Bonsai Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 The Frugal Reefer - My Journey into Reefing It seems that more and more, people are penny-pinching to save money in this economy. A huge barrier to entry in the Saltwater Hobby is cost; Initial Costs, Maintenance Costs, and Live Stock Costs. I consider myself to be a fairly frugal person, and I wanted to share my experience as The Frugal Reefer over the past two years. I'm hoping that it encourages people who are new to the hobby and maybe gives reefing veterans an idea or two of how to reef on a budget. Reefing doesn't have to be expensive. The following is an account of my journey into reefing. The Free 29G BioCube (or, How to Barter to Get What You Want) Bartering is an incredibly powerful tool. If you are unfamiliar with bartering, the concept is basically this: find someone who needs your services, and instead of cash, allow them to compensate you with a non-monetary form of payment. A Somewhat Dated Photo of my BioCube 29G Here's a real-world example. My LFS has been around for 27 years! Can you believe that? What was a little unbelievable was that their website looked like it was 27 years old Being a web designer, I spoke to a few people and became connected with the store's owner. He was in need of a new site, and I was eager to work for store credit to feed my new addiction. We worked it out, and I made more than enough to pick up a BioCube 29G, Stand, Live Rock, and eventually Coral, Fish, Equipment, etc. I also used my Store Credit for a BioCube 8G for my Office: Use the skills that you have to get what you want. I realize not everyone is a web designer, but every business needs a variety of work done, and if you offer to work for store credit rather than cash, I feel you'll have a great chance at working something out with the other party. The Free RO/DI Unit After several months of hauling jugs of RO and Pre-mixed Saltwater to and from my LFS, I decided it was time to snatch up an RO/DI unit. By this time, I had burned through my store credit, and needed to look else where. As it turned out, I didn't have to look any further than this forum. I found a very well respected member of the forum who needed my services and had a new RO Unit to barter for. We worked out a deal, I did the work, and I now own a great little RO Unit. Did I mention that I got the add-on DI canister for free from the manufacturer? That's another story ... Buy Used if You Need Something New This probably goes without saying, but if you need a piece of equipment for your reef, check forums before you shop around online or even in an LFS. In general, the worst a product looks in photo, the least amount of money the seller will get for the item. Case in point, I picked up Two (2) Koralia 1's for $15. That's $7.50 each, and they retail for around $30. That's like buying equipment for 75% off. Here's the reason why they were so cheap: Before Photo After I Cleaned Them Photo A simple Vinegar Bath did this with minimal effort on my part. They look brand new. Keep Your Eyes Open for Deals Just last week, I was browsing the forum and I saw the word "FREE" ... now, normally "FREE" things come with a price ... and this time, it was only Shipping costs. Can you believe that I scored this fantastic Ring Saw from a fellow reefer for FREE? I'm going to have some SERIOUS fragging fun with this thing. Use Coupons/Discounts Right now, business are trying a lot of tricks to get people to buy products. My advice? Allow them to interact with you and share the latest deals ... sign up for e-mail newsletters/alerts, follow them if they have a Twitter account, and watch for coupon codes to be posted across the Internet. Here's a current deal: Until the end of the year, Drs. Foster & Smith have $5.99 shipping on many items ... a simple Google search yields many $5 Off Your Order Coupons. What does that mean? It basically means that shipping is now $0.99, assuming that you spend at least $5.00 on merchandise (the $5.00 coupon is $5.00 off a purchase of $5.00 or more). Pay it Forward Many people in the hobby have a "Pay it Forward" attitude. If you are new to the hobby and you don't know of any other local reefers, join a local reefing community. Veterans to the hobby are often willing to pass down frags of coral for free or at little cost. In general, people like helping other people in this hobby ... embrace that. When it's your turn, Pay it Forward. Feel free to share your Frugal Reefing experiences! Link to comment
Sushi Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Don't forget the concept of growing corals for fragging and eventually trading! This way you won't have to pay for corals and can just trade your way to what you want Link to comment
Bonsai Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Don't forget the concept of growing corals for fragging and eventually trading! This way you won't have to pay for corals and can just trade your way to what you want That was going to my next installment Thanks for the tip! Link to comment
Deleted User 6 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Great guide, Bonsai! One thing, don't be hesitant to wait on the good deals to come. You can't rush your tank anyways, so giving it time to mature while you shop around and wait on that perfect deal is win/win. Also, get involved with your local reef club, or try to find people near you on this site. Trade corals and build that network of reefers that you can share with. So far, every frag in my tank (not many, lol) came from a local hobbyist - and I didn't pay for most of them! Or Pay it forward, like you said, lol. Link to comment
duderubble Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I recently traded a decent but unused guitar for a bunch of corals that would've cost me $250 - 300 at local stores. I didn't have money but this guitar had been unused for years. Check out tank thread to see all the corals, all the coral but a red mushroom rock and a few zoas were from this trade. Link to comment
nanoreefnate Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 when i first got into the "clubing" thing in reefing at the first and second swaps i recived so much free stuf i could barely fit it into my tank! thanks to all the NCRC memb's out there! Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 there is also careful craigslist shopping..... there are those few that dont have what it takes, or are moving and need to get rid of equipment or livestock fast... you can get anything under the sun for your tank if your paitent....happy hunting! also, dont turn down whole set ups just because you dont need the extra equiment....those items could be bartered later Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Don't forget the concept of growing corals for fragging and eventually trading! This way you won't have to pay for corals and can just trade your way to what you want I finance everything tank related this way, have for at least a couple of years now. Link to comment
nanoreefnate Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I finance everything tank related this way, have for at least a couple of years now. hey weetie. what your avatat pic about? lookd like a face to meat first but now it look like a leaf. LOL Link to comment
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