Financing a "large" tank.
- Thread starter zenom
- Start date
Comedy Fish
New member
I'm curious as to where everyone is buying just the tank and stand
DjScRiBbLe
In Memoriam
Its impossible to break down monthly cost. To many variables...
for a 300g with mh's and VHO's
electric ~$80 (1600w lights, return pump, cacl reactor, 2 powerheads, 1 closed loop pump)
salt $14 (20% per month or 60g or 1/3 of a box of io.)
food $75 (all frozen)
light bulbs $20 (assume change each once per year)
media $20 (GFO, calcium Co2, rodi)
total $209
this does not count the effect all the heat has on the AC bill which I believe to be about $100/mo. Also doesn't count water to run the RODI which i don't know what it costs since mine is free.
plus any repairs/upgrades/fish/corals/additives
if the tank were run with more efficient LED's you could probably drop the cost per month by $80 on direct costs and another $100 in lower AC bill
electric ~$80 (1600w lights, return pump, cacl reactor, 2 powerheads, 1 closed loop pump)
salt $14 (20% per month or 60g or 1/3 of a box of io.)
food $75 (all frozen)
light bulbs $20 (assume change each once per year)
media $20 (GFO, calcium Co2, rodi)
total $209
this does not count the effect all the heat has on the AC bill which I believe to be about $100/mo. Also doesn't count water to run the RODI which i don't know what it costs since mine is free.
plus any repairs/upgrades/fish/corals/additives
if the tank were run with more efficient LED's you could probably drop the cost per month by $80 on direct costs and another $100 in lower AC bill
I have multiple tanks and, altogether, they total around 600 g. I know I spend more than $200 per month on my tanks. Electric is very high on Long Island and I think it adds more than that to my electric bill each month. I could cut that down by plumbing the tanks together or giving up my MH lighting. But I'm not doing that at this point. Anyway, we consider it part of our family budget. Everybody needs a hobby and this is mine.
nuxx
.Registered Member
Have a smart wife and don't live above your means 
My wife pretty much runs our budget and says I can spend x on the tank this week, which is what I've stuck to. Only have a few things left to buy
Also when you get into a big tank, it just takes a lot of time to get everything all thought out and put into place.
Tank takes x weeks to build, stand takes x weeks to build, rock takes x weeks to cure, tank takes x weeks to cycle. It's a REALLY long process, so just keep buying stuff along the way and it doesn't seem that bad.
Also don't live above your means. We could probably stretch and live in a 6k sqft house, but that wouldn't allow us to enjoy our money and save. I'd rather have a 3400 sqft house and have whatever cars we want, go on vacations, save and be able to afford this hobby
My wife pretty much runs our budget and says I can spend x on the tank this week, which is what I've stuck to. Only have a few things left to buy
Also when you get into a big tank, it just takes a lot of time to get everything all thought out and put into place.
Tank takes x weeks to build, stand takes x weeks to build, rock takes x weeks to cure, tank takes x weeks to cycle. It's a REALLY long process, so just keep buying stuff along the way and it doesn't seem that bad.
Also don't live above your means. We could probably stretch and live in a 6k sqft house, but that wouldn't allow us to enjoy our money and save. I'd rather have a 3400 sqft house and have whatever cars we want, go on vacations, save and be able to afford this hobby
igot2gats
Deeeetroit Basketball!
I think a lot of people who have huge systems don't have any debt, and/or very little at all.
If you make 40k, have your house & cars paid for, no student loans - it makes 40k seem like 80k.
Are there some people who make a doctors salary? Sure. But, that's not typically the case. A lot depends on how much debt people are in, if you ask me.
If you make 40k, have your house & cars paid for, no student loans - it makes 40k seem like 80k.
Are there some people who make a doctors salary? Sure. But, that's not typically the case. A lot depends on how much debt people are in, if you ask me.
campos
New member
Electric, water, and food are definitely $200 if not more
DjScRiBbLe
In Memoriam
Umm I never said they were not.. I simply stated there are too many variables for me to help someone estimate their cost to run. And I'm sorry but I have a few hundred gallons of saltwater and keep my cost under $200 to run and feed everyone. So yours may cost $200 but that doesn't mean me or the next guy will share the same bill as you.
polywise
OLD SCHOOL-ish
(beyond the initial set up costs)
running a 300 gallon on a yearly bases:
food, RODI filters/media, light replacements, & salt run me $100 / month
Electric for the tank $120 of a +-$300/m house bill
stocking up livestock and coral in the tank is a whole other subject.......
running a 300 gallon on a yearly bases:
food, RODI filters/media, light replacements, & salt run me $100 / month
Electric for the tank $120 of a +-$300/m house bill
stocking up livestock and coral in the tank is a whole other subject.......
fishpureluck
Member
I've never actually figured out what this hobby is really costing me. I do know that the 220 that I'm setting up is 100% brand new, and I have about $4k into it right now. That is just for the equipment, but that is everything needed to setup and run an SPS tank. All of my other tanks have been Craigs List specials, so they were a lot cheaper, but I wanted to do a new build with everything the way that I want it. Bought everything in 2 weeks, and it should be a my house in FL when I get home from Canada on the 21st. Pretty excited to get this build going!
