The HARD Truth about Reef Keeping...

[6TankReefer9]

The main thing most new reefers or aquatic enthusiasts fail to realize is the cost of owning a stand-alone, functional, reef tank that will meet the requirements to grow healthy coral, keep the stock happy and a system that will be ready to deal with swings thrown at it.

I’ve been fascinated with reef tank systems for the past three years and have never stopped researching the hobby, which was what drew me in as it’s a hobby that one can never master as there’s always more to learn!

That aside, the hard truth to reef keeping that most people need to realize is that this hobby is EXPENSIVE, and it’s not one where you can, we’ll you can, but you should skimp out on!

I’ve been designing my dream tank build over the past week, charting all the required parts that ARE required to have a system ready to take handle swings and keep human involvement to a minimum.

My ideal tank is a 22G Long ADA Aquarium, with an Eshopps External Overflow into a custom 20G Long Sump with room for a refugium in addition to a Protein skimmer.

After Charting out all of the parts needed to make this system run, keep in mind that my philosophy is always to go with the best product at the most reasonable price, the price still come’s around $1,500 before adding any livestock, and that’s just for a 20-gallon aquarium set up without any ecotech products!

Before you call me crazy, just note that I have successfully run a 12G JBJ nano cube with Coral and healthy fish all for under $300, but that was a lot of work, and the risks in running a system such as that are not fair to the livestock and largely depends on you!

Not sure how many of you reefers actually added up ALL of the costs that went into your system, or throughout your entrance to the hobby, but I’m sure many of you will be surprised!

Let me know your thoughts on my list, maybe I missed some item that I have yet to ADD to the dream build!

 

[Hitman]

First Welcome to R2R

I only see 2 things I would change.
1: Jebao DP-4 I would upgrade that to the Coral Box WiFi for the extra $100 it’s definitely worth it. I tossed my Jebao pump as it never stayed calibrated.

2: I see you have a RO system on your list. I highly recommend you do a ro/di unit as a RO unit will only reduce your TDS by approximately 96% where a ro/di will give you true 0 TDS.

Otherwise it looks like you have a great handle on the start of your hobby.

 

[miPapareef]

Great first post. Looks like you have a good plan. Yep it cost some money, but it’s a hobby so by definition it’s a place where you like to pour your time and money.

Don’t be surprised if you also get some costs for salt mixing, meds, vacations, back up parts, ....

 

[Ron Reefman]

I had to laugh at the $1000+ figure as the top of the scale in the pole. You could have gone $2500, $5000 and $10,000+ and I'll wager you would have had votes that high.

Before I downsized to my current 50g Cube system I had 4 tanks (about 600g of saltwater) in the house. My best guess is I had over $5000 easy and I've seen way bigger systems than mine in our local club. And most of mine was either used or DIY equipment. Heck, just a Red Sea 120g tank, sump and stand is $3000+

 

[DSC reef]

Welcome to R2R, things add up quick.

 

[Hitman]

I had to laugh at the $1000+ figure as the top of the scale in the pole. You could have gone $2500, $5000 and $10,000+ and I'll wager you would have had votes that high.

Before I downsized to my current 50g Cube system I had 4 tanks (about 600g of saltwater) in the house. My best guess is I had over $5000 easy and I've seen way bigger systems than mine in our local club. And most of mine was either used or DIY equipment. Heck, just a Red Sea 120g tank, sump and stand is $3000+

Right! Heck I’ve been looking to finally upgrade my LEDs and that’s going to be over $2,000 alone for my tank.

 

[John3]

I tried to start out cheap with a 29g biocube. By the time I realized it wouldn’t cut it as is and modified it, I’m am now well over 1000 in cost on it.

I guess my added point is that people should think about this more up front. Knowing what I have spent on the biocube I would have rather gone with a different tank setup.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Unless you buy a complete used system off Craig’s List or something similar you would be hard pressed setting up a reef tank for less than $1000..

 

[PDR]

Welcome to R2R!!! I'm pretty sure I've spent over $1000 on just things like test kits, water change equipment, rodi, etc... lol

 

[MTBake]

Rock is missing from your list. So that's another cost to add in. Depends on if you go with live or dry as far as the cost.

This is an expensive hobby. But so are several others. My father is into muscle cars. He just spent 35k redoing his garage. And bought a 69 Chevelle. Looking at 60k total there. He'll be lucky to see 50% of what he invested into the garage if he sold the house.

My other hobby is collecting antique firearms and recreational shooting. I don't even want to add that up, lol.

I got around 2k into my 40 breeder setup. Not including livestock.

Bottom line, gotta pay to play.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Agreed it's expensive hobby, but you can do it cheaper. Diy what you can helps.

Taking ones time to "build" a system helps spread out the cost. It took me a year to build my current system. Patience is easier on the wallet! Lol

 

[hart24601]

I did a poll a few years ago about how much money people have spent on the hobby and only had a $10,000 and over for the upper limit and it was by far the most voted option.

It's quite the hobby when seeing 1k upper end made me smile, lol.

 

[Ranjib]

Welcome to reef2reef.
I agree the hobby can get expensive , but if you plan well and up for some compromise , it can be made less expensive . There are plenty pico setup that can be brought under 500$

 

[Pbh-reef]

This is about what I planned for my tank costing, but was able to get a set up for far cheaper on Craigslist. If you are flexible and patient going used can be great.

 

[vetteguy53081]

these costs do add up....both in acquisition and losses. It is part of the hobby, in fact any hobby. Im well over $14,000 between 3 tanks and realize that these were all built little by little and not purchased all at once. This is over 7 years so it averages $2,000 per year.
I used to snowmobile. Had one two person sled and gear and was almost $12,000.

 

[Ranjib]

This is about what I planned for my tank costing, but was able to get a set up for far cheaper on Craigslist. If you are flexible and patient going used can be great.

Yeah, go for used equipment and tank. Source your frags from local reefers, keep your setup simple

 

[bluedevils6653]

this for sure isnt a cheap hobby but on the other hand its only as expensive as you want to make it

 

[Instigate]

I think I got setup fairly cheap for a larger system:

$300 - Craigslist 135g drilled tank, 850gph Little Giant return pump, wet/dry filter(tossed the balls and added a couple baffles to make it into a regular sump), 4 bub T5 fixture, old Top Fathom skimmer, and stand/hood. (Guy also threw in a 5 gallon bucket of fiji pink and some base rock but I ended up using new sand)
$120 - Aquatic Life Twist-In RODI system (I wish I spent a few more dollars and got the BRS unit, this thing eats those proprietary filters like crazy)
$40 - Finnex Titanium Heater
$30 - Inkbird
~$100 - Plumbing
$50 - 50 lbs. Craigslist rock
$60 - Few bags of sand from LFS
$60? I forget and I don't see it on the site, I'll guess it was ~$2 a pound. - 30 lbs. BRS Pukani
$110 - 2x Jebao pp-8
$20 - DIY ATO
$15 - 10gallon, heater, hob filter(craigslist)
$10 - BRS Reactor (craigslist)
$30 - Black Box LED(craigslist)
Free - Fuge Light(craigslist)
$47 - IO Salt
$100 - Test kits and other expendables
_______________________________________
$1092

$50 - CUC: 2 Emerald Crab, 10 Trochus, 10 Nassarius, 10 Cerith
$12 - Tailspot Blenny
$8 - Yellow Watchman Goby
$12 - Tiger Pistol Shrimp
$8 - Sapphire Damsel
$24 - Banggai Cardinal Pair
$30 - Copperband Butterfly
$40 - 2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
$16 - 4 Conch
_______________________________________
$1292

I'm not going to bother with trying to list and price all the coral, I assume I've spent at least a couple hundred on coral and my tank still looks empty. I'm sure I'll spend a lot more on coral and fish to fish this tank up. And I'm sure there are things I forgot..
________________________________________
~$1492 and counting!

If I had it to do over again I would have set up a 20 long very cheaply so I had something up and I could very slowly plan and build a larger tank.

 

[Amado]

I just setup my system so the prices are still fresh. This is my 1st reef and I wanted to do it cheap.
125 gallon 6’ reef ready tank $500
Eshops r200 sump/ refugium $300
Apex Neptune $800
Apex wav $180 x 2 = $360
Apex ATO $200
Apex AFS $200
Apex DOS $300
Kessil 360we $340 x 3 = $1020
Kessil mount $30 x 3 = $90
Kessil H80 $125 (refugium light)
Kessil mini mount $30
Brs reactor $100
Aqualife ro-di $129
Carbsea life rock 40lb box $130 X 2 =$260
Caribsea life rock shapes 20lb $130 x 2 = $260
Two 40 bag of caribsea sand $50 x 2 $100
Coral life UV $100
Mag18 return pump $200
Simplicity 240 skimmer $250



That’s not counting live stock
Or salt mix

Frag tank
20 gallon long $20
In tank sump $89
Kessil A80 $129
Kessil mount $29
102 Frag rack $50
Current pump $50

 

[DeniseAndy]

Heck, I have just upgraded to an acrylic tank to replace my leaking old glass one. Now, I spent over $200 on a magnetic scrubber for the tank. Adds up really quickly.