Look for realistic numbers please

zchauvin

zchauvin

New member
For those of you who have systems in the 4-600 gallon range and convert rooms into a fish room, whether remote sump setup or with the tank in wall, if you could contact me privately I have some questions regarding prices.

I plan to purchase a house soon with an extra room/office for the purpose of putting in a large tank. Just looking for some realistic first hand costs. Thanks!


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Alot of this is going to depend on if you are doing the work yourself or going to be paying someone to do the work for you.

I tried to do anything I could myself and saved quite a bit on our 400g build IMO. If I had to make a quick top of my head estimation, I would say with fish room and everything we spent around $12,500 so far. It does pay off to have friends that work construction though, my good buddy came over and framed up our garage fish room for 2 beers, then he came back a few days later and we sheet rocked the whole room while enjoying a few more cold ones LOL!

Keep in mind our setup doesn't quite have all the bells and whistles that some setups have, like socaltoaz's for example! But we manage to get by with what we have, :cool:
 
I have not been brave enough to add up the bills but 10-25K is a good range IF you DIY a fair amount of the work. For example, I ran my own electrical and plumbing. I also ran my own drain line, but hired a plumber to connect it to the main stack of the house. You can save quite a bit if you are sensible about doing as much as you can, and hire a pro when needed.

No doubt, the tank, stand and lighting will be the biggest dollar items. After that, equipment (pumps, skimmer, etc..) and after that, plumbing will add up to a shocking amount, especially if you go for the nice schedule 80 valves and colored pvc.

Then you can take all that money you saved and buy some more fish and coral! :)
 
Really depends on how much construction work you're doing. We're having a 280 gallon acrylic tank built. I'll PM you a price list
 
A_CoupleClowns said:
Keep in mind our setup doesn't quite have all the bells and whistles that some setups have, like socaltoaz's for example! But we manage to get by with what we have, :cool:
Click to expand...

Bells and whistles don't mean crap. Ive learned so much from my build that if I was to do it again, I could save some dollars and do it better.

There are so many variables that go into this- you can get a 15k sump or a $500 sump.

You can get a $150 skimmer or a $4500 skimmer.

I got some great equipment - top of the line. but really not sure if that has contributed to a more healthy stable tank. You can do it for a lot less.

Im well over 100k on all my stuff. I don't even know how to accurately count the expense because we did a ground up construction.

Frankly I don't want to know. ignorance is bliss.

A bit of advice to the op, whatever you think the costs are - double them and then tell your wife you spent half of your projections.
 
What is your goal for the tank? SPS, Mixed reef?

Have you priced out the tank yet?

What sort of lighting are you going to have? What sort of flow? All of this contributes to the cost estimate.
 
Look for realistic numbers please

Thanks guys, didn't even realize I had this many replies and that people would be willing to talk money. Expected more private messages but works either way!

I want to do mainly sps but large enough to house sohal tang and the such. I like a simplistic aquascape. Lots of anthias and then only a few large fish. I have had tanks before and the one thing I do not want is for my sump to be under the tank which is why I want to go with a room dedicated so that I can have room for a large sump and all other equipment without having to break my back to clean a filter sock or disconnect a skimmer ect. Also enough room to house multiple quarantine tanks, hospital tanks, and frag tanks.

Not a fan of a lot of different corals packed into the tank so probably only a few sps colonies but large enough to look like a mature reef after a few years.

As for the building side, my dad is a general contractor and has all licenses and experience needed for building/electrical/plumbing. I figured I'd shoot for a 12x12 room minimum and a 8' x 3' deep tank. Not sure on the height but Im not a fan of tall tanks. Was budgeting 15-20k minimum for the tanks, equipment, and so on. Although this could easily go up based on equipment selection.

Lighting will be LED as I want the ability to adjust color and intensity while not having to worry about a $400 a month electricity bill or the ongoing costs of changing t5 and halide bulbs.

To dodge all the power heads and what not ( do not want to have any equipment in tank) I will be going with all closed loop for flow, and then obviously the flow from sump.

Then there's the whole acrylic vs glass and all of the other choices and headaches out there. I will more than likely go glass because of costs, and maintenance as I do not want scratches everywhere. I want to take time with this so that I do it once and I do it right.

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Look for realistic numbers please

Socaltoaz said:
Bells and whistles don't mean crap. Ive learned so much from my build that if I was to do it again, I could save some dollars and do it better.



There are so many variables that go into this- you can get a 15k sump or a $500 sump.



You can get a $150 skimmer or a $4500 skimmer.



I got some great equipment - top of the line. but really not sure if that has contributed to a more healthy stable tank. You can do it for a lot less.



Im well over 100k on all my stuff. I don't even know how to accurately count the expense because we did a ground up construction.



Frankly I don't want to know. ignorance is bliss.



A bit of advice to the op, whatever you think the costs are - double them and then tell your wife you spent half of your projections.
Click to expand...



I know what you mean. But from your thread your disposable cash is far far more than mine. I don't plan on buying any dream box sumps or anything like that. I will try to keep the costs low in terms of the sump and things of that nature will ensure I put the money into things like lighting and skimmer. Controllers ect. Def the important parts as I want this to be a reef I can enjoy for 10-15 years to come or hopefully longer. I will try to implement as many redundancies as possible to keep everything sound and protect my investment.

Figures at this point for the actual room will be about 1,200 being that I won't be paying any labor and reduced prices on material. That leaves me with a fair amount and hoping the tank comes in no more than 4-6k. I figure if I can keep the tank itself and the room at the prices I mentioned that I should have around 10-12 for equipment. Will be getting most of the equipment at costs as well from the lfs that I worked for some years back.


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bfrench said:
Sounds like an awesome build. Looking forward to seeing it

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Click to expand...



Thanks, but don't hold your breath lol. Im just trying to get an idea for everything right now.


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If your dad can build you a stand too that would save some more money on the build. I would guess for a glass tank of that size from a reputable builder you're looking at $6-9k for the tank. SPS means higher level skimmer, lighting, and water movement, which will get pricey as well.

Acrylic on the big tanks is typically less expensive - My 360 gallon with furniture grade stand and canopy was around $4500 IIRC.
 
I'd go acrylic cause if it ever did get scratched you can buff it out easily. Starfire glass is just scratched.
 
If second had is ok with you I would suggest trolling this site every week or so giantaquariums.com Probably won't be exactly what you want but it can save you a considerable amount of money. I paid $5,500 for my 625g Envisions with stand, skimmer and pump second hand.
 
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