This Hobby is Sooooo EXPENSIVE !!!

kimha.......$8000 OUCH! that is a serious setup then!
I have had 3 tanks going at once, 90g, 55g and 15g and they didnt even come close to that bill!!

What ya got that we dont have? your buying retail arent you? :D

Time to sell the car!! :lol:

And yes i will agree that hobby isnt CHEAP! But hey as i look at it...this is my luxury in life! And im going to enjoy it while you can!!

RK
 
I just set up a 360 in wall It is scarry to think about the cost
$900 tank
$1000 tunze waveboxes
$200 closed loop Dart
$300 2 seaswirls
$200 dart return
$130 PCX40 for additional return
$360 lumenarc reflectors
$300 eballasts
$670 sunlight ballasts 3 reefoptix lll pendents
$360 bulbs
$280 t5 actinics
$900 neptune controller
$800 calcium reactor
$225 kalk reactor
$1700 Skimmer
$400 180g sump built myself
$50 800w heater
$300-400 for material to build the stand ect....
$200-300 plumbing
$1400 400# live rock @$3.50#
$300? 400# sand
total makes me cringe to add it all up
I am sure there is more
 
Having set up a 330 reef, I can tell you that, from scratch, the $30-$40/gallon is right on the money. I dropped 10 large before a drop of water was in my tank.

I feel your pain kimha. I'm hoping life is simplier/cheaper for me on the FOWLR dark-side. :) ("excuse me, that fish is how much?!?!?!")
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8169259#post8169259 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dberg79
Wow, im glad im single. It is a expensive hobby but I just put in a few more hours of OT to cover any extras.
Click to expand...
I couldn't have said it better myself. ;) If I had a sig. other, she would be the type that I had to watch with a CC at a lfs. :lol: :D
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8169049#post8169049 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aiko670
I use cash and shred receipts. If she starts getting suspisious I buy her something nice.
Click to expand...

Ditto!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8170012#post8170012 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gotfish8
I just set up a 360 in wall It is scarry to think about the cost
$900 tank
$1000 tunze waveboxes
$200 closed loop Dart
$300 2 seaswirls
$200 dart return
$130 PCX40 for additional return
$360 lumenarc reflectors
$300 eballasts
$670 sunlight ballasts 3 reefoptix lll pendents
$360 bulbs
$280 t5 actinics
$900 neptune controller
$800 calcium reactor
$225 kalk reactor
$1700 Skimmer
$400 180g sump built myself
$50 800w heater
$300-400 for material to build the stand ect....
$200-300 plumbing
$1400 400# live rock @$3.50#
$300? 400# sand
total makes me cringe to add it all up
I am sure there is more
Click to expand...

I could had help lowering your bill... with those Lumenarc reflectors, lr, ca reactor and the skimmer :)
 
The $8000 is not for just one tank:D . I have not updated my profile. I started out with 135g Oceanic, then added 90g Clarity Plus in the office, then there are other aggressive fish that are just so pretty that I kept on drewling (spelling?) so came another 150g Oceanic in the basement. And eventually, these fish will get bigger, so a 300g tank is in the garage right now waiting to be set up.

I just don't understand the price of skimmers. they are nothing but a few pieces of acrylic cylinders with some PVC pipes. There is no computer chips or anything high tech stuff inside it. But yet the cheaper one in my tank is $350 and it is USED:sad1: the new one I had is close to $800 without pump. Why are skimmers so expensive????
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8171051#post8171051 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kimha
The $8000 is not for just one tank:D . I have not updated my profile. I started out with 135g Oceanic, then added 90g Clarity Plus in the office, then there are other aggressive fish that are just so pretty that I kept on drewling (spelling?) so came another 150g Oceanic in the basement. And eventually, these fish will get bigger, so a 300g tank is in the garage right now waiting to be set up.QUOTE]

Kimha,

Send me some pics.

Dave
Click to expand...
 
I meant honestly, after the initial set up, how expensive is it really (besides the El. bill)

I have a 125 system. .
$900 - for tank stand and canopy
$1,000 - for sump/fuge, skimmer, return pump, pipes
$300 - lights
$200 - extra pumps
$500 - Live Rock
$100 - fish (many old fish moved into)
$35 - coral (so far)

The only expenses I have now will be salt, some more fish, some inverts when needed, and some corals. But all of that can be affordable if I go through other reefers and seek deals on equipment. . You've got to bargain shop, even in THIS hobby, you can save alot of money.
 
Teremei - deals are out there to be had, but venture heavily into SPS and then you can upgrade all of your lighting, add a Calcium Reactor, a Kalk Reactor and then a controller to manage it for you and then you will find out how affordable this can all be. Reefing is not for the cheap, that's for sure!
 
I have spent well over $8,000 for just one set up and there isnt even a drop of water in it yet. OH well, that the price you pay for this hobby....
 
Well, all of you are way too honest! :lol:

Have you ever stolen anything, even a seaweed clip or paperclip?? Well, I guess so......

Have you ever lied, even a little white lie to your spouse or significant other about the cost of some reef thing?? Well, yea I guess I have......

Well, my friend, that makes you a thief and a lier!!! :D

It is expensive, I don't dare tell my bride how much I've spent or am spending next week, I just celebrated twenty-three years and wish to live until the next one......

I like Doug's idea of cash only.... Now where did I leave that money tree?

Mike, the $30-40 per gallon figure sounds great, but do you have to add all of the tanks and sump and refuge and frag tank before you multiply??? If so, I'm even more dead!

Hobby - An enjoyable diversion from your normal job or life!
Sewer - Something you pour huge amounts of money in, but never see to get anything out except crap!

Yes, it's a dirty hobby!

Boyd ;)
 
For any of you reading this that have some money left in your budgets, I suggest a Bio-Denitrifier, set one up a couple months ago and this thing works like a charm.
 
Yes, I keep it running all the time. Feeding 16 fish and corals in my 125, keeps it busy. It works very well.
You can convert it to a calcium reactor if you wanted to, it's made from a calcium reactor housing.
 
Sullyman - U R killing me. I was reading that bio-denififier link you had posted, and my wife took away my credit and ATM cards. Now I can't even get cash to buy used equipment "under the table". Luckily I still have a few hundred bucks hidden under my fish tank for emergency.:D
 
Goota have a reef stash hidden away. I read that in one of the first reef books I read, it was right there in the list of necessary items for a reef tank. Large stash of cash...............
 
The bad part about spending the money is that it doesn't pay to buy the less expensive (aka "cheap") equipment because in the end something goes wrong and you end up buying the more expensive equipment you should have paid for in the first place.

<sigh>
 
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