How much did your tank cost?

[Agnate80700]

I saw in the FW getting started forum they have a sticky thread about the start-up cost of a FW tank, and I saw there was a SW thread on the same subject but its way old (2003.) So I'm curious to see what people are paying these days?

I added up the rough costs of my 150 that is in its cycle stage. I probably wont sleep very well tonight (no joke...)

Equipment
150 gal. tank+stand.............$600
1030Watt Light system.........$815
RO/DI unit..........................$135
Sump/fuge w/ light...............$295
Aqua-C EV180.....................$329
Heater................................$40
Mag 12 pump.......................$130
Misc Plumbing + supplies......$70(~)
Wave2k wave maker...........$249
2x Rio Powerheads..............$65
Subtotal...............................$2728

Tank support items
3x 5gal bucket Reef Crystals $165
Testing/cleaning supplies.......$180
SeaChem marine buffer........$10
Powerstrips and timers......... $50(~)
2x 4oz AquaStik epoxy.........$20
Premium Blue Refractometer $52
1L bottle of Purigen...............$45
Subtotal...............................$522

Rock/Sand
60lb Live Tonga rock.............$275
45lb Live Fiji rock (online)......$165
45lb Live Fiji rock (lfs)...........$225
100lb Base reef rock.............$120
500lb Kolorscape Sand..........$34
Subtotal...............................$819

Grand Total:.........................$4081 (plus tax or shipping on some things) I tried to roll in the shipping but Im sure I forgot some.

Now for me, I ended up getting my sump and 45lb of fiji rock for free due to a shipping error and a crappy ebay seller who I got my money back from via paypal, so thats $460 off what I actually paid, but had I not been lucky, that grand total would be correct.

(edit - forgot the sand and refractometer)

 

[WaterPond]

im just starting mine out but:

30lbs of aragonate sand: $40
Aquaclear 70 PHs: $50
Salt(50gal mix): $20
live rock: $56
base rock: $30
heater: $20
hydrometer: $10
Lighting: $130
Skimmer: $30

Still need corals and fish, lol!

 

[ellisz]

Don't even want to know. Big tanks = big cost. I spent $450 on my skimmer and that about killed me!

 

[blazeyreef]

Don't even want to know. Big tanks = big cost. I spent $450 on my skimmer and that about killed me!

8O do I want to know what skimmer you got? Prob. not
Well I stopped keeping track for fear my parents would make me take it down (lol) but here is an estimation...( I will do the 29, then I will make a guess at what I will be spending on the 75...)
29gall tank/ lights/ plastic hood $79.99 (now I know I over paid but then I was stupid LOL)
aquaclear 50-$19.99
Heater-$15 ish
coralife superskimmer 125-$127.99
65watt current fixture-$63.99 (which I would have bought two...)
40 lbs. aragite (sp?) sand-$40 (and I got a discount )
hydrometer-$8.99
test kits-$23 ish
5gall buckets(2)-$6
_________________
22lbs. live rock from liveaquaria-$108 or so with shipping
12lbs. lace rock- $22
__________________
tomato clown-$17.99 (gave back due to aggression)
yellow tailed damsel-$5.99 (gave back because I added him first and he thought he owned the whole tank)
Pajama cardinal-$17.99 (sill have)
baby pajama cardinal-$14.99 (passed away...unknown reasons)
O. clown-free (still have), well I got him as a "trade" for the tomato
six line wrasse-$19.99-(passed away because he "crawled" under a rock and suffocation )
Six line wrasse-$19.99 (still have)
Bicolor blenny-($16.99)got with a $30 gift card for my b-day (still have)
Bangaii Cardinal-$17.99 (still have)
Royal Gramma-$17.99 (still have)
yellow tailed damsel-$4.99 (still have)

Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp-$29.89 (passed away because I diddnt acclimate long enough )

Candy cane coral frag-$10.99
2x mushroom frag-$10

not to mention all the salt etc. ... and I am prob. forgetting things....and also not including tax...
total
$738... I hope my parents dont see this LOL
I will make the estimate for the 75 later ...

Well a start on the estimate for the 75...
75gall/stand/glass top/pathetic stock light-$388 (mom does not want used tank...)
4x65watt coralife fixture-$130 or so off ebay...
hang on overflow-$110 or so
pvc/siclon/glass/buffers for turning 29 into sump... roughly $50 or so?
more sand-about $80 or so...prob. more
heater-$20
22lbs. live rock from live aquaria-$108
20lbs of lace rock-about $40
(that would give me 76lbs of rock all together)
$15 pouds of lace rock crushed for sump-$30
20 pounds of sand for refuge-$20
refractometer-$50
im forgeting things I know but...
but OMGOSH I just added up those and that is $1026...all of a sudden I dont feel to great...LOL

 

[lando]

I pleed the 5th!

 

[Agnate80700]

I pleed the 5th!

but OMGOSH I just added up those and that is $1026...all of a sudden I dont feel to great...LOL

ROFL!

 

[seaham358]

I got what I think was a good deal

Everything needed to get the tank running for $2000

125 AGA tank, stand , canopy, 4x160 VHO lighting, reef devil sump and skimmer, 125lb LR and LS. Salt water delivered and set up.. Heaters, pumps inc also..

 

[Agnate80700]

Well... just bought a $45 jug of purigen and $110 of testing stuff. That'll put me over 4k...

Everything needed to get the tank running for $2000

That is a pretty good deal!

 

[roka64]

150 gal. tank+stand.............$600
That's a great deal on the tank!
I wasted a lot of money on stuff I didn't need, until I found this site. I have kept all of my reciepts but really don't want to know! LOL!

 

[melosu58]

I`m like some of the others. I dont even want to know. Some things are better left unknown. What you dont know wont hurt you.

 

[artoledo]

I dont want to know myself. I started on craigslist for $150 and i thought i was getting everything i needed. The only thing i was able to use was the tank and stand. all the other stuff that came with it was thrown away. I know I have spent well over 3k. But i dont want to know.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Well since no one else is brave enough (just kidding!) and since I had a slow day today, I tried to compile a list of money I've spent. I just upgraded tanks a few months ago, so this isn't a total of what I've spent since I started the hobby, but this is how much I've spent on my current tank. If I were to add all of it up, I'd be really depressed!

45 gallon

Tank and stand - $30 (newspaper, baby!)
T5 lights - $190
Skimmer – $164
RO/DI Unit - $120
Powerheads - $110
Liverock - $800 (more than half handpicked from the LFS)
Heater - $25
HOB filter - $50
Filter media - $40
Sand - $45
Algae scraper – $10
Test kit – $25
2 nets – $2
digital thermometer – $5
gravel vac – $6
bucket – $3
Rubbermaid – $12
4 buckets of salt so far – $200
Subtotal - $1847

Livestock:
Zoos
30
40
40

bubble – 50
frogspawn – 40
red brain – 20
red/green brain – 40
green brain – 40
gsp – 40
torch – 30
birdsnest – 30
ricordea – 25
mushrooms – 35
monti cap – 60
green sps monti – 40
blasto – 35
acro - 30
inverts - $100
fish
clownfish – 30
PJ cardinals – 45
Subtotal – 800

Grand total - $2647

 

[flip_lx]

this thread would scare me if i put my info inside it. Being the poor college student $60 for my recent true percs and 1.5lbs of LR was rough enough, and to boot i'm getting ready for some sort of refugium which no matter how i do it is at least another $80+ yes not much compared to some of the above costs but going off minimum wage and no overtime makes it hard

 

[artoledo]

this thread would scare me if i put my info inside it. Being the poor college student $60 for my recent true percs and 1.5lbs of LR was rough enough, and to boot i'm getting ready for some sort of refugium which no matter how i do it is at least another $80+ yes not much compared to some of the above costs but going off minimum wage and no overtime makes it hard

Dont worry flip. When you get your fulltime job, you will waste alot more money. So keep the part time. It will limit what you buy. Its not like some of us on here that can afford alot more, but spend alot more. So it evens out. Im sure when you finish college, you will have one awesome looking tank.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Darn you people... you made me go and look. (Note to self: if you really don't want to know what you spent, don't set up a category in Quicken called "aquarium"!)

46 gallon - to get it up and running, cycled with a cleanup crew: $3600

Now... that includes water filtration (Kold-Steril), battery backups, QT, and everything... and I mean everything (including the fittings to hook up said water system) to get the tank cycled. Granted I didn't go cheap on things, but it was for a good cause!

[Edit: Just went back and relooked at that report as that number seemed high after I thought about it for a while. Included in that number is everything I bought that I wouldn't normally have, if it weren't for the tank. So that number includes power strips, timers, shelf and mounting hardware that I added to the stock stand, the laminate floor I put down under the tank because I didn't want to put it on the carpet, a bunch of testing kits... you get the idea.

And to think... it all started because my 5-year old wanted a "fish tank." ]

 

[Ziggy953]

Well the thing is, we could be spending all this money on things that destroy us, cause others harm or is against the law, instead we put our $$$$$ into something that we enjoy and others can enjoy. I've added up the amount I've spent several times and really I'm shocked that it isn't higher. I have a beautiful tank (I think) and I love to see peoples faces the first time they see it. I have no regrets and intend to keep right on spending money on it.

Besides, it's only money

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Besides, it's only money

 

[Agnate80700]

Being the poor college student...

So am I lol. Loans (im terrible I know) but Im in aviation, and $700 for a x-country flight up to Mackinac and back makes that aquac ev-180 seem affordable.

Thanks, future-self! *sigh*

Besides, it's only money

Amen lol. Besides if worse comes to worst, theres always craigslist ;P

 

[lando]

Okay...this has got me curious...dang you morbid curiosity!
Tank, stand, lights, sump, heaters, powerheads, wavemaker, RO/DI, LR and LS all total about $4450.00 for just my large reef. This does not include any coral, fish or inverts, nor does it inclue things like refracto, books, test kits, food, salt or maintanance supplies. I think I will stop counting...
Thanks for bringing this up...here is me and my beautiful wife...

 

[Innovator]

I don't have past numbers, but several years ago I had a 10g with over $1,500 worth of equipment and livestock (mostly livestock). I have a 20g that will have everything moved into a 50g, which will be part of a dual 50g system plus I'll be setting up a 75g towards the end of the year...not sure where this money is going to come from? Anybody wish to buy a soul?