How much $ is invested in you tank?

[willis]

Wait until you find out that you missed a plumbing part.:eek1:

 

[tacocat]

Plumbing can get expensive. One nice thing is if you have a local LFS like mine, I take in coral frags and use the creidt to buy bulbs and dog food.

 

[jeffbrig]

My 'plan' is currently for a 72x30x30 room divider, ~280 gallons. I've priced out my initial setup at around $9000 - including pumps, plumbing, lighting, RO/DI, and lots of the miscellaneous stuff (salt, test kits, QT). However, that's still before the first drop of water goes in there. And I'm sure I'm missing a few things - the inevitable chiller, a calcium reactor if/when the kalk reactor isn't enough. Start adding live rock, coral, and fish and I should hit $12-13000 in no time.

 

[richw]

Breakdown

Breakdown

I wanted to try to better define my estimate. Keep in mind that I have a 230 IA tank, 2 250mh and 4 vho and all the trimmings. My estimate is pretty firm and as noted does not include electric or water usage over the past 5 years.

I have also relied extensively on MO to keep costs down and have subtracted payments received in selling coral and unneeded hardware. Like everyone, I have also evolved. For example, the estimate includes the cost of upgrading from a 125 to a 230 (less of course the money I got selling the 125), upgrading from 175w to 250 mh (again less the cost of selling the old fixtures) and moving the tank from NYC to Cherry Hill -- around $1300.

Coral and live rock -- $6500
Fish -- $3500
Hardware (tank, lights, skimmer, etc.) -- $15,000

I also try to limit my monthly purchases to $150. This includes bulbs, fish, food, etc.

Ouch.

 

[Acrylics]

Funny that this topic is brought up right now, (I shut down my tanks last Dec ) as I sit and stare at the $4k I have *just* in lighting, $3k in stands, thousands in plumbing parts, and the $1500 or so I spent having an 80 amp sub-box brought in. The countless hours I had in set-ups. Ugh, I was easily in the $12k range or so and this did not include animals as most were gifts, or tanks themselves else I'd be in the $35k (or so) range. As Harley points out, it was $$ well spent as I enjoyed it immensely and probably saved me hundreds of thousands in inpatient psychiatric care
Maybe someday some intelligent shrink will start a clinic where you pay $200/hr to sit in the middle of a fish room and stare at pods. Hmm, an idea.

James

 

[waterway]

Well I got into this hobby thinking I was going to save money. Instead of shopping for clothes, shoes, and anything else we women buy, I would put up my tank. My husband thought it was a great idea to find a new hobby.............. After I stopped telling how much everything cost...... he bought me a nice camera( his thinking was try a different hobby). Now I have the best pictures of of my salt water tank.


So the cost of his golfing,car,skeet shooting, etc. v.s fish tank.

well how much have I spent...................Well lets just say I don't keep track................

And they all live ever after

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Guess I'm the exception here. I'm starting a 190 project. So far I'm only out about 1000 bucks. Got the AGA drilled tank, a GRI 15700 return pump (3000 GPH @ 40' head) and a MAG 36 closed loop pump, plumbing fixtures, 60 G sump (OLD FW tank I bought years ago) and built my stand. I'm a real shopper and also build everything that I can. I got a good deal on the tank, traded a 250 W Mh setup I had and 100 bucks for it. Got my return pump from a fellow RC member and my other pump from Ebay. Built my stand and will be building my skimmer, CA reactor as well as installing it in a wall. I picked up a CO2 tank, regulator and siloniod for free. I know I'll be up near the 10K mark when I'm done but that will include all of the Oak woodwork that I'll do to build it into the wall.

 

[Harlemzportoroc]

yup in the G's also, not to mention the mistakes that occur in the begining ;0/

 

[maoiwowie]

Its almost comical how much we spend on our tanks. Why do we spend in excess of 10K to keep some colorful rocks alive? Im not sure myself...still trying to figure this out. Although its aesthetic value is not questioned...does it make sense to have spent all that money to allow a cheap $20 RTN'd frag send your blood pressure through the roof? We must be crazy.

 

[Foster]

too much

 

[vapor1]

All hobbies are expensive. I have almost $10,000 in dive gear , and thats not including several thousand a year in dive trips . BUT, ya gotta spend it on something .

 

[Harleyguy]

Can't take it with you.

 

[reeftechie]

I have well over $20k in my tanks, shh dont tell my wife she would kill me, she thinks I get it all free

 

[John Brancheau]

I myself am in the 10K range, but to be perfectly honest with you, I think it is still cheaper and more beneficial than a therapist........

 

[jeffbrig]

I think it is still cheaper and more beneficial than a therapist........

I used the same argument when I bought my S2000 roadster

 

[theseeker]

I have a 300 gal reef tank, 6 months old and I have invested about 22,000 to date. It should be noted that I have a marine biologist in my home once a week. I also have rather rare and exspensive specimens in my tank.

 

[eruss]

Not counting livestock, over $15,000.

Until I started this project last August I had kept the same 80g custom reef tank for 14 years. Sooooo......when the Mrs. asked "how much?" to set up I told her "about $4,500", needless to say that went in a hurry! She's since adjusted to the fact, although I lost some ground when I fired it all up and the electric bill jumped $150 a month!

 

[paulpp187]

tank, equip,livestock over 15,000.00 not including supp,and elect,water etc i have 2 tanks though

 

[paulpp187]

reeftechie thats a good one i tried that for about the first 5,000 it didn't work after that

 

[twd4]

10k....all equipment and most livestock wholesale