All Told...counting everything you ever bought for Reefing....how much do you estimate you've spent?

[PYRU]

About $500. I love my wife

 

[Foothill Corals]

I'm guessing anyone who said less than $5000 are either very new or have not been honest with them selves (or spouses)

 

[Dan Watson]

my 65g complete pro2 4xT4 with food and fish $350(2 years) -bought complete setup for $200
My 12g was about $75 all said and done (6 months)
54g cost me about $600 said and done (used radion and new eheim pro4)

my current 75g is up and running for 6 months now, contains all the corals from above tanks and sold about $400 worth of coral. id say its just above breaking even with this tank so far. and i still have stuff for sale. and still own all the above systems, havent sold em.
(oceanic 75g display, 55g custom sump $60, free skimmer, reused heaters, has both pro2 and pro4 eheims also running on it, $100 of small frags, $200 hygger heater and loop circ pump, Free MP40, bucket of red sea salt $80, 2 part $40, A+B free, $40 food)

 

[EmptyWallet]

I have tracked every cent, moreso for educational purposes (where is it all going).

You would be amazed how much goes on electricity, food (flake/frozen) and consumables. Test kits are a silent killer and quaranteen - OMG, quaranteen - from tanks to meds, to second sets of everything...

The Main DT itself, equipment and livestock is less than half the total cost 18 months in.

But life is about passion, money far better spent on reefing than renovations/cars/travel etc. for me. Car people spend a tonne on cars, some people travel, some spend $100k on a kitchen, whatever floats your boat (stretched pun intended)

 

[vetteguy53081]

I know well over $20,000 but I have done this over time, not in one year. The new tank is probably at about $12,000 so far but it shows

 

[AdamNC]

My latest build on a 40br, I’m over 3k so far. I think my last build was about 3k on a 29 gallon setup.

 

[ZoWhat]

The two ppl who voted $500k+..... we sure would like to see pics of your DT

 

[HunterW]

About $500. I love my wife

Smart!

 

[HunterW]

Lifetime so far; with the exception of the latest tank purchases? ......about 28K easily, and including yrs before 'reefing'. Setting a budget on newbie tanks. $3500 period.No husband to report to so .

 

[saltyhog]

So glad my wife doesn't know about this site! We have a running joke about corals and fish....they all cost "about $20". LOL

 

[KrisReef]

I don’t need to estimate. I know exactly that I have spent $13,244 since 2012. I track everything

Me too, exactly the same number. Isn't that amazing

Actually, I would estimate spending 1k/year x 35 years for personal reef stuff, and if you add in the money I spent managing and buying for a fish store I'm guessing $250K or more. My tank doesn't look like it at all, so I guess I didn't spend enough. We also raised 3 kids, spent a few vacations collecting coral, and bought some real estate but that money was all wasted.

 

[Evan28395950]

For my 24gal nano, being up for more than a year, I would say maybe 2.5-3k

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

All Told...counting everything you ever bought for Reefing....how much do you estimate you've spent?

I have it setup as a business, so losses are a write off. But still I've only been back 10/2017
And all I'll say it's in the very high $1000's. No return on investment yet, maybe 5-10 years?
Still been worth every cent. Wish I'd returned alot sooner. Bummer

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Um...it was like 25 on sale...

Was that like Lay-A-Way sale or sale sale?

 

[Katrina71]

Was that like Lay-A-Way sale or sale sale?

No comment.

 

[DibsOnMcRibs]

I went on a road trip to visit @YourReef yesterday. So please add $350 to my tab

 

[Sailfinguy21]

I added this up the other day. Between dead fish corals and evrrything ive bought.. its been a little over 7,000$.

And my tank is simple.. no sump no skimmer.. no big fancy equipment.. the main price tag was going from a 27g hex to a 55g hex to my 135g in 3 months and the 30g and 20g thats setup too.. buying 150 lbs of dead rock.. 160 lbs of sand.

All my corals i have like 53 of them now.. most were like 30-60$ ive lost maybe 6 of em by my mistakes.

Another big one was fish.. i lost 1400$ in fish to ich.velvet . Before i wised up and did hypo and copper

Im also counting the 600$ in fish someone gave me

My t5 lights and fixtures... fikters.. power heads.. i dont know how much in sslt and water or electricity ive used..


But yea ive spent 7,000$ and thats in only 9 months.. i started reefing in nov last year. But ive been in fresh water for over 15 years

 

[Sailfinguy21]

In the classic car world. They tell you to take that number and times it by 3 to get the real number. This is true with reef tanks too.
Oh house remodeling too. Lol.

Interesting i own a classic.. but i know how much ive spent by heart ... just like i know how much every 53 coral bag of sand rock light ive spent on my tank.

So i dknt believe that times 3 saying unless you have bad memory.

 

[Ike]

Interesting i own a classic.. but i know how much ive spent by heart ... just like i know how much every 53 coral bag of sand rock light ive spent on my tank.

So i dknt believe that times 3 saying unless you have bad memory.

I get the sense that you might not be a lot of fun at parties I also get the sense that you have a better retirement savings than I do...

 

[SaleenCB]

Depends on who I am answering this question for...if it’s explaining to my wife then everything is always at least 1/2 off, BOGO, or of course the occasional contest win...lol