holyherbiness Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 I am asking everyone who has the standard AGA 10 gallon to give me the total cost (and specs, if possible) of their 10 gallon nanoreef!!! Include everything! If this is your onyl tank, include salt mix, r/o or whatever! thanks! EDIT: Although I have not set it up yet, and am not a DIY type of person (only thing i ever built was a brine shrimp hatchery), here are my planned specs 96w powerquad (100 dollars) Glass top with cutout in back (15 dollars) Live Rock : 20 pounds or so: 100 dollars Live sand: 15 pounds (60 dollars) Powerhead, possibly? : 15 dollars Cheap hydrometer : 6 dollars Salt mixes : 20ish dollars Link to comment
cilantro72 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 I am not even close to done yet, but here is what I have done, and what I expect to do: Tank: Free False Percula: Free Stand: $40 Heater: $15 Substrate: $20 HOB Fuge: $55 Test Kits: $80 Refractometer: $35 Food/Salt/Etc: $55 Powerheads: $35 LR: $50 Remora: $100 T5 HO Lighting: $125 Dripper: $50 Pump/Tank/Lights for sump/Fuge: $75 Overflow: $30 That puts me ~$765. And most of that was second hand or DIY purchases. Yet to buy: Iceprobe Chiller w/ Controller ($140) Corals Another false perc Total of ~900 - and again, that is only with the one clown as livestock. And then, after waiting awhile, I can get the fun stuff... Link to comment
FAC_WNY Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 The rule of thumb I've always heard is $35-$40/gallon before livestock costs. So that makes a 10gal roughly $350-$400 to setup properly. This is not a hobby for the cheap or the faint of heart..lol. And its probably not the best hobby for a highschool student if you don't have a stellar job and/or a lot of help from your parents. If I were you, and wanted to get my feet wet with marine tanks, I'd setup a little FOWLR and keep some clowns or gobies. That way you save a ton of money on lighting and you still get to know the "basics" of marine tanks..so that when you get a bit more money, you can do everything "right" and also have a good basic grounding in marine biology, chemistry, and biochemistry. Just my thoughts.... Fred Link to comment
Cellenzweig Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 There's a lot more hidden costs. You'll want a calcium and alk test. And recommend ammonia, nitrite & nitrate, not only for cycling, but for diagnosis if you have a problem. You'll definately need a powerhead. Salt is not just the initial cost, it'll be ongoing as you have to do water changes. You also need RO water. imo, the glass top isn't needed. it'll trap heat and prevent gas exchange. Eventually, you'll probably want to get a hob filter and some macro algae. Livestock, new corals, etc, tec.. Really SW tanks are an ongoing expense. Link to comment
Danielson330 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 I've had my nanocube for about six weeks and I've spent roughly $500 on it with a couple of fish, LR, minor upgrades, and only one coral and it has a long way to go before I'm happy with it. All the small stuff really adds up Link to comment
TheEvilbbug Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 i don't wanna talk about it =( Link to comment
Farrah Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 I've had my nanocube for a few months now... I'd have to say that I've spent upwards of $1000 including my livestock, test kits, equipment, LR, LS, stand etc. Ugh, I think I have a probem Link to comment
sdbeazley Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...ght=price+lists Link to comment
Cellenzweig Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 i don't wanna talk about it =( I know what you mean. I prefer not to keep track of what I've spent. It's easier that way... Link to comment
holyherbiness Posted June 26, 2004 Author Share Posted June 26, 2004 Heh I suspected as much I have the funds, parents and years of savings, but heck, gonna keep researching and stuff. My friend has a 55 gallon reef tank (more fish than rocks/corals), but he does not plunker down much money for it (ie: tap water, warm temps, etc). Link to comment
jojomichael Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 15G Tank: $35 Hood: $50 Stand: $50 72W PC: $60 Jalli 18W: $40 CPR Aquafuge: $90 Powerheads: $30 Heater: $15 LS: $20 LR: $150 Corals: $100+ Total: $640 ... fish, food, test kits, ro water, salt mix not included Link to comment
FAC_WNY Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Okay...as an example..I'm just pricing out and assembling my 15 gallon system..here goes: 15 gallon tank-(lying around the house) ~$25 10 gallon tank (sump)-(lying around) ~$15 DIY Stand/hood ~$80 Lighting (400w MH)-(have ballast lying around) ~$250 Plumbing supplies ~$200 Return Pump ~$80 Spare 'heads (lying around) ~$50 Heater (lying around) ~$30 cost of drilling tank (5 holes) ~$100 LR (20 lbs, give or take) ~$150 Miscellaneous junk (kits, hydro, salt, RO) ~$100 I think that about covers it..so lets see...a total (again..before livestock) of.....$1080.00. Luckily..as I say..I have most of that stuff lying around not being used from previous systems. The only things I still need to buy (now that I've decided to drill) are the drilling itself, the stand, and my plumbing supplies. This is not a cheap hobby..lol.. Edit: Oh yeah...and a Bak-Pak 2R (another thing I've got lying around) at roughly $150..so that jacks itup to..lessee..$1230.00? Link to comment
Spasticat Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 over a grand, still better than a new computer of equal cost ! Link to comment
holyherbiness Posted June 26, 2004 Author Share Posted June 26, 2004 Originally posted by Spasticat over a grand, still better than a new computer of equal cost ! Well, I disagree. I spend about 3 hours minimum on the computer each day and without it, I wouldn't be able to see all these reef pictures and play my video games and edit my photos etc. But then again, I'm hipper than all of you. Just kidding, but damn, what an expensive hobby. I only have about half a grand to shell out on this. Link to comment
bobbittle Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 10 g tank - 10 2 x 40w CSL PC light - 85 100w heater - 25 eheim ecco 2233 (had on different tank) - 99 10# nano marshal at premium - 35 15# sand - 20 thermometer - 3 15 snails - 2 bucks each 10 hermits - 3 bucks each 2 damsels - 6 bucks each 1 coral banded shrimp - 16 bucks sooo.....365 before my employee discount (25%), so about $274 with it. No coral in that tank yet. Link to comment
rossmort Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 Originally posted by FAC_WNY The rule of thumb I've always heard is $35-$40/gallon before livestock costs. So that makes a 10gal roughly $350-$400 to setup properly. This is not a hobby for the cheap or the faint of heart..lol. And its probably not the best hobby for a highschool student if you don't have a stellar job and/or a lot of help from your parents. If I were you, and wanted to get my feet wet with marine tanks, I'd setup a little FOWLR and keep some clowns or gobies. That way you save a ton of money on lighting and you still get to know the "basics" of marine tanks..so that when you get a bit more money, you can do everything "right" and also have a good basic grounding in marine biology, chemistry, and biochemistry. Just my thoughts.... Fred So is the difference just no corals? Can you still have shrimp in a FOWLR (Sounds like a stupid question to be since it is Fish only but I am curious if inverts are in that group). Link to comment
sdbeazley Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 I`m in highschool, My parents and family have not payed for anything. All of the money for my fish and corals comes from the job I do on the weekend. I`ve sppent about 200 dolars on corals so far and it can easily be done by a high school kid. Most of my friends make more money then me. trust me the 60 dollars I make a weekend doesn`t go far but I make it work. Link to comment
flyboy01 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 I just set mine up. Tank: $10 Green Chromis: $0-already had it Heater: $0-already had it Substrate: $6 (Got a 26 lb bag of aragonite on clearance) Aquaclear 500: $0-already had it Test Kits: $0-already had it Salinity meter: $0-already had it 10 lb LR: 0-already had it Powerheads: $0-already had it 55w 50/50 PC lights $30 Salt: $5 10G R/O water: $5 Total cost to date: $56 To stock it, I will be propigating peices from my other corals. Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 Flyboy your list uses lots of stuff that many people dont have to start out with.... so that could be the 56 dollar factor happening! Personally I'm in high school and really have found a happy medium between spending my weekends at the lfs buying and working my tail off somewhere else....... working at the lfs and then taking things home! lol its great to have a job there. Link to comment
flyboy01 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 Yeah, I only set it up beacuse I had almost everything aleady, makes a good Quarantine tank for new fish. Link to comment
holyherbiness Posted June 27, 2004 Author Share Posted June 27, 2004 Haha Flyboy good work The only thing I have is the heater and filter. Link to comment
FAC_WNY Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 1) Yes, you can have shrimp/other aposymbiotic/non-photosynthetic invertebrates in a FOWLR system...PROVIDED the fish you keep aren't going to find them tasty. The main difference between a smallish FOwLR and a smallish reef in my mind (seeing as you can't keep the larger interesting non-reef safe fish in a smaller tank) is the fact that a FOWLR of that size won't have coral (to save on lighting expenses, which, if you take a look, is one of the most expensive, if not THE most expensive individual item on most people lists). 2)Can it be done for less? Can it be done by a high school student? Sure...why not? My main concern, however, is that if you don't have the money just "lying around" you tend to skimp or do things in such a way that it will come back to haunt you in the future (i.e.--not using RO water, not having enough flow, not using the right supplements/making enough wc's). I speak on this subject with some experience, as I setup my first system when I was in college...and did it on a very tight budget....and "skimped". The tank lasted about 6 months before it "blew up"....and I definately attribute that to not having enough money to "do it right the first time". My other concern with reefing on a very tight budget is....what happens when something goes wrong? You unexpectedly blow an expensive lightbulb...your tank gets sick...a powerhead dies? Reefing is a hobby with many unexpected and very pricey problems. (My favourite piece of advice on reefing--"In a reef tank, only BAD things happen quickly") However..like I said..if you have the determination to save up for those "rainy days" and do things "right"...then by all means...start a reef whenever you want. Cheers, Fred Link to comment
holyherbiness Posted June 27, 2004 Author Share Posted June 27, 2004 how many watts/gallon do you think is suitable for a FOWLR system? Link to comment
FAC_WNY Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 You could run a FOWLR without any lighting at all if thats the way you wanted to do it..lol. Not sure of the aesthetic value/how much the fish are going to like it..but you could. A lot of FOWLR's are only lit like you'd light a FW tank of similar size (i.e. with standard NO fluoros). There's no rule of thumb here...only what you feel looks "nice". Cheers, Fred Link to comment
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