Usual start up costs

[rossmort]

I have seen threads that are super budget and also some that are very spendy. I was just wondering if people could give me an idea what the average price of a 5.5-12 gallon tank set up would run. I am going to be setting up a 125g FW tank in my apartment in august (Wish I could just make that salt but it will probably be moved in a year so I don't think it would be a good idea. Over the last couple days I have become very intriqued by these little nano's (Like many I was under the impression that something that small was impossible, now I see differently!).

 

Sorry if this is a very broad question but if you can give me any direction or even point me to a thread that is what I am asking that I might have missed it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks, Ross

[TroyT]

I use the rule of $100 per gallon. That is what I told my wife long ago and she makes sure I don't go over that budget for setup cost. That includes equipment and stocking, not the long term cost.

 

 

EDIT: Some people will say I am crazy for using this as a budget, others will say I am crazy for telling my wife. In the long run, I have found this is what it comes to, almost, give or take a couple bucks per 100.

[rossmort]

Well that sucks! :-)

[SeaSide]

$100 per gallon? OMG!!! That too much.

Oh... well... I almost spent that much. Duh...

 

rossmort.

 

You will need at least basic things like... tank, live rock, sand, salt, hydrometer, temp meter, one or two powerhead etc.

 

And... for the rest of setup... It depens on what you want to keep in there. If all you want is one or two fish... you can probabally spend less than a few hundred dollors. If you want corals, then its little different story. Also, the story will not be the same on soft corals and hard corals.

So, I want you to make up your mind about what you want to have in your tank, and ask again. People will give you better estimate then.

[rossmort]

Shoot, I guess I did mess up and not say that I would love to have some soft corals (Girls love finding nemo and he had an anemone which I would get later down the road of course- LOL) which would mean quite a bit spent on lights right? I have a 5.5g FW on my desk right now and after finding your site my betta just isn't that fun to watch anymore! I have 1 AC200 for it, sucky hood w/ a CF screw in LOA bulb but I don't even think its enough for my tank as it is.

So I am thinking I would need:

-Heater (the one I have is junk and would not trust it with "real" fish)

-Marine Test Kits/ hydrometer

-RO water

-Salt

-Live Sand (Will live rock seed the sand?)/ Live Rock

-Lights, CF I am guessing since MH is SO EXPENSIVE!

 

If it would be the same start up cost (since a 10g is only 10 bucks) I almost think I would be better of getting a 10g.

Thanks for the help.

[CU_Reefer]

100 per gal is not a bad estimate but it can be done for less. Your biggest initial cost will be live rock and lighting. It is possible to set up a 5-10 gal for around $300 if you can find good deals on equipment and build some of the stuff your self. Look around the DIY section. It is an expensive hobby though any way you look at it. The trick is, don't keep track of how much you spend and don't tell the girlfriend how much you spend on "a box of water".

[rossmort]

Haha, there are so many hobbies like that. When I was buying my last guitar the guy was telling me how I needed to make sure to buy all my toys before I tie the knot or I will be in trouble a lot. I am scared because I like toys!

[surfy]

Yeah it's exspensive indeed.

 

I probably spent around $300 on my 7g unstocked. Most of the corals in it came from my larger reef tank so I don't really know what the stocked price would be.

 

You have to shop smart to keep that price down so don't do impulse buys. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is.

 

The setup price of nano's compared to larger tanks isn't much different, again it all depends on what you want to keep.

 

Not only do you have to add up total setup costs but water changes, bulb replacement, food, etc.

[huari]

$15 5.5 AGA tank

$16 50W hagen small heater

$16 Minijet 404

$10 live sand

$25-50 live rock at $5/lb

$10 water from store (5 to fill, 5 for topoff,WC)

$10 salt for 50G water

$12 two 6500K PC bulbs

$12 sockets and extension cords for bulbs

 

about $150 for the bare essentials

in reality, for you're going to stay in the hobby any length of time, your lights would be upgraded with a bit of actinic and inc wattage, an RO/DI or distiller would help, test kits (ph, nitrate, phos, alk), hydrometer/refractometer, a refugium or large HOB powerfilter for the heater, an auto-topoff, etc

 

All this can support soft corals, snails, crabs, shrimps, and 1 small goby

[emarti20]

I did my 10G for about $400 without corals. I'm just starting with corals which I figure will run me another $200-$300 over the course of the next 6-12 months. I was tracking costs at the beginning but gave up quickly when I saw them skyrocketing. What really starts eating money is all of the little things. A decent test kit can run $50, lights are $100+, rock is $75+, powerheads/heater/AC300 $100+.

[SeaSide]

Since you want soft corals, you may need some PC lights. MH is better choice since you want anemone later down the road.

 

Yup... this is freaggin expensive hobby.

 

The bad thing about this hobby is... expensive initial setup cost.

The good thing about this hobby is... you won't spend much once your tank is fully estabilished.

The ugly thing about this hobby is... you will spend money here and there, when you didn't do things right.

 

So, please research before buy things.

You will regret later, if you are in hurry now.

One of the best source is members gallery forum here at n-r.com. Check out what they have.

[rossmort]

Originally posted by huari

$15 5.5 AGA tank

$16 50W hagen small heater

$16 Minijet 404

$10 live sand

$25-50 live rock at $5/lb

$10 water from store (5 to fill, 5 for topoff,WC)

$10 salt for 50G water

$12 two 6500K PC bulbs

$12 sockets and extension cords for bulbs

 

about $150 for the bare essentials

in reality, for you're going to stay in the hobby any length of time, your lights would be upgraded with a bit of actinic and inc wattage, an RO/DI or distiller would help, test kits (ph, nitrate, phos, alk), hydrometer/refractometer, a refugium or large HOB powerfilter for the heater, an auto-topoff, etc

 

All this can support soft corals, snails, crabs, shrimps, and 1 small goby

 

Thanks for the info. Answers a lot. I plan on later in life converting my 125 to salt even though it isn't drilled so I am guessing I would just have the 5.5 as you have it. Excuse my ignorance buy you say 1 goby--would any clowns work? Also, would I want to run my ac200 with mechanical media or change it into a sort or refugium. I am very new to this so I am sorry if these are dumb questions.

 

For the lighting you say the 6500k PC's but then talk about upgrades--Would they NEED to be upgraded or would it be for viewing "pleasure" :-)

Thanks for the help.

[fortheloveofcrabs]

Okay, I HAD the tank and the hood (5.5 gal)... I don't test (HA!) - except for salinity. My tank setup (I had a HOB filter) cost me quite a bit I just needed some bulbs, rock, sand, salt and a heater...

 

Heater: $25

Lights: Coralife 10 watt 50/50 X 2 = $40

Rock: 9 lbs at $9 = $81!!!!!!

Sand: $15

Salt: $20

Hydrometer: $20

Hermit crabs: 5 at $5 = $25

Snails: 5 at $5 = $25

 

That was the start up:

 

$251

 

And I already had 'everything'. On top of that, every coral is a good $20, a shrimp is $25, the CHEAPEST fish is $9... Plus, every time (for the first say 3 or 4) you buy a new creature, you buy a different type of food, so add $4 a shot. Fish keeping is not cheap. Fresh water or not... Even silly clown loaches are $15 a peice, and discus are a cool $100.

 

I am thinkabout building a 'cheap' DIY MH / CF hood that's gonna cost me just over $500... Plus I have to add a chiller, which at very best is $250 with a controller... Oi!!!

 

It is a wonderful hobby, and I could not recommend it more. It has brought many riches to my life... but has also taken many away.

 

All I'm saying, is be prepaired: On what to buy, and to spend more than you expect!

[fortheloveofcrabs]

Oh yeah, and just like this post, TAX is just another add on...

 

(especially if you're in Canada!!!!)

[rossmort]

Originally posted by fortheloveofcrabs

Oh yeah, and just like this post, TAX is just another add on...

 

(especially if you're in Canada!!!!)

 

Ugg, you are right--Probably wont be buying my stuff online (tax free) as it would be much more so I will have to pay the Man :-)

 

I believe when I do it I will most likely stay with a smaller light system and I guess wont be able to go with the anemonie like I was wanting. I just can't justify over 200 in lighting (MH) on the little tank when I am going to be setting up a larger one in the future.

[ReeferMonkey]

I'm forced to agree that $100 per gallon is right on, esp. with nano tanks.

 

You guys are also forgetting key things like test kits. Even the cheapo ones aren't inexpensive, and if you go Salifert you can pay quite a bit of money for something that is necessary.

 

I've dropped around $700 on my MB7. Granted, I have all salifert kits (not even all the ones I need), only a single 32w retro, a refractometer (essential, esp. for small tanks), haven't built my custom hood yet, no MH, a few zoanthids and a couple of montis, no fish, no shrooms... etc. etc. My tank isn't anywhere near being full.

 

It's a great hobby, but it's not a cheap one. Don't skimp on the important stuff (lights-skimmer, if you get one-test kits-refractometer), you'll just end up buying the better model later on down the road.

 

 

PS- Don't forget that you can't use your FW tank for SW if you used copper at any point in the life cycle of the FW tank. Copper can and will absorb into the silicone and end up killing all your inverts. Keep that in mind.

[RandomLetters]

Now see I got lucky:

 

16g bowfront new $30

 

Corallife 20" 96w fixture $67

 

12lbs liverock Free

 

Ebo-jager 75watt heater $7

 

Hagen powerhead 201 Had laying around

 

Coral frags (GSP, Button Polyps, Ric) Free

 

Playsand $1

 

Yellow clown goby $4

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

Total $109

 

Nothing like working at a lfs to support your aquarium hobbies

[surfy]

If you plan on upgradeing in the future, do it from the get go.

On lighting you can get MH retro's so if you get two you can use one on the smaller tank and then later down the road you can use both for the larger tank.

I got mine from www.diyreef.com and they are very good quality retros.

If you have the mula check out the DE MH's.

 

I wouldn't say that you can't keep an anemone under PC's because there are many people that do.

I have had a BTA for about a year now under 64w PC's. Keeping water quality very good and keeping it fed is key to keeping them alive.

I only recommend a BTA since most other anemones do poorly in captivity.

I also wouldn't try one until you have some exsperiance keeping you reef tank alive and healthy.

Anemones can die quickly and polute your tank. They can also be hard to read when you are new to keeping them.

Another thing is they are very picky so if conditions change and they don't like it they will roam around the tank which can hurt other corals or it's self, plus some can get pretty big.

 

Just some personal advise,

If you plan on runing a larger reef tank down the road, buy a pre drilled reef ready tank. You will thank yourself later on, trust me.

 

This is a great, rewarding hobbie, just remember to tell yourself that over and over when you start droping all your money into a tank.

Most importantly, have fun.