How much did you spend?

[rtparty]

My first tank was late 2005, early 2006. I know I spent $1000 on garbage equipment and some rock from the LFS. Within the first year, I had to have spent close $2000 total on that 38g tank.

People complain about "how expensive it has become" but the truth is it was never cheap. It's only as cheap as you make it.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Could've bought a used car, and I'm only just beginning to stock the tank.

I know me too lol! Or signed a lease to an apartment haha.

 

[Smoke-Town]

I know you said 3 months to a year but My 80g sps tank is only about 1.5 years old so I'll add that stuff up.

Used Tank and sump: 350
Materials to build stand: 300
Plumbing: 100
Misc. Hardware store parts: 50
Screen top: 50
Custom light mount: 100
Lighting: 1100
Rollermat: 250
Skimmer: 250
UV: 400
Used dosers: 200
Return pump1: free (will cost 350 when I replace this 10 year old ac pump I still have)
Return pump2: 300
Salt: 375
Water and electricity: 350
Fish: 1500
Corals: 1000
Misc. tools and additives: 200

So this tank in 1.5 years is at about $6,875

There are 6 tanks in our house now... but we won't talk about adding that stuff up

 

[jdpiii3]

Some things are just better left unsaid, plausible deniability. And that's my story.

Also if my wife was able to spend $75 on a pencil to write on her face anything I bought for the reef tank was well in line.

 

[Brucealmighty]

People always ask about the cost of a marine aquarium,

Answer?, priceless, the amount of peace and joy you can obtain from just watching your fish and corals is priceless,


The amount of money headaches and trouble is something different and partly is a bit self inflicted by how much you want to control everything in your little ocean and therefore can be managed by common sense, but if we started counting pounds dollars or pesatos yeah it's loadsa maney

 

[Brucealmighty]

Some things are just better left unsaid, plausible deniability. And that's my story.

Also if my wife was able to spend $75 on a pencil to write on her face with anything I bought for the reef tank was well in line.

Love that going to remember for that next time I spend on the tank

 

[jdpiii3]

Love that going to remember for that next time I spend on the tank

I made the mistake of accompanying my wife to a Dillard's One Day sale where everything was supposed to be on sale would you know it, my wife found the one dress not part of the sale.

 

[KonradTO]

When my wife asked me how much we would have had to spend on the tank in total I sincerely told her 600€.
The alternative was a poison dart frog terrarium. She picked the reef tank lol

BTW. 600€ is 3 months worth of coral frags. I had the tank for 12 months so probably I am past 2000 € by now

 

[Daenion]

I only started a few months ago but it is already turning into a government project. I am already over budget and things are moving very slowly. I will probably need more money in near future.

 

[Skicurtis]

The thing about this hobby is you have the upfront costs, and the ongoing costs.

As far as the upfront costs go, you can go cheaper, but it’s almost a certainty that you’ll wish you made different purchase choices. This is unavoidable and there’s nothing you can do about it. And this is irregardless of how cheap you went or how expensive you went.

Other ongoing costs are the supplies, like food, salt, test kit refills, etc. These are obvious so I won’t go into detail. But…there’s other ongoing costs that include “hype” related purchases, such as coral supplements, fancy wavemakers, cleaning gadgets, etc. etc. The industry thrives on making hobbyists think that their tank will crash and their corals won’t thrive unless you buy X, Y, and Z. The key is to keep things simple, spend your money on automation and things that make tank maintenance easier on you…which translates to you actually carrying out the maintenance. Many people lax on maintenance because it becomes more of a chore.

You mentioned an Apex, which is great, because you’re talking automation and an easier way to monitor water quality. This hobby isn’t about keeping quality fish and corals….it’s about keeping quality water. The fish and corals will thrive as a result.

The more you’re willing to invest in knowledge, automation, and quality equipment from the start will dictate how long you last in the hobby. I’d first recommend watching videos focusing on all the maintenance requirements of a reef tank. If you’re still interested after that, awesome. If you learn more ways to make maintenance easier on you…even better.

+1 Very well said. I agree 100%

 

[jmatt]

I only started a few months ago but it is already turning into a government project. I am already over budget and things are moving very slowly. I will probably need more money in near future.

I'm in the same boat. As has been noted elsewhere in this thread, it pays to get quality and automation up front since it's a force multiplier and will hopefully make life better and easier moving forward. And it started with adding a sink and plumbing and electrical in the basement. This has been an insanely expensive exercise.

 

[Oldreefer44]

Well into 5 digits. Only regret is all of the stuff taking up shelf space in the garage.

 

[HBtank]

Well into 5 digits. Only regret is all of the stuff taking up shelf space in the garage.

Sometimes I look at that small LFS looking collection of stuff I have and wonder if I really need it all, and quickly decide, why yes I do! This hobby really does require you to maintain quite a stockpile of stuff.

 

[AydenLincoln]

A year and a half later. Three of my own tanks/one school tank later and currently two tanks. I’m well over $5,000 in total costs. Which is still less than some of the large name brand tanks lol! This is approximately the total cost of every little thing. And still less than the cost of a yurple lol.

 

[X-37B]

Well alot, lol!
Current IM 170 setup im working on. I always plan and get everything upfront which includes spares.
I have some equipment from breaking down 5 tanks and moving.
That said I am only using the skimmer, carx. So that saved me around 2k for this build.
Im at 10k+ on top of my 2k so yea its can be an expensive hobby.
Been in this hobby since the late 80's and its never been cheap, lol.
Im retired so money is not an issue, thankfully.
Best advice I can give is plan your setup.
Many new reefers just wing it and end up spending twice what they planned.

 

[TL1]

Comparable to boat ownership... +$20k initial investment, $1-200 dollars a month to maintain it, and a few hundred every now and then to have fun with it (buy new coral/fish) ...that's how I explain it to people that just can't understand.

 

[Reeferbadness]

i started with 1 x 180g mixed reef tank 4 years ago, added a 200g Red Sea XXL 750, 2 apex. controllers, 2 x red sea ato, 2 x tridents .... and that's before even thinking about all the livestock and corals and salt ( 10% weekly x 2 = around $120 a month alone in tropic marine pro salt) .... but hey, i love the hobby and it makes me happy when things are going well (50% of the time LOL)

 

[MrGisonni]

I now have more $ invested in corals, that are thriving BTW, than I invested in the setup......is that a good thing???

 

[Cpc83]

I know I want an apex so badly it’s just like the most expensive thing in this entire hobby!!

Look into hydros honestly if I was well versed in code and automation I would scrap my apex and still think about it I run apex and hydros my newest build will be hydros and focustronic most likely apex customer service has went to crap, build quality is sub par on most and they stall on any new release stuff. Hydros seems more acceptable to things that aren't made by owners of brs(aperture)

 

[AydenLincoln]

Look into hydros honestly if I was well versed in code and automation I would scrap my apex and still think about it I run apex and hydros my newest build will be hydros and focustronic most likely apex customer service has went to crap, build quality is sub par on most and they stall on any new release stuff. Hydros seems more acceptable to things that aren't made by owners of brs(aperture)

I did get an Apex like over a year ago lol! I love it. No regrets!