ZackG Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Well, I figured up the costs of most of everything, and here are the supplies and their prices. Most of them would probably be ordered from Drs. Foster & Smith. Bio Wheel 125- $15.19 Bio Wheel 125 Filter Cartridge x3 (for chemical and mechanical)-$5.59 MiniJet 404 pump-$12.99 Tronic 100w heater- $16.99 Glass floating thermometer- $1.99 Deluxe Laborett Test Kit-$13.99 SeaTest Hydrometer-$7.49 10g tank- $10 96w powercompact fixture from hellolights.com-$97 Live Rock 10lbs-around $40 Seachem Reef Pack (3 100mL bottles of calcium, iodine, and some other thing)-$7.99 30lb Aragonite Sand- $17.99 + $4.50 extra shipping 50g jug of Reef Crystals Salt-$14.99 + $2.50 Stuff to add later 3 Nassarius Snails-$6.00 3 Turbo Snails- $6.00 2 Astraea Conehead Snails-$4.00 2 Scarlet Reef Hermit-$6.00 Totals around $291 :*( :*( :*( Any other options or suggestions? Thanks. Link to comment
JLTRUK Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 well, the site you specified is a bit pricey. I would shop around some more. start with www.marinedepot.com Link to comment
NaNO ReeFiN Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Don't be shocked. All $291 got me was a canopy and lights for my 29 gal. Link to comment
ReefMad1967 Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 try premium aquatics. I have great experience with them and prices are good as well. Link to comment
Pikelet Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Originally posted by ZackG Well, I figured up the costs of most of everything, and here are the supplies and their prices. Most of them would probably be ordered from Drs. Foster & Smith. Bio Wheel 125- $15.19 Bio Wheel 125 Filter Cartridge x3 (for chemical and mechanical)-$5.59 MiniJet 404 pump-$12.99 Tronic 100w heater- $16.99 Glass floating thermometer- $1.99 Deluxe Laborett Test Kit-$13.99 SeaTest Hydrometer-$7.49 10g tank- $10 96w powercompact fixture from hellolights.com-$97 Live Rock 10lbs-around $40 Seachem Reef Pack (3 100mL bottles of calcium, iodine, and some other thing)-$7.99 30lb Aragonite Sand- $17.99 + $4.50 extra shipping 50g jug of Reef Crystals Salt-$14.99 + $2.50 Scrap the Minijet 404 .... a bad pump ..... go with a small maxijet instead Go with Seachem test kits instead of the Laborett multi. Try to find a precision hydrometer small enough to fit your tank. Tropic Marin make one I think. Swinging arm hydrometers like the Seatest are very unreliable and not much cheaper than a decent precision type. Link to comment
ngericke Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Scrap the bio-wheel also No need for a hang on Link to comment
zzpw3x Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 I worked hard at trying to find the cheapest place and if you want to go with just one online company, drsfostersmith is as good as anyone. If you want to save every penny and order from mulitple companies you will probably only save around $15. It's not really worth it IMO considerening it takes hours to determine who is the cheapest for every component. FYI, do some online searching and you will find a $5 coupon code for drsfostersmith. I used it and it worked but that was about a month ago and I don't have it now. Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 I got most of my stuff from Drs. Foster Smith, and later Petsolutions.com. Both were very good and prices are about the same, cheap. My 10g completely setup with test kits and stuff is at about $500. Then you need to add corals.... Link to comment
ZackG Posted December 24, 2003 Author Share Posted December 24, 2003 AS1111 Maxi-Jet 400 Powerhead / MP 400 $12.95 $12.95 EJ1113 Ebo Jager 75 w Heater 10 inch UL Approved $15.49 $15.49 SC4151 Seachem Multitest: Marine Basic $25.99 $25.99 CS0930 CaribSea Aragamax Sugar-Sized Sand 30 lb+$17.00Shipping* $35.90 $35.90 CL1711 20" 2X40W PowerCompact/Moon-Lite Hood +$8.00Shipping* $122.95 $122.95 AS3111 Millennium 1000 Filter $16.49 $16.49 SC1711 Seachem Reef Pack: Enhancer $8.89 $8.89 Total: $238.66 This is at MarineDepot.com and it does not include live rock (about another $40) so its a bit cheaper but still not the best.) the millennium filter would be for water circulation mainly. Did I forget something? :*( Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 You need a calcium test, that is a must. Don't need it while cycling however. Most likely you will want to get B-ionic or some for of balanced calcium/alk. doser. Need a way to top off tank also, and source of pure water. Turkey baster is a good one too Link to comment
Acoustic Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Just figure on dropping $500.00 right away. Then start thinking about corals. Link to comment
aj1au Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 I remember when i walked into a LFS and saw a 'nemo set up' for $400. Didnt have live rock or anything, just a fish, tank and filter with 10W NO lighting - my wife thought this was way too much. Lucky im paying cash for everything Link to comment
Jeff D2 Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Krispy hit it, we all seem to forget that the $300-$400 we spend on tank lights ect, dont mean a thing unless the source of water ultra pure. RO/DI unit= add another $150.00 to the price tag:( Jeff Link to comment
Winter Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 no need for a ro/di for a 10 gallon if you live near a wal-mart. I've been using their ro/di water (sold in the purple labled jugs i think) and it works fantastic. and ~shudder~ I really try not to think about how much I spent on my initial setup. I spread it out over several months and I figure that if I add it all up: the total would come out to around $400-$500. (again before adding any corals or inverts). your planned set up doesn't sound too bad. do scrap the bio wheel and go with a peguin mini (no wheel) or a small aquaclear hob (again no bio-media). They add nice downward circulation and a place to add carbon or other media if you need it. good luck. Link to comment
fishtankbabe Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Don't feel bad, I'm already up to $900 for my 29 gal, and it doesn't have a drop of water in it yet. I second the recommendation on the aquaclear HOB. I have several of them for my FW tanks and I really like them. Very versatile. Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Aquaclears are workhorses, they are all I will use for power filters. Link to comment
BlackSumbel Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 My 5.5gl is already into the $300 range, and that's going Ghetto. I tell people to assume about $100 per gallon for a SW tank. It's pretty much right... even my ghetto setup is verging on my own price quotes. -Sumbel. Link to comment
faust9 Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 If you want an Ro/Di filter, give this a try. I have one, and it works great. I got an additional 3.5 gal storage tank for $10 from a local hardware store (nylon shell, non-metal) and I replaced all of the piercing valves with dedicated components . So, for less than $100 I have a good water purifier. They don't have any 75 GPD's listed but if I were a betting man, I'd say that they will shortly. Link to comment
ZackG Posted December 28, 2003 Author Share Posted December 28, 2003 If I have to spend $1000 on it I might as well forget about it. No way can I afford that much. Link to comment
tylernt Posted December 28, 2003 Share Posted December 28, 2003 I spent less than $400 on my 10g. $100 lights, $30 PHs, $20 glasstop, $15 heater, $10 light timer, $15 battery backup airpump, $10 powerstrips, $60ish LR/LS, plus about $100 in corals/fish/shrimp/cleanup crew. Of course miscellany and the shipping and handling on some of that stuff pushed it over $400, and the test kits were another few greenbacks. Oh and distilled water was another $10. Oh yeah and salt, that was another $20. Oh yah, $8 hydrometer. And a bucket to mix the salt in. And a MagFloat. And... Fine, I spent less than $600. :pout: Link to comment
caja Posted December 29, 2003 Share Posted December 29, 2003 Zack, I sure do hope you took abs up on his offer. Too good to pass up imo. Link to comment
Coral Dilema Posted December 29, 2003 Share Posted December 29, 2003 im over $1000 on my 15g nano, and I had a left over skimmer from a few years ago. Shipping costs will kill you. Everything will be moved into a 75g in a few months . .probably going to be a while though. The 15 will become my hospital/quarantine tank. The cost was so high because I knew I was going to be setting up a bigger tank in the spring, so I got stuff good enough for it, like an icecap 660 instead of a $100 CF retro kit. Link to comment
movingshadow Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 I'd say I spent about 350 on the equipment for my 5.5 though I had some stuff and got hooked up on others... though I honestly don't even want to know how much I've spent on it (and the inhabitants) up untill now... we (at least I do) always like to forget that it is an ongoing and perpetual investment... Link to comment
snookface1 Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 I agree with the group, You may start thinking you will spend $300, but it will grow and grow and grow. After a while you don't even think about it. What's $50 here and $75 there. Never add it up just spend and think about what you are going to get next. Link to comment
yeroc40 Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Here is a spreadsheet I have been keeping thus far, I hope my wife doesn't find this:blush: Link to comment
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