how much you spent on this hobby??

[Blink2824]

I don't keep track on purpose so I can focus on my enjoyment of the hobby and not the cost associated with it. Merry Christmas!


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[jmm]

Where in the world did you get a 510 in the early 70's?

It had to have that old stainless steal corner bracing with the black putty to hold it water tight.

Seems like I saw a silicone tank for the first time about 1975 and they were small but I was amazed with the nice silicone edges over the steal corners.

Before the 510 I had a 135, 55, and 29 — all silicone. I ran out of room so I found a custom tank builder (Mr. Guppy in Plano, Texas) that agreed to build it. He consulted with Dow Corning and Pittsburg Glass for a long time before he attempted it. It was heavily Euro braced (not a name used at the time) and cross braced in two places on the top. All tanks at the LFS were silicone. Stainless framed and black putty were antiques, even in the 70"s and were not recommended for salt water. The tank was set up on a custom cut chunk of styrofoam boat dock in Richardson, Texas in 1974. It was moved, by a moving company in 1978 to Lubbock, Texas. I maintained that tank and several others until 1997 when I sold it to a fish store that converted it to fresh water. Interestingly enough it was an air-operated undergravel filter all that time. The pump was a dairy milking unit that sat in the attic over my garage and was plumbed to the living room.

The fish store also bought my fish and I kept track of them for several years after that.

Live rock was not the norm in the 70's. Instead we "decorated" with dead, bleached coral. That was "flower shop" expensive. However, I found a Haitian importer that was going out of business because his supplier in Haiti had been wiped out by a mudslide. He had a large lot full of barrels of bleached coral skeletons that he intended to sell to a chemical company in Fort Worth for pennies a pound. I filled a cargo van full of it for just a couple hundred dollars. Some of the pieces were 30 inches tall.

Check your date on silicone seamed aquariums. This sentence is from Wikipedia — Aquariums: Metal-framed aquariums were still available until the mid-1960s, when the modern, silicone-sealed style replaced them.

 

[GoVols]

Before the 510 I had a 135, 55, and 29 — all silicone. I ran out of room so I found a custom tank builder (Mr. Guppy in Plano, Texas) that agreed to build it. He consulted with Dow Corning and Pittsburg Glass for a long time before he attempted it. It was heavily Euro braced (not a name used at the time) and cross braced in two places on the top. All tanks at the LFS were silicone. Stainless framed and black putty were antiques, even in the 70"s and were not recommended for salt water. The tank was set up on a custom cut chunk of styrofoam boat dock in Richardson, Texas in 1974. It was moved, by a moving company in 1978 to Lubbock, Texas. I maintained that tank and several others until 1997 when I sold it to a fish store that converted it to fresh water. Interestingly enough it was an air-operated undergravel filter all that time. The pump was a dairy milking unit that sat in the attic over my garage and was plumbed to the living room.

The fish store also bought my fish and I kept track of them for several years after that.

Live rock was not the norm in the 70's. Instead we "decorated" with dead, bleached coral. That was "flower shop" expensive. However, I found a Haitian importer that was going out of business because his supplier in Haiti had been wiped out by a mudslide. He had a large lot full of barrels of bleached coral skeletons that he intended to sell to a chemical company in Fort Worth for pennies a pound. I filled a cargo van full of it for just a couple hundred dollars. Some of the pieces were 30 inches tall.

Check your date on silicone seamed aquariums. This sentence is from Wikipedia — Aquariums: Metal-framed aquariums were still available until the mid-1960s, when the modern, silicone-sealed style replaced them.

I was a little whipper back then born in 1966.

My father was in the fresh water hobby since the 50's at that time. (Bred Molly's)

He had a slew of tanks including a custom made 100 gal corner tank that he brought down from Canada.

There's six kids in my family and my oldest brother was born in 1946. So he and my oldest sister got more of the seeing my father really active in the hobby.

So everything in "my tiny world" was the bracing.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's a nice read.

Regards, GoVols

 

[mysticobra]

Been in it over 20 years. Freshwater before that.
Money. I suppose alot. Expensive hobby.
Collect rocks. That will end up costing you too. Lol.
But. What hobby doesn't?
It's only money and I'm not taking any with me or leaving any behind.

 

[greaps]

Can't say how much its costs, but can say its been an enjoyable experience. To me reef keeping is multiple things, for one its the cost of pets, feeding a dog or two, and vet bill's can also become a small fortune overtime. A quick google search shows some examples of prices ranging from 6,000-20,000+ over a 14 year period and this can vary a lot, but dog medical can be insanely expensive. Dog needs an operation and sets one back say 3000-9000$ whats losing a tank load of fish and coral cost again?

But besides our marine pets, its also an art, most try to do something with our rockscapes, corals, lighting,flow, all the while attempting to achieve a certain look.

 

[Desert Sea]

I've never added up the costs but it doesn't take long to learn that cheap equipment is not good and good equipment is not cheap.