitting them is not a big challenge. This protection is not provided by a conventional fuse.

You should also make sure that you only install technical equipment in the aquarium environment that bears a CE seal. They thus meet the requirements applicable in the EU. If an electrical device bears additional seals, for example from the TÜV, this is a quality feature that customers can also pay attention to.

Does overvoltage protection make sense in the aquarium?

If a house doesn’t have an external surge protector, it definitely makes sense to add one to the aquarium. But there are also multiple sockets to which all consumers can be plugged. The overvoltage protection integrated in it protects the heating, the lighting and the filter pump from a lightning strike. These are absolutely necessary to give the fish an environment worth living in. Because you have taken an important step to prevent the failure of the devices.

Examples of aquarium power consumption

Various aquariums

Aquarium with 136 liters (85 x 40 x 40 cm) insulated and well covered with 2 centimeter thick Styrofoam on the side windows and the back

110 liter aquarium

Conclusion: You should pay attention to this

Before you worry about power consumption, the first step should be to ensure the necessary security. After all, electricity and water are a delicate combination that requires precautions to be taken to avoid serious incidents.

If safety is guaranteed, the aquarium can be set up for the fish. A decision has to be made here. Housing exotic fish comes at a higher cost due to the high water temperature that the fish require. The larger the aquarium, the greater the cost of the energy required. If the aquarium has a capacity of 200 liters, it makes a difference of around 150 euros per year whether you permanently heat the water to 25 degrees Celsius or 28 degrees Celsius.

Reading and web tips about electricity costs in the aquarium:

– Aqua-Tipps

– Energy consumption in aquariums (PDF) – Verbraucherzentrale RLP