Maintance costs for a 75 or 90 gallon reef tank?

[jasno999]

Guys I am jsut wondering what the round about cost would be to upkeep a 75 or 90 gallon reef tank. I would liek to do some fish and corals on day when I have the room and can afford the tank and setup. I realize the costfor all the nessassary items but I am unsure of the upkeep corsts for maintaining a tank like this.

Oh if I did have a 75 or 90 gallon I would do a sump and fuge on the system as well. Probably a 20-30 gallon sump/fuge all in one setup. I think I would get an acrylic one made for me.

Let me knwo what you think the costs woudl be for maintance.

 

[malkore]

Well, your maintenance costs are really these:

electricity
salt
RO water

Potential maintenance:

alkalinity/calcium additives
replacing bulbs


electricity...too many variables. depends on total wattage being used x hours per day, and then your price per kilowatt hour. We'll say $20 a month to power the aquarium lights, and heater/pumps/etc.

Salt - buy larger buckets or bags...cheaper this way. a 10% weekly water change puts you at 8-10gallons a week. YOu can get 260gallons worth of salt mix for around $50 usually. So that lasts a while.

RO water - 20 cents a gallon...so $2.00 a week for new salt water, and probably $1.50 for top-off water


hard to say on the additives...so many to choose from, plus a kalk drip.

bulbs are spendy to replace. and need to be changed annually. $100 a year on bulbs, easily.

 

[roka64]

test kits...

 

[Brenden]

Your biggest expense will be power, so it will vary greatly based on what you keep and the lights needed for it.

 

[jasno999]

DO you need a kalk drip?


I would want to do some nice lighing. I guess somehitng i nthe range of 250W or up. I do like some of the fixtures that have the halid and pc and moonlights all in one. I would have to figure that out later on when I was closer to purchaing the tank.

Be nice to get 5-8 watts per gallon. More doable on the 75 gallon over a 90 gallon

 

[Brenden]

5 WPG with MH will be enough for any coral. (no need for 8 ) You need a CA source if you have corals, however I do not see kalk as a significant expense. ($3-4 a month) Next to power your salt mix will be next in cost. Do not forget test kits, RO/DI, etc.

 

[jasno999]

Do you still need to do the kalk if you are doing pwc every 2 weeks?

I guess it depends on the coral you have. But can't yu jsut does calcium supplements every few days.

 

[BillyZ]

Do you still need to do the kalk if you are doing pwc every 2 weeks?

I guess it depends on the coral you have. But can't yu jsut does calcium supplements every few days.

You answered your own question. It depends highly on what your tank is actually using. Anything used over what is replaced by your PWC obviously needs to be replaced through dosing. But none of us here can tell you what that amount will be. You have to find out through testing your water over time once everything is in place.

 

[jasno999]

Yup I know that. I was jsut tryign to get figures for the normal stuff al ladded up. Round numbers were all I was lookign for not the specifics.

I am guessign we are lookign at somewhere between $15-$40 a month just for maintnance. That would be $180 to $480 per year just in maintanance. That is a lot of cost. Maybe I should stay in the nano type setup. Well I think if I was to do it I would go with the 70 or 75 gallon tank that was reef ready. Then add a 20gallon sump/fuge and go from there. 90gallon is nice but it means higher costs in setup (i.e. lighting) and also larger maintance costs. I mean I would love to have a enormous tank but the upkeep would be way to time and cost intensive- more that I would be able to handle.

So for now I keep going with my 10 gallon setup and we will see what the future brings.

 

[Brenden]

I would love to have a enormous tank but the upkeep would be way to time and cost intensive- more that I would be able to handle.

Actually the larger tank does not take more time. Is is much more stable and does not fluctuate as much as a smaller tank thus my testing is not as frequent. The only thing that takes more time is keeping the @&^%* coralline off the glass.

 

[jasno999]

True it is more stable but does nto mean you can test half as much. It also means more involvment in terms of PWC. If I added a 20 or 30 gallon sump I would have 110-120 gallons i nthe larger size and have to do 10-15 gallon PWC every other week.

With the smaller tank and a 20-30 gallon sump I would only have to do 5-10 gallon water changes every other week.

I guess nto a huge difference but still it means mroe salt, more maintnance, more cleaning. It also mean a lot more up-front cost in terms of tank/stand/lighting/pumps/liver rock/sand/ect.

 

[Brenden]

It takes me just as long to do a WC on a 30gal as it does on my main. I did not say test half as much. I said not as often. I check Alk and CA roughly weekly just to make sure my dosage schedule is keeping my levels correct other than that I occasionally check NO3 but it never goes up. If a few crabs or snails or even a fish dies in my main tank my levels will not change at all. In a 30 gallon they will thus they need to be tested and monitored more. Bottom line is I have experience with both large and small tanks so I am sticking with my original post. I do not check my large tank as much as my smaller ones.