This hobby is getting out of control with costs

[Viking_Reefing]

Saw your youtube video the other day. Awesome tank. Are you going to sell that current light fixture when you upgrade?

Thanks dude. More of a sidegrade I think as I will be very happy if I get the same results as with T5’s hehe.
I’m gonna hold on to it for a while as I said in the video I’m not completely sold on led’s just yet, even though the fixture itself looks like a very good concept

 

[fishybizzness]

My comment is that all the companies raised their prices a large part due to cost of shipping. Container shipping prices are almost back down to almost the same as pre covid yet equipment prices keep going up. Sounds like gouging to me. Sad thing for a bunch of companies that say they are trying to grow the hobby!

 

[SpyC]

I am all for buying used equipment, but will always buy new tanks. Having run a lfs years ago, I have seen too many poorly maintained tanks and horror stories of what people have done to their tanks for me to trust used from anyone except good friends thay I know take excellent care of their stuff. If I still had access to quality wood working tools I'd also build my own stand to fit my needs.

With shipping costs going down, I don't forsee any company lowering their prices. They know people will buy their goods for these prices so why lower them?

 

[Amphibious Wallet]

My comment is that all the companies raised their prices a large part due to cost of shipping. Container shipping prices are almost back down to almost the same as pre covid yet equipment prices keep going up. Sounds like gouging to me. Sad thing for a bunch of companies that say they are trying to grow the hobby!

Yeah, we had a 40ft from UK to NZ around one of the peaks last year, $21k NZD lol. 5-7k pre-covid.
There's been a new line with sailings to NZ recently, prices halved almost overnight as reaction to new competition.

 

[jacquesPiette]

i got my lights for 20$, powerhead for 30$, heater for 20$, filter for 20$ and my 55 gallon tank for 150$. i find it ridiculous that some random 20 gallon tanks cost 5 times my whole setup...

for people that are curious and want to save money: curently i have 9 fish, 4 coral colonies,1 sponge and 2 macroalgaes that are all healthy. im going to tell you, my aquarium just turned 1 year so you might want advice from more experienced hobyists, however, i think youll find that you dont essentialy need any kind of special eqipment for a reef tank. you can buy cheap on amazon and if its avaiable to you, second hand. all that led and protein skimmer stuff is just confusing and most dont need them.

 

[CtrlFeq]

There are cheaper ways to get into the hobby but it seems that the "tech" side of this hobby is driving the the associated costs.

I don't mind paying for well built products but paying 1k for an Eco tech light that doesn't have wifi and an app with an extreme learning curve is pushing it. Imho, if you want to charge crazy prices then the product needs to match the price tag.

 

[jft]

Be Doing Marines since the 1980s I have Seen LOTS of CRAP AND SNAKE OIL PRODUCTS> THE PRICES ArE RIDICULOUS ON alot of REALLY NOT NEEDED Stuff. YEt the Minions will be out in Force promoting the So called Latest and greatest product. What YOU need is Knowledge Not Hype. The manufacturers will say oh we did so much research and developement BLAHBLAH BLAH etc ad nauseum. But when skimmers and lights NOW cost more than some aquariums something aint right! LOL

 

[Piscans]

Its bad enough we have reached the age of $800-$1200 lights, Ive seen test equipment approaching the $200 mark, 110 gallon Tanks for $4000-5000 and now another skimmer released by Adaptive reef starting at $769.00 !!!
Add the cost of fish and coral which is out of control and it questions Who can afford this and the impact on a new hobbyist that wants a reef tank

i agree, if i ever build more saltwater tanks they will just be biotopes for breeding and stuff, i have recently gotten new intrest in my freshwater fish and have been quite happy with them, even breeding my chiclids i just got.

 

[nuxx]

Haven't priced out a system in at least 5-6 years, but you could probably save a good deal by getting cheaper lights and wavemakers / pumps and controlling them with an APEX, then getting ones that have complete separate controllers.

Saved a ton of money by using Jebaos on my last tank. Just had them plugged into the APEX and run different programs on each of them.

 

[Jonreefer]

Lights have got out of hand especially the big brand ones. They are just disgusting in price.
I have had radions in the past and have been using Noopsyche lights since 2018. I have one k7III wifi over my tank and I just bought another because I plane on upgrading to a 36" 54gallon. those 2 lights that I will say are probably 95% what a radion can provide and cost me a total of $400 for both lights to light a 36" tank.
Went with hydros as well and it gives me everything I can need for half the price of the Apex with the X3 unit.
I do have AI Nero but I feel they are a good price for what you are getting. only a little more expensive than the Jebao units but have better control.

 

[_sludgefactory]

You assume these numbers are small to everybody. They are not . Good for you that expensive has a different meaning than others

I used to do this hobby when I was delivering pizza for a living and poor. I bought used equipment and cobbled together cheap equipment into a really nice tank. I had a modified Coralife Super Skimmer that I bought for used $100 and rigged up a mesh wheel with some fishing line and Enkamat. This is a hobby, hobbies are a luxury, if you can afford the equipment or figure out how to do it on the cheap them maybe this isn't your hobby. I can't afford to get into fixing up junk Porches as a hobby, some hobbies are just out of reach for some people. That is life.

 

[_sludgefactory]

This is exactly what some of us are taking about. To some, this is a lot of money. And if anyone is thinking about saying "then you shouldn't be in the hobby" again proves the point.

See my other reply. There are ways to do it cheap and without top of the line. Life doesn't just hand you everything you desire. If you can afford to be in a luxury hobby, sorry for your situation, but that's life.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

See my other reply. There are ways to do it cheap and without top of the line. Life doesn't just hand you everything you desire. If you can afford to be in a luxury hobby, sorry for your situation, but that's life.

LOL, your funny. I can tell by your photo where you are coming from.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Social media effect, people "have" to have things they can't truly afford. Spiking demand for niche products. It's driven so many of my hobbies into ridiculously high prices. I'm curious to see how it maintains in the next few years.

The whiskey market is a prime example. The hype in the last 7 years or so has become unreal. What were $50 bottles now have "values" of $800+. Yet very few even drink what's inside of them. Instead, they place them on a shelf like some kind of trophy. When the original hype was how it tasted not how pretty it looked on your shelf.

As a Scotch/Bourbon drinker, I agree. Some of the bottles do look awesome, but what's inside is better

 

[KrisReef]

Lights have got out of hand especially the big brand ones. They are just disgusting in price.
I have had radions in the past and have been using Noopsyche lights since 2018. I have one k7III wifi over my tank and I just bought another because I plane on upgrading to a 36" 54gallon. those 2 lights that I will say are probably 95% what a radion can provide and cost me a total of $400 for both lights to light a 36" tank.
Went with hydros as well and it gives me everything I can need for half the price of the Apex with the X3 unit.
I do have AI Nero but I feel they are a good price for what you are getting. only a little more expensive than the Jebao units but have better control.

The lighting industry has been following the money and demand for lights that grow plants. That demand is huge as many important plants cannot be grown safely outdoors and require good lights, soil, and weather conditions that are easier to control indoors.

Sadly, corals need a different spectral focus than indoor growing provides and the amount of money growers will pay for their spectrum of requirements is easier to recoup from crops than what a coral growing room can provide. 15-20 years ago the reefing industry had more market share and the situation was reversed but slowly the products available to the hobby improve but the cost of everything keeps getting, higher, higher, at a mind boggling expansion.

 

[Sm1nts2escape]

Just coming back to the hobby after I tried to get into it 13 years ago. The only reason I didn't get into it then is cause I was worried about losing power and didn't have enough time to do all the testing etc. Now I am starting to price and order things again and was struck by the prices. A decent acrylic sump for 500 or more! A single light fixture for 500 plus the mounting bracket? It is crazy.

 

[atoll]

Haven't priced out a system in at least 5-6 years, but you could probably save a good deal by getting cheaper lights and wavemakers / pumps and controlling them with an APEX, then getting ones that have complete separate controllers.

Saved a ton of money by using Jebaos on my last tank. Just had them plugged into the APEX and run different programs on each of them.

Don't the jebaos come with their own controllers? mine do and I have no need for a fancy controller.

 

[Perthegallon]

i got my lights for 20$, powerhead for 30$, heater for 20$, filter for 20$ and my 55 gallon tank for 150$. i find it ridiculous that some random 20 gallon tanks cost 5 times my whole setup...

for people that are curious and want to save money: curently i have 9 fish, 4 coral colonies,1 sponge and 2 macroalgaes that are all healthy. im going to tell you, my aquarium just turned 1 year so you might want advice from more experienced hobyists, however, i think youll find that you dont essentialy need any kind of special eqipment for a reef tank. you can buy cheap on amazon and if its avaiable to you, second hand. all that led and protein skimmer stuff is just confusing and most dont need them.

Literally just a whole set up for 100$ on craglist it’s a 20 gallon tank and literally the guy paid about 2-3 grand for all the equipment he bought

 

[Crofty]

The lighting industry has been following the money and demand for lights that grow plants. That demand is huge as many important plants cannot be grown safely outdoors and require good lights, soil, and weather conditions that are easier to control indoors.

Sadly, corals need a different spectral focus than indoor growing provides and the amount of money growers will pay for their spectrum of requirements is easier to recoup from crops than what a coral growing room can provide. 15-20 years ago the reefing industry had more market share and the situation was reversed but slowly the products available to the hobby improve but the cost of everything keeps getting, higher, higher, at a mind boggling expansion.

Just a few years ago, good/big LED plant grow lights were super expensive. I wanted to get some to early start my tomatoes and peppers indoors but it was just way too expensive. Now there are so many 'no name' lights available with similar specs to high end branded. I happily bough a couple of the cheap LEDs last year and they worked wonderfully. The big brands are still out there at their big prices, but the cheapies work just fine for a hobby gardener like me.

Hopefully the same trend will follow in this hobby and there will soon be a wider selection of inexpensive full powered LEDs available for those of us who aren't looking for pro level stuff at pro level prices.

 

[Tyler Flynn]

The cost of coral has gotten stupid. Torches used to be $25 not $300. And hobbyists are selling frags to other hobbyists for similar prices. Why are we adding to the price increases instead of trying to bring them down by selling amongst ourselves are reasonable prices?