Salt Prices is Raising. Again. Concern or thoughts ?

[get-salty]

I've been using RS the blue bucket since day one. I buy the 200gal sack to save a few.
However, this year (today) i went on BRS and saw that a sack is now almost a $100 bucks, where it used to be 80ish not too long ago - I know, i know.. "everything is going up".

I am wondering if any of you ever thought of "oh, i might need to leave the hobby" bc of reef supplies keeps going up ?

Tbh, i make a decent salary where i can buy things at the grocery store not caring how much they cost.
I'm curious if when or will i get to the point where i simply wake up and say.. "this is too much, throwing in the towel".

Let me know what are your thoughts.

Cheers from Texas.

 

[Daedalus8311]

I've noticed this as well recently nearly doubling price salt boxes. I suggest try to play the game with chewy and petsmart subscribe and save

 

[rtparty]

Gotta raise prices so they can put them on “sale”

 

[get-salty]

Gotta raise prices so they can put them on “sale”

Absolutely. Some of the rodi replacement filters are $33 and “sale” price is $28.
Not sure what to think about it .. smh

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

my reef crystals are still reasonable

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

one reason i didn’t go to an even larger tank (130) is because of maintenance costs. I still want to be able to get on a plane from time to time and not have it be feasible because monthly costs are so high

 

[gkprevite]

Red Sea salt was a little overpriced to start with. Instant ocean can still be had for as little as $50 a bucket 70 for a 200 gal box. Gotta just shop around a bit.

 

[BryanM]

I try not to think about things like this. Hopefully I keep my day gig, otherwise the tank might be in trouble.

 

[RedReefer]

Just switch to Instant Ocean and save money. I used the blue bucket for over a year. Went back to instant ocean. No difference with the reef.

 

[spsick]

The second price increase of Red Sea in a year and other reasons made me give Nyos another shot. Parameters are closest to blue bucket and cheaper than Accurasea. Now I’m sure the price on it will go up too. Then it’s IO or RC for me…

 

[Sean Clark]

I stock up when they go on sale. I just bought a pump from BRS just so I could get 2 "free" boxes of salt. I don't need the salt but the price was right.

 

[rtparty]

A bucket of IO makes roughly 140 gallons of 35ppt water. If you can get it for $50 per bucket, that is $0.36 per gallon.

ESV is usually on sale for $95 for the 200g refill. Making it $0.48 a gallon.

Doing a 10g water change weekly on a 100g tank is $187.20 a year or $15.60 per month with IO. For ESV it is $249.60 or $20.80 per month.

One salt is vastly superior and only $5 per month more. If you are seriously concerned about $5 per month, I would take a hard look at your finances

 

[areefer01]

Ignoring inflation freight space is increasing. I'll stay out of the price manipulation for sales as that isn't my line of work.

Having said that my $0.02 of advise is rather straight forward. Calculate the yearly amount of products you use that have a longer shelf life then buy on sale. Example I know how much All For Reef I dose daily. I know the size of the container I can buy. I know the base cost today. Easy enough to calculate how much product I use and the yearly operating cost. I do the same for salt mix, reagents, and food (both dry and frozen). From there it is easy enough to buy enough to last when I find the right sale.

I mean no disrespect by stating the obvious.

 

[spsick]

A bucket of IO makes roughly 140 gallons of 35ppt water. If you can get it for $50 per bucket, that is $0.36 per gallon.

ESV is usually on sale for $95 for the 200g refill. Making it $0.48 a gallon.

Doing a 10g water change weekly on a 100g tank is $187.20 a year or $15.60 per month with IO. For ESV it is $249.60 or $20.80 per month.

One salt is vastly superior and only $5 per month more. If you are seriously concerned about $5 per month, I would take a hard look at your finances

This is what I figured out when I was gonna go for Reef Crystals over blue bucket or Nyos. I would have saved like $9 a month, for a product that does not come with an ICP analysis.

 

[chapter7]

I've been using RS the blue bucket since day one. I buy the 200gal sack to save a few.
However, this year (today) i went on BRS and saw that a sack is now almost a $100 bucks, where it used to be 80ish not too long ago - I know, i know.. "everything is going up".

I am wondering if any of you ever thought of "oh, i might need to leave the hobby" bc of reef supplies keeps going up ?

Tbh, i make a decent salary where i can buy things at the grocery store not caring how much they cost.
I'm curious if when or will i get to the point where i simply wake up and say.. "this is too much, throwing in the towel".

Let me know what are your thoughts.

Cheers from Texas.

Best thing to do as @areefer01 stated, calculate your total annual usage for whatever product, then stock up when they do go on sale, like during this season. Surprisingly, Petco and Chewy are good sources, even without the subscribe and save route. Right now, Petco is running 20% off everything ......

$72 plus tax for 175 gallons. I like to think I'm not cheap, just frugal, but I also stack these sales with discount gift cards. If you google "discount Petco gift card," you can find them 9% off with almost instant email delivery from the reputable sites. So .... $65.62 plus tax for 175 gallons. If you want to jump through another hoop, then you can link to Petco's site through either Topcashback or Rakuten for an additional 4% kickback - sometimes, these sites even have 20% for Petco.

Sounds like a hassle, but it's really not, just do it one time a year and stock up! I did this for both TMPR salt and All-for-Reef. Happy shopping Texas!

 

[rtparty]

This is what I figured out when I was gonna go for Reef Crystals over blue bucket or Nyos. I would have saved like $9 a month, for a product that does not come with an ICP analysis.

For the average reefer and tank size, salt is one of the lowest cost items to maintain an aquarium. I think if people broke down all the costs on their systems, they’d be surprised what actually costs them the most to run a tank

 

[Reefer Matt]

Thanks for reminding me. I just got a 200gal box and will get another. Just gotta find the deals.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I too have seen increase in salt, pumps, lights, sand and in fact all the essentials

 

[Reefer Matt]

For the average reefer and tank size, salt is one of the lowest cost items to maintain an aquarium. I think if people broke down all the costs on their systems, they’d be surprised what actually costs them the most to run a tank

Electricity is my highest maintenance cost.

 

[get-salty]

Best thing to do as @areefer01 stated, calculate your total annual usage for whatever product, then stock up when they do go on sale, like during this season. Surprisingly, Petco and Chewy are good sources, even without the subscribe and save route. Right now, Petco is running 20% off everything ......

$72 plus tax for 175 gallons. I like to think I'm not cheap, just frugal, but I also stack these sales with discount gift cards. If you google "discount Petco gift card," you can find them 9% off with almost instant email delivery from the reputable sites. So .... $65.62 plus tax for 175 gallons. If you want to jump through another hoop, then you can link to Petco's site through either Topcashback or Rakuten for an additional 4% kickback - sometimes, these sites even have 20% for Petco.

Sounds like a hassle, but it's really not, just do it one time a year and stock up! I did this for both TMPR salt and All-for-Reef. Happy shopping Texas!

I will be looking at Chewy and Petco. Thanks bud.