Poll - What is your monthly reefing budget/cost?

[pugcrush]

This should be fun. Looking for honest answers. No wives/spouses are looking.

After going to a few of the big shows like RAP/MACNA, it makes me wonder what is everybody's monthly cost/budget for the hobby? Do people even budget? Hobbyists drop so much cash at these shows, you'd think they're buying a Honus Wagner baseball card (if you didn't know that one, I know I made you google it). OK, that is a bit of an exaggeration. I know some folks like to do the weekly LFS scout too. It's impossible to leave empty handed if you step into your favorite store(s). It all adds up.

So how much do you spend on average a month? What do you allow for livestock? How about hardware?

 

[shawy2510]

I buy drygoods whenever I need them but I would say on average I spend $450 monthly on corals.

 

[Toolmandan]

between salt/electricity/bulbs/food my 220 mix reef cost me around 150.

 

[PapaDragon]

Just so I'm clear, this is what I budget not what I spend? :bigsmile:

 

[Oscaror]

Lol a budget? What's that

 

[joss.gamble]

Err, whatever my wife allows me to spend?

 

[drdrouche471]

The budget on paper is 150.... I think I spend more like 400...

 

[macscale]

Budget, hahahahahahahaha. :biggrin1:
Well lets use my april as an example:
Corals: $100 (rather low)
Electricity: $37
New Equiptment: $130
Drygoods: $70
So this april: $337
Which is actually a pretty good total for me... Plus I was away for 2 weeks, so it kept the LFS out of reach! lol

 

[d2mini]

I honestly don't spend that much on coral. I see people spending gobs of money but I don't understand where it all goes. Not the money but the coral! Are you killing it all? Are you setting up a brand new tank?
I'm in it for the long haul and I'll pic up a new frag every now and then but I like watching my stuff grow and even my 200g display only has so much space. If I was to but it all now what's the fun in that?
I actually sell way more frags than I buy.
And I buy more equipment and supplies than I do coral and fish.

But to answer the OP, I really don't have a budget. I try not to spend much of our own money, and usually try to use frag money when I can.
Except for staples like salt, light bulbs, etc.

 

[4FordFamily]

Budget? What's that?

This month well over 500, most months it's probably 300-500 for me but that includes buying new stuff

 

[acolotto]

were is the "its never enough" option?

 

[acolotto]

I honestly don't spend that much on coral. I see people spending gobs of money but I don't understand where it all goes. Not the money but the coral! Are you killing it all? Are you setting up a brand new tank?
I'm in it for the long haul and I'll pic up a new frag every now and then but I like watching my stuff grow and even my 200g display only has so much space. If I was to but it all now what's the fun in that?
I actually sell way more frags than I buy.
And I buy more equipment and supplies than I do coral and fish.

But to answer the OP, I really don't have a budget. I try not to spend much of our own money, and usually try to use frag money when I can.
Except for staples like salt, light bulbs, etc.

as being a guy that buys this coral you speak of, its usually slow growing, usually loses color during shipping, and when you post pics of these corals like RR Wolverine, people start asking about price and if you can cut them frags IME, these are why i usually dont post pictures or threads on higher end corals.

As well some ppl dont like admitting how much they spend on a frag sometimes. So someone who spent $300 just on coral in a month might of only got one frag

 

[d2mini]

So someone who spent $300 just on coral in a month might of only got one frag

This is true.
I usually stay away from the high priced stuff unless i can get it cheap from a local reefer.

 

[AdamNC]

Without any extras and just maint, I'd say less then $50.00. I don't budget in new equipment or new corals. If I have a good bonus that month it could be up to $200.00.

 

[patrickreef]

I am at the point now where I only spend on corals what I make selling frags. Thankfully I have sold a lot of frags this year allowing me to buy over 70 new pieces this year. Hopefully at some point now I will be able to cover dry goods also. Probably spend $75 a month on dry goods.

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

I'm in highschool so my parents pay for electricity and water, but I probably spend like 40$ a month on equipment or stuff I need. Mostly all coral comes from frag swaps.

 

[Up2no6ood]

Less than 50 bucks in running cost on a 29 gallon biocube....can't tell you how much I spend on coral my wife trolls the forums.

 

[dbl]

No budget really...probably $50-$75 per month on utilities/food/media/maintenance. As far as corals, if I see something I like, I buy it, and tell my wife I traded something for it.

 

[TimSc2013]

$300 per month not including water and electrical

 

[Outlaw]

If by "budget" you mean "allowance", my wife says I can spend $100/mo (not incl power and water"). I almost made it a couple times too!