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Showing posts from November, 2008

The Credit Crunch and energy savings

Sorry! couldn't help it. The credit crunch! How could i avoid it. Having the great love and commitment to this hobby, finances are starting to bite. The main reason for this post is to raise the awareness of how much the utility bills are, and with the cost of keeping a reef . I am aiming to offset my reef running costs by making a few changes in the home. I have already changed the normal fitting light bulbs in the house to energy saving bulbs, benefits of this reduces a normal 40 watt bulb to a measly 11 watts. Having a young child who likes the light on when he goes to bed for approximately 2 to 3 hours a night in winter months gives effectively 4 nights of lighting with a energy saving light bulb, to what would have been 1 night of lighting. A Great Saving! These bulbs can be purchased very cheaply now! I got 3 branded bulbs from the local supermarket for £1.00. My home as a number of down lighters approximately 20, these are rated at 50 watts each. These definitely are

My next step

If you have seen my pictures of my reef aquarium you may notice it looks "in my opinion" a little daft where the skimmer sump and power head are. Not only that, but the pump running the skimmer is hanging on the side of my tank literally by the flexible feed and return hose. This has annoyed me for some time, So i plan on replacing the flex hose with rigid piping and mounting the pump in the cabinet out of site. I am having a few issues of knowing how to, and what size connectors to attach to my TMC 600 skimmer, the bore of pipe, and how to connect to my Aquamedic 2500 pump. I have asked this question on forums without a proper answer so i think i will have to talk to a supplier and only when i know, place the order. Update I have started with a little progress on this project. I found a great supplier of marine supplies particular hose, pipes, and fittings, and in my opinion competitively priced. i have ordered from a supplier called coral culture . There website even