Fender963 Posted July 23, 2002 Share Posted July 23, 2002 Just wondering how much I should expect to pay for everything after adding live rock and sand etc... So basically just for the price of live stock including fish, corals, invertabrates etc...... oh yeah it is a 10 gallon. Link to comment
anthony812 Posted July 23, 2002 Share Posted July 23, 2002 10 gallon? if you want to make it look really full...i would say ~$500 or else you can buy used parts and small frags from fellow nano reefers here for cheap...and like always..the fellow nano reefers' frags are way more healthier than the LFS .. Link to comment
NaNO ReeFiN Posted July 23, 2002 Share Posted July 23, 2002 I've spent roughly about 400 bucks on my 7 gal. tank. And my tank still looks soo empty.. :| I'm not quite sure how much it would costs for fish, corals, and inverts... it depends what you want and how you'd want to stock your tank... Link to comment
Strife Posted July 23, 2002 Share Posted July 23, 2002 i spent 450 dollars for my 7 gallon tank that includes 7 gallon AGA jbj desktop formosa lighting 2 18 watts LR & LS Powerhead $ powerfilter heater diy auto top off and the inhabitants... and im still spending ..hhehe Link to comment
Fishiebusiness Posted July 23, 2002 Share Posted July 23, 2002 I think 400-500 is the range for most 7-15 gallon setups. Link to comment
rickjg Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 Approx. $350. ALIFE 7 gallon tank, setup in February 2002 5 or 6 pounds of LR. (Fiji, Marshal Islands, Caribbean & Tonga) 3" to 4" deep live sand bed w/ small plenum area 1 - Coral Banded Shrimp 1 - Pink Skunk Clown 1 - Blue Legged Hermit Crab 2 - small turbo snails 4 - Bumble Bee Snails 1 - Euphyllia torch coral frag 1 - Euphyllia hammer coral frag 16 - Blue Mushrooms Many - Red Sea Pulsating Xenias 1 - unknown s.p. coral frag Misc (overgrown)macro algae Halimedia. Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 www.nishant.nano-reef.com it says on ther, though add about 30 bux to it because i havent updated it ain a few months nishant Link to comment
Crakeur Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 I would guess that I have spent close to $500 so far and the tank is not full yet. I have managed to score some freebies from a friend who works at my lfs (xenia should arrive this week) so hopefully my cost will be kept to that $500 area. Link to comment
Metznreef Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 well so for i only have one fish, some snails and a crab, so about $30B) Link to comment
Bocephous Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 Lets see, for my ten gallon... Tank-10.99 Glass top-9.99 Aqua-Clear 150-14.99 2x Zoomed 104 PH's-7.99ea 15.98pr. Live Sand #10-14.99 Live Fiji rock #20-Free from friend breaking down his tank Ballast kit-62.99 50/50 36W PC-22.99 Actinic 36W PC-19.99 Visitherm 25W heater-5.78 on clearance from work Gorgonia-Free from friend breaking down his tank Instant Ocean Salt-"Store use" from work False Percula Clownfish-"DOA" from work So...178.69 Of course tank is very empty atm. Also add over $500 dollars in supplies I used to make the tube steel & wood custom stand with built in electical outlets, circuit breakers, timers, and switches. Link to comment
DaveESPI Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 If U expect to spend less than 500.00 (1000.00 with all the extras..) yer mistaken. If U want to do it right, do it right from the start... Ghetto tanks are NOT the way to go. Do a reef "cost effectively" .... not "cheeply" do the research, plan, plan, plan again, then buy. your corals and fish will tanks U...... Link to comment
Nishant3789 Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 hehe, imo, the esiest way to do a tank is slowly. do it over long long itime as u get the money buy more corals of course there are ruleson what u need. u need to get all the bvase things for a reef first.... tank, stand, light, liverock/sand, current etc. nishant Link to comment
MattGecko Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 I past the $500.00 mark & still going!! Mini-Bow Link to comment
camustang Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 My costs for my 21g nano-reef are as follows: HARDWARE AND SET-UP $200 ViaAqua 680 w/ 72W of PC lighting $30 20lbs. of live sand $12 Visitherm 100W heater $25 Big Digital Temp Alert thermometer $20 Rio 400 Powerhead for additional circulation $265 EcoSystem40 refugium/filter (instead of protein skimmer) $99 22lbs. of Fiji Live Rock $651 SUB-TOTAL for items before livestock LIVESTOCK $35 Bubble coral $40 Frogspawn $35 Open brain $12 Xenia $20 Green Polyps $20 Actinodiscus mushrooms $25 Colt $80 Goniopora (OUCH! Wife bought it w/o asking me) $35 Pulsing star polyps $15 Saddleback clown $20 Six-line wrasse $20 Yellow watchman goby $10 Cleaner shrimp $9 Brittle star $8 Yellow sea cucumber $40 Maxima clam $30 Assorted hermits, snails, abolone and conch $454 SUB-TOTAL for livestock OTHER $250 RO/DI unit $40 Misc. storage containers and hoses for water $150 Various test kits (Na2, Na3, Ca, Sr, I2, Alk, O2, pH, etc.) $100 Misc. chemicals (b-ionic, pH buffer, Kalkwasser, etc.) $540 SUB-TOTAL for other items $454 SUB-TOTAL for livestock $651 SUB-TOTAL for hardware and set-up $540 SUB-TOTAL for other $1,645 GRAND TOTAL (more or less) PLUS money salt, etc. (recurring) Wow...that's a lot of cash! Link to comment
gobies Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 Dang. I'm still under $200 on mine...because I used stuff I already had, bought stuff used, and lucked out on the free stuff. Anything with a * is something I already had kicking around the apartment. * 2x 10g tank: [$15 -- got one used] * Fluval 1 internal filter: [$15] MicroJet: $12 Lighting: $25 (incandescent hood w/ mogul-base CFs at 6500K, clamp-on fixture w/ mogul base CF on caulerpa tank) * Power filter [$6 on clearance] * 2x Heaters: [$10 on clearance] Thermometer: $2 Live sand: free from helping tear down a friend's tank Live rock: $28, got some free w/ the caulerpa Hammer, star polyp, flower leather, 5 hermit crabs: $15 for all Mushroom rock: $10 1 Turbo snail: $2 6 unknown snails: $2 2-4 astraea snails: hitchhiked on the free LR Caulerpa: free for helping tear down a frag tank & 'fuge setup Cost of new stuff: $96 Total cost, including cost of stuff I already had: $142 Obviously, the lighting is going to get upgraded... as soon as I figure out what I'm going to do with this setup long-term (check my poll in the beginner's forum). The current lighting on the coral tank will get moved to the caulerpa tank. Link to comment
SLOreefer Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 ive spent about 200 and my tank is startin to get full. however my rock and sand and stand came for free. ive also got many corals either free or at cost since i work at the lfs. *10 gal tank 9.99 hood (diy) 11.99 *stand Csl retro-fit 65 *aquaclear 101 powerhead rio 50 powerhead 17.99 *penguin mini hang on 8.99 *20lbs LR *10lbs LS LIVESTOCK gsp-5 *gsp with green centers yellow umbrella leather-4 xenia-7 button polyps-11 capnella-14 mushrooms-6 *rose anenome Blaustomosa merletti-7 Blaustomosa wellsi-2 yellow polyps- 7 ricordia-5 Link to comment
mantisshrimp Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 Well for my reef about 100,000 in equipment so far........ Just kidding,my 10 gallon has run me about $248.00 and its only been set up since spring break 2002.That's a lot of money for a 13 year old! Link to comment
DaveESPI Posted July 24, 2002 Share Posted July 24, 2002 SO APARENTLY I WAS CORRECT IN ANOTHER THREAD HUH ? $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ heheheheh DAMN I hate being right. ! lmao... Link to comment
Todd March Posted July 25, 2002 Share Posted July 25, 2002 Dave Espi's advice is soooo good! Ghetto tanks are really a pain, and turn so many hobbiests off to the hobby before they ever get started! When I read about people putting power filters on tanks or internal sponge filters I cringe--these folks will inevitably not clean these mechanical filters and are in for nutrient nightmares and ensuing algae plagues...! As Dave said, PLAN, read, research and then PLAN, PLAN and then PLAN some more... If money is a factor, do it slowly and buy the best you can afford as you go... And long before you ever purchase ANYTHING, figure out what you want to keep; mushrooms and elegance coral need a very different tank setup than SPS's and photosynthetic clams do. Research is so very important for long term success on so many levels. Don't expect to keep Acropora under only PC bulbs, no matter how close you place the corals to the water's surface. Camustang's earlier post in this thread is a wonderful example of cost and in line with what a lot of hobbiests spend in my experience after helping many with their systems. After not having a personal reef tank in my home for some time, I decided to have one in the house, and wanted to do it right (all the SPS frags around are just too alluring and I am amazed at how low the price is on photosynthetic clams). I consider this a state of the art "simple" Nano for primarily SPS's and clams that I will spend at least $1000 on in livestock. The basic equipment is all bought now, and I will be setting it up this weekend. Here are the costs so far: 20 gallon acrylic tank $79 Stand for above tank $89 CPR Bak Pak 2R skimmer $118 Prefilter/Combo Box for above $34 Custom 23" X 10" Light Fixture $340 (2 X 70 Watt HQI halides 2 X 65 Watt Actinic PC's 2 X 3" cooling fans) Bulbs for above fixture $240 Teclima Micro Chiller $395 Sedra 2500 Pump for above $59 Magnum Return/Tubing $49 for chilling system Rio 600 (2) Power heads $24 Carib Sea Sugar Fine Aragonite $39 (60 lbs.) RO/DI system $175 Kent Marine 2.5 gallon Aquadose $22 Glass shelf for interior of cabinet $25 10 pounds GARF Grunge seed $75 35 lbs. Marshall Island Live Rock $230 Indo-Pacific Live sand Critter Kit $80 GRAND TOTAL: $2073 Sounds like a lot I know--but I knew what I wanted–a professional and "easy" tank for SPS corals and Tridacna clams with a small and unobtrusive lighting hood that included dual Actinic O3's for better color. I also have seen too many collections entirely wiped out during a single afternoon in the summers, and so I demanded a strong chilling system to protect my investment. I figured I would be spending in the $3000 range for tank and equipment and livestock. Be honest about reef aquaria with yourself–it costs a lot! You can DYI many things to save costs, but things like chillers and pumps are the heart of your system and can't be scrimped on. If someone wants to set up a reef tank for under $500, I always tell them to look to freshwater tanks; a coral reef aquarium, even a nano, is not an inexpensive hobby. I see people set up Ghetto nanos, and then always have problems, often killing our precious resource of live animals from coral reefs. Plan, study and figure out what you want to keep first, and then budget and freely spend the money on the right system for what you want. Todd Link to comment
camustang Posted July 25, 2002 Share Posted July 25, 2002 I think that Todd and Dave hit it on the head. The nice thing about Nanos is that you can have a reef for lesser money than a "typical" reef tank (50+gallons). But this doesn't mean that it will be inexpensive, just less expensive. I am hoping to set-up a 90g+ reef tank early next year (maybe ) but that is going to cost me $3,500+, NOT including livestock. There are things that a reefer can NOT buy, such as an RO/DI system, but only because he/she is getting water from a LFS or some other source. I truly belive that all three of my tanks (two fish only, and my reef) are doing well specifically because I use good quality water. I don't know if I would've splurged on a RO/DI system if I ONLY had my nano (21g). My LFS charges .20/gallon for RO/DI water, which would cover a LOT of water changes before I got to $200 for the unit myself. Since I have over 100g of tanks, it made sense to get one. If I'm going to spend $20-$60 (or more) on an animal for my tank (fish or coral or other), then I CERTAINLY don't want it to die from lack of sufficient equipment, or water quality, or whatever. These things cost TOO damned much! I also agree with some of the other statements about buying as you go. Nothing wrong with getting the tank, whatever lighting you have, and a filter system and putting a clown or two in there until the cash comes in for the other components. Link to comment
Lunchbucket Posted July 25, 2002 Share Posted July 25, 2002 umm, i won't even add it up or i will be too depressed. here are a few things to get an idea! AB aquaspacelight (used) - 240 20,000k Ushio bulb -60 mag 9.5 - 75 HOT siphon - 40 (bought from local reefer) Dual Temp controller - ~130 yeah that just the tip of the iceberg. i will stop before i shoot myself Lunchbucket Link to comment
yrureefing Posted July 25, 2002 Share Posted July 25, 2002 For equipment, Lunch wins. The reason is he is constantly upgrading. Lunch, how many times did you upgrade your lighting? Link to comment
Lunchbucket Posted July 25, 2002 Share Posted July 25, 2002 only twice from my original lighting. original 2x36w PC's (just not cutting it for my new SPS), then to a 70w DE MH and my 1x 36w 03 actinic (they were happier but not coloring and growing like they should), on to my current ligthing 150w aquaspacelight w/ a 20,000k Ushio and my 1x36w 03 actinic. that is it for now. i hope i never want to upgrade....nah i won't on this tank!! Promise. i need more sps corals now i have DIY'ed a lot of stuff which saved me a ton!! Lunchbucket Link to comment
SLOreefer Posted July 25, 2002 Share Posted July 25, 2002 ha ha lunch i remember when you were telling vmeron he was crazy for putting a 150w hqi over his 7 gallon. ha ha thats funny because now you have it over your 10. ohwell, i knew youd come around. (not like i have the lighting but once you get the better lighting you always want better) Link to comment
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