reeffirstaid
Active Member
This is something I find clients concerned about often. No matter who you are, unless you are a multi-millionaire with endless resources, you have to budget your tank. Reef aquariums, like custom homes, sports cars, and yachts, can honestly cost as much as you're willing to spend. From a 12 gallon nano-tank, to a 250,000 gallon reef that you can scuba dive on, getting the most for each dollar, is important for many reef aquarists.
My advice to clients, don't skimp on what's important. A $ 300 fish or $ 150 coral isn't much good, if you can't provide it with the proper environment. Often, fish outlets and coral outlets are quick to encourage us to drop money on an exotic specimen, but truth be told, many beautiful marine fish or coral, can be bought for pretty cheap. If you know a lot of aquarists, keep your eyes and ears open, as a lot of coral and even nice fish, can be had for free.
1. Where not to skimp:
Protein Skimmers:
This is the backbone of your filtration. High end skimmers are designed to mix water and air with intensity, and can pull a lot of waste from your water. While the nice ones aren't cheap, they are one item an innovative DIY aquarists may find tough to create, without the proper tools and skill. When budgeting your tank, a good protein skimmer should be one area you're willing to spend money.
Lighting:
While there are good LED DIY fixtures out there, creating one is tough, and pairing it with a high tech controller is even tougher. Lighting is crucial for your reef to thrive, and not a place where you want to pinch pennies. Look more toward how effectively a light grows corals, and pay less attention to features like custom sunsets and sunrises. For many, a good quality T5 or halide fixture is a much better option, than the latest LED.
Let lighting and protein skimmer cost dictate the size of your tank, and what you plan to keep. If you are going to break your tank budget, buying a skimmer and lighting for a 100 gallon tank, consider cutting that in half, and shoot for a 50 gallon instead. You will be far better off with a smaller aquarium that is maintained with good equipment, then a large one with lots of cut corners. It used to be the mantra of marine aquariums, to buy the biggest tank you can afford. Today, nano methodologies and technologies turn that thinking on its head, and even new reefers can be very successful with small tanks.
Heating:
Water temp is important and cheap heaters can stick, raising your tank's temp and killing livestock. A good heater carries a cost, but is well worth it.
Additives:
You can save money by not buying additives you don't need, and trust me, there are many that produce little more than broken promises. The good ones though, are worth the extra dough, and adding grocery store or pharmacy products to your reef tank, can be quite risky.
2. Money savers
Sumps:
Yes, designer sumps with tinted acrylic and built in probe holders are nice. Chambered sumps that are artistic and stylish are great as well. They are also very expensive. A sump is simply a storage container for water, it doesn't have to be fancy. Cheap, simple plastic tubs can be had for under $ 20, and work just fine as sumps.
Filtration:
Having precision cut, high performance filtration, makes life as an aquarist a lot easier, though it too is expensive. Algae scrubbers and filter socks can easily be made. It's also amazing how easily a cheap HOB filter can be turned into a refugium or reactor. Also, there are many reactor manufacturers out there, offering high quality reactors at a fraction of the price, of those sold by high end brands.
Suspended lighting:
An hour in Lowe's or Home Depot can often yield a lighting suspension kit of better value and quality than those purchased from retailers.
Tank covers:
Custom fit acrylic, glass or mesh covers are nice, but totally un-necessary. For a couple bucks and some time, an aquarist can make their own that again, rivals what you buy from a retailer.
Pumps:
There are lots of pumps on the market. Some work well, others don't. You don't have to invest a lot to get a good quality pump. Do some research, as many brands are fairly cheap and will run perfect with little maintenance for a very long time. Also, network with fellow aquarists, as you can often get pumps for a cheap price used.
Cooling:
Chillers are a budget breaker, and often un-needed. Facilitating evaporation cools water, and can be accomplished with cheap fans. I've seen cheaply made aquarist rigs that worked far better than those sold for aquarium use. Most aquarium fans are simply retrofitted PC cooling fans, sold at a premium price and rusting out and breaking within a year.
Wave makers:
With some research and about $ 20 anyone can make a Carlson surge device, which is one of the most efficient ways to create waves in the aquarium.
As you can see, there are many ways to save in the reef tank hobby. When I was a kid, I made almost all my reef keeping equipment, mainly because reef keeping was so new, nothing was really available. It performed well, saved me tons of money and created a healthy marine ecosystem. A high speed internet connection and an ability to research are the most important tools for any reef aquarist.
There is a lot of hype in the hobby these days, as designer products pop up, offering cool and sleek ways to complete simple aquarium related tasks. Remember this, most of this stuff becomes encrusted in salt creep, barnacles and algae anyhow, so it would be tough to tell the difference between precision cut and Rubbermaid. Once you have your tank plan ready, and running, put your focus on finding a fairly priced, knowledgeable source of livestock. Remember, reef aquariums are a marathon, not a race and there is no shame in covering a few miles barefoot ...
My advice to clients, don't skimp on what's important. A $ 300 fish or $ 150 coral isn't much good, if you can't provide it with the proper environment. Often, fish outlets and coral outlets are quick to encourage us to drop money on an exotic specimen, but truth be told, many beautiful marine fish or coral, can be bought for pretty cheap. If you know a lot of aquarists, keep your eyes and ears open, as a lot of coral and even nice fish, can be had for free.
1. Where not to skimp:
Protein Skimmers:
This is the backbone of your filtration. High end skimmers are designed to mix water and air with intensity, and can pull a lot of waste from your water. While the nice ones aren't cheap, they are one item an innovative DIY aquarists may find tough to create, without the proper tools and skill. When budgeting your tank, a good protein skimmer should be one area you're willing to spend money.
Lighting:
While there are good LED DIY fixtures out there, creating one is tough, and pairing it with a high tech controller is even tougher. Lighting is crucial for your reef to thrive, and not a place where you want to pinch pennies. Look more toward how effectively a light grows corals, and pay less attention to features like custom sunsets and sunrises. For many, a good quality T5 or halide fixture is a much better option, than the latest LED.
Let lighting and protein skimmer cost dictate the size of your tank, and what you plan to keep. If you are going to break your tank budget, buying a skimmer and lighting for a 100 gallon tank, consider cutting that in half, and shoot for a 50 gallon instead. You will be far better off with a smaller aquarium that is maintained with good equipment, then a large one with lots of cut corners. It used to be the mantra of marine aquariums, to buy the biggest tank you can afford. Today, nano methodologies and technologies turn that thinking on its head, and even new reefers can be very successful with small tanks.
Heating:
Water temp is important and cheap heaters can stick, raising your tank's temp and killing livestock. A good heater carries a cost, but is well worth it.
Additives:
You can save money by not buying additives you don't need, and trust me, there are many that produce little more than broken promises. The good ones though, are worth the extra dough, and adding grocery store or pharmacy products to your reef tank, can be quite risky.
2. Money savers
Sumps:
Yes, designer sumps with tinted acrylic and built in probe holders are nice. Chambered sumps that are artistic and stylish are great as well. They are also very expensive. A sump is simply a storage container for water, it doesn't have to be fancy. Cheap, simple plastic tubs can be had for under $ 20, and work just fine as sumps.
Filtration:
Having precision cut, high performance filtration, makes life as an aquarist a lot easier, though it too is expensive. Algae scrubbers and filter socks can easily be made. It's also amazing how easily a cheap HOB filter can be turned into a refugium or reactor. Also, there are many reactor manufacturers out there, offering high quality reactors at a fraction of the price, of those sold by high end brands.
Suspended lighting:
An hour in Lowe's or Home Depot can often yield a lighting suspension kit of better value and quality than those purchased from retailers.
Tank covers:
Custom fit acrylic, glass or mesh covers are nice, but totally un-necessary. For a couple bucks and some time, an aquarist can make their own that again, rivals what you buy from a retailer.
Pumps:
There are lots of pumps on the market. Some work well, others don't. You don't have to invest a lot to get a good quality pump. Do some research, as many brands are fairly cheap and will run perfect with little maintenance for a very long time. Also, network with fellow aquarists, as you can often get pumps for a cheap price used.
Cooling:
Chillers are a budget breaker, and often un-needed. Facilitating evaporation cools water, and can be accomplished with cheap fans. I've seen cheaply made aquarist rigs that worked far better than those sold for aquarium use. Most aquarium fans are simply retrofitted PC cooling fans, sold at a premium price and rusting out and breaking within a year.
Wave makers:
With some research and about $ 20 anyone can make a Carlson surge device, which is one of the most efficient ways to create waves in the aquarium.
As you can see, there are many ways to save in the reef tank hobby. When I was a kid, I made almost all my reef keeping equipment, mainly because reef keeping was so new, nothing was really available. It performed well, saved me tons of money and created a healthy marine ecosystem. A high speed internet connection and an ability to research are the most important tools for any reef aquarist.
There is a lot of hype in the hobby these days, as designer products pop up, offering cool and sleek ways to complete simple aquarium related tasks. Remember this, most of this stuff becomes encrusted in salt creep, barnacles and algae anyhow, so it would be tough to tell the difference between precision cut and Rubbermaid. Once you have your tank plan ready, and running, put your focus on finding a fairly priced, knowledgeable source of livestock. Remember, reef aquariums are a marathon, not a race and there is no shame in covering a few miles barefoot ...
