After setting up a beginner salt water fish tank, new hobbyists may wonder how electricity they're going to use each month. There are many salt water aquarium fish accessories that must be plugged into the wall. There is an easy way to determine the monthly electricity costs from a salt water fishaquarium, though, with this simple formula: (Wattage) x (charge/kwh) x (hours/day) x 30 x .001 This formula may seem confusing to beginner salt water fish tank owners, but it is actually very easy to figure out.
The wattage of each salt water aquarium fish accessory should be printed on the item, and the charge/kwh can be found on your monthly electric bill. For most residential homes, it will be between .05 and .07. The hours/day is the length of time that the salt water fishaquarium is using electricity, which for most people is all the time. So, a salt water aquarium fish tank pump might use 4 watts and run 24 hours a day, which would use the following formula: 4 x .06 x 24 x 30 x .001 = .17 This formula determines that the salt water fishaquarium pump costs 17 cents per month.
The same formula can then be repeated for every item in a beginner salt water fish tank and added up, so aquarium owners can determine how much higher their electricity bills will be. This number varies, however, depending on the difference between room and aquarium temperatures, and larger aquariums will require more energy, but most tanks don't add more than a few dollars to the monthly electricity bill.
