Has the hobby gotten too expensive and how does it compare to the past?

[Forsaken77]

1998 RO/DI - 199.99
2018 RO/DI - 350

Are you kidding me?

https://www.marineandreef.com/Aquat...MItcecze-G2gIVCLjACh1ldgXTEAQYASABEgIYC_D_BwE

I know plenty of people that us the new Aquaticlife RO/DI which is 129.99 and they love it.

It is easier to use than other units on the market too.

Why on earth would you pay 350 for and ro/di unit?

Just an fyi... He was comparing what was the best, or great quality, of that time to the equivalent great quality of now. The Aquatic Life RODI is the cheapest unit available and far from a top of the line.

But also back then there was no DI stage, at least the fish store I worked at. It was just RO. So being he was comparing what he considered the best, we could as easily say a Spectrapure RODI unit costs $1,000, which is a significant markup, but much better unit.

 

[Forsaken77]

Prices maybe more (In General) now than 1998 if you are buying brand new at your LFS.

With Craigslist and Facebook and other reefing sites today people get out of the hobby and sell tanks super cheap.

I see them like 10 to 20 cents on the dollar.

So if you are that concerned about money buy used.

It will be a Fraction of the Price of 2018 or 1998 Prices.

This was not the case in 1988.

There are alot more options today too.

We are waaaaay better off now than we were back then,

I really hate when people write stuff like this it is always Doom and Gloom.

This Hobby is so Expensive, Blah, Blah, Blah.

All this type of talk does is scare new people away from getting into the Hobby.

People need to start talking about how much easier it is to Reef Nowadays due to Advancements in Technology and Better Knowledge of Reefing as a Whole.

Rather than complain about high prices.

This does a great disservice to the Hobby and Needs to Stop.

Seems like I am the only one that thinks about the future and stuff like that unfortunatley

Lets focus on getting more people into than hobby instead of scarring them away people.

Don't you think more people would get into the hobby if prices weren't such a prohibiting factor though? Sure you can buy used... I did it once and it was my first and last time. Someone else's headache became my nightmare.

Yes, we have a lot more available to us now. But that's also part of the problem to newcomers. Do you know how many skimmer brands and models there are? It's a daunting choice to even advanced hobbyists.

Then like someone else said, you can buy the very same products from a different industry (I believe a hydroponics chiller vs an aquarium chiller- same model- was the example), and just because it's for the aquarium industry the price is much more even though it was the same unit.

I agree, more people in the hobby would be a better thing. But there's no doubt that reefers are being gauged.

Rolling over and hopping on the bandwagon isn't the way to broaden the hobby to more people. That's just going to push more away. The only way things change is if people don't accept the status quo.

 

[vikinglord13]

Investing/financial planning rule of thumb, with inflation of 3% purchasing power reduces by half every 24 years, meaning prices double every 24 years.

 

[danreefman]

Stuff is more efficint now. But since since supply and demand are high people like Ford and Neptune are getting rich. Just pumping out throw a ways.

This is a very greedy time to live. I can't find a single solid employee to come to work with the mindset of, I'm going to do the most beautiful longest lasting work you'll ever see. Nope!! Everybody wants 100 per hour to sit on there phone. And when it comes to work (construction on high end homes). I say redo, employees say it's okay. I say exactly, if your fine with ok? Here's your check there is the door.

I see a lot of generals charging more than ever. And than throwing a bunch of goons in and collecting checks while they are on vacation.

I'd rather wear my body out and do it all myself, and be known as the best. Than again I'm a Christ fearing man (not perfect by any means). Therefore I work as if I'm building for God.

Needless to say, it's a five year life on product society. If your lucky. I figure buy new pumps and heaters and such every three years and install before they malfunction. So in that case along with at least 50% higher prices it's pricey.

I also feel that this hobby is something you do when you have money to spare. When cost of stuff is not a worry. I hate coming on a site of a champagne hobby and seeing all the complaining about price. Maybe if this hobby has you cring cause of price? You probably need a new hobby.

 

[psychobilly07]

Definitely much more expensive these days but we as hobbyists are to blame. As long as people are willing to pay these outlandish prices the costs will continue to rise.

 

[Flexin]

A fun read and fun article! Thank you!

 

[that Reef Guy]

Just an fyi... He was comparing what was the best, or great quality, of that time to the equivalent great quality of now. The Aquatic Life RODI is the cheapest unit available and far from a top of the line.

But also back then there was no DI stage, at least the fish store I worked at. It was just RO. So being he was comparing what he considered the best, we could as easily say a Spectrapure RODI unit costs $1,000, which is a significant markup, but much better unit.

Yeah, it is the cheapest unit around.

So What?

I get Zero TDS out of my Aquaticlife Cheap RO Unit.

Zero is the Purest Water you can get.

Why would I pay an Extra $150 for an RO Unit?

I mean it is NOT going to give me better water. LOL.

You would be better off taking that extra $150 and buying Corals or putting it in the Bank, etc.

 

[Forsaken77]

Yeah, it is the cheapest unit around.

So What?

I get Zero TDS out of my Aquaticlife Cheap RO Unit.

Zero is the Purest Water you can get.

Why would I pay an Extra $150 for an RO Unit?

I mean it is NOT going to give me better water. LOL.

You would be better off taking that extra $150 and buying Corals or putting it in the Bank, etc.

There are differences. Your paying more in the long run because the cartridges are small and need to be replaced more frequently. Also the cartridges themselves cost more than than replacing the media. So you either pay more up front, or more over time.

Someone who has bad water quality wouldn't find that an ideal unit because it would cost them a fortune just replacing the di canister so frequently. Also if you have a large tank it's not beneficial.

There are pros and cons to each, with each being optimal for a certain type of setup.

 

[lolgranny]

This thread needs to be shut down hAha

 

[leicaguy]

I started aquarium keeping in the mid 1970's. I had a corner filter unit of carbon and filter floss! the skimmer I had was a cylinder with a wooden air "stone" you could keep fish and there was ozone but corals would never ever survive. Lighting was a fluorescent tube. By the 1980's I was using Tunze from Germany. I remember an aquarium shop in Cologne Germany and it was amazing, I had a skimmer and filter units lighting was getting better, I moved to the US in 1990 and was so surprised how behind we were here, as the 90's progressed lighting became better, and today it is such a big difference to when I started, additives lighting skimmers all high quality and you can keep almost everything

 

[Legal Reefer]

I agree that in a lot of instances the mark up is ridiculous on some items when they are promoted as reef or aquarium tools and equipment, even some of the smaller non essential items. Look at the two main flashlights for reef viewing, both selling for $30.00. Nice aluminum housing, cree LED, three main settings. Research and find basicly the same thing not targeted for the hobby $7 to $12. Aluminum housing, cree LED, three settings. Of course maybe some people want the nice box that comes with the flashlights sold for the reef hobby. I myself would rather use that $20 elsewhere. Other comparisons could be made I'm sure in pesticides and other chemicals and compounds used in the reef tank hobby. Look at the difference in costs of grow lights and reef lights. I'm sure the reef lights are somewhat more expensive to manufacture but not as much as the pricing reflects...no pun intended ...lol. Grow lights used to be extremely high priced in the past and now they are a fraction of the price they were, but reef lighting somehow manages to stay very high. I guess it's the old whatever the market will bear thing.

 

[Jonathan Troutt]

My personal opinion is you can find quality items that are inexpensive. And the cost of setting up a tank doesn’t have to be as expensive as some make it out to be.

 

[tangtime]

Absolutely, especially when a goni frag is $1200.

Some of these vendors are just
sickening with prices, vote with your wallets folks.

As consumers we can make a difference and push prices down.

 

[clsanchez77]

This was a great article, but then I have been a fan of Mike's opinions for over 20 years. My feeling is this hobby is only expensive if you want it to be. 20 years ago, this was an expensive hobby, no question! Our methods back then were heavily reliant on gear and our knowledge wasn't a fraction of what it is today. You pretty much had to have a career in some kind of science back then to understand the hobby. Equipment and fish were not cheap and corals had to be replaced.

My first reef tank was a 20 gallon, Coralife PC lighting, CPR backpack skimmer (ok, actually a Skilter first LOL), 3 Rio power heads on a Natural Wavemaker, 20 pounds of aquaculture rock, cinnamon brown polyps, purple sea rod gorgonia, condylactus anemone (replaced monthly) and fish were 3 damsels, royal gramma, red lip blenny and one or two others I can remember. Tank was fed 1 cube nightly of frozen brine shrimp. I did this on a college student budget. I worked several part-time jobs in college and one of them solely funded the tank. A far cry from today lol.

Today is far different. I would argue that if you wanted to maintain a reef tank, pushing the envelope as we were 20 years ago, then yes, you will shell out some dollars for it just like we did back then. BUT, if you want to setup an easy going tank, stick the staples and not chase the trends, you can also get into this hobby for far less money today than you could have 20 years ago.

 

[Syed123]

The hobby has become expensive from what I've seen from posts by people in the hobby 20+ years (I have only been in the marine side since 2011). But I would say with the price has come success. People can keep many more marine organisms alive and with better success then in the past. A newbie can start a soft coral tank with easy fish for a decent amount of money without breaking the bank and have everything thrive easily. Like you don't need the latest Ecotech pumps or Radion lights for those. Just decent non controllable power heads like Tunzes and a 4 bulb ATI fixture. Of course if you want to keep SPS the amount invested will sharply increase. But again it's all relative to what you want to keep. SPS coral and for instance Achilles tangs will need higher flow and more higher powered lights and a slew of other additional additives and equipment.

The hobby has become expensive, but it's gotten way easier because all of the equipment and general knowledge of the organisms we keep have gotten much better.
Case in point, nano tanks and pico tanks. They are being done so much more easily now then in the past.

 

[danreefman]

It's all relevant. The cost of living is way up. Value of a dollar is way down. Your hobby is just where your realizing it.

If your standing there complaining that your hobby is to expensive, and getting mad about it. You might want to shoot a basketball or go knit a sweater.

Reefing is supposed to be an enjoyable addiction. There's no way you can enjoy something when your strapped for cash. Thats why I took a break and came back when it was affordable.

Like cars most buy hondas, some buy Ferrari and theres a lot in between driving Lexus and Mercedes. Some roll used.

Besides all that. If you do the hobby right, it will pay for itself. All you have to do is grow it.

 

[Genomecop]

Well my first tank ever was an under gravel filter, heater and a strip light, so yeah, it's gotten more expensive.

 

[dreamsr]

Interesting to me, as I’m planning to set up my first tank this winter.

I’d also like to hear how much people typically spend on established tanks, on a regular basis. Idk if $/gal makes sense, but of course to be useful, price info like that has to somehow be connected to tank size, the way this assumed a constant tank size.

I’m planning to build a tank that’s around 50 gallons, with soft coral (not designer, but sustainably grown, not wild harvested), anemones, and a clean-up crew. I want it to be as much of a closed system as possible. I’ve been reading about tumbler currents and jellyfish being kept with other animals, so I plan to set up that kind of current (not laminar flow/ Kreisel current) with very low flow. Eventually, I’d love to add jellies, but I assume it will be a couple years until I have everything set up and stabilized. For now, the idea of jellies is just a guide to how to proceed with the build—water flow, no corners, etc. I don’t have a big budget, which might mean even slower progress.

 

[Shooter6]

Id put my expense to maintain my system 300 gallons total at around 100-150 per month. Thats water changes additives & foods. Electricity i have not figured out yet and livestock is more. I have a mixed reef sps lps and soft corals.

 

[brandon429]

I want to know what the responder leicaguy looks at daily. it's either a camera or a microscope/if latter do you oil immersion
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