Supid me to think a normal person can have a Reef tank

[jjschwi]

I just can not believe the tanks on this site. The amount of money that is poured into the tanks is just unimaginable. It amazes me to think a normal person could ever attempt to succesfully keep a smaller reef tank.

I started the hobby with a 55 gal tank. But I quickly learned that to succesfully keep a tank it required a lot of really expensive equipment, a chemistry degree, and a TON of time tinkering, cleaning, food preperation, water changes, scraping algee, changing bulbs.

I know there are a lot of DIY projects that keep the price low, but they require time to make and for a new person its just easier to buy the item in the store.

I would like the site to have a seperate tank of the month for normal people on a normal budget, to show people that you dont have to have a "fish room" to succesfully keep a tank. or these complicated plumbing set ups, the calc reactors, the wiring, the phospate drips. Its just crazy!! I know everyone has their hobbys and the time they devote to them. I applaud you for your efforts becuase your tanks are amazing. but to warn a new person to the hobby that to be succesfull you have to have about $5000 and the time to devote to the hobby.

Think of how many times you could just fly to ocean and dive the real reef yourself for the amount of money in these featured tanks!

[LOTUS50GOD]

well.. I think the requirements depend on how what you are trying to keep. You can do a softie tank for significantly less money than a SPS tank due to the ability to get frags and lower lightning requirements.

[nsreefer]

I believe that the TOTM threads are meant to show the height of what can be done in the hobby. No offense, but I really don't think that enough interest would be generated by an amature tank of the month to make the work involved to set it up feasible. Myself, i wouldn't really bother to read a TOTM about a 35 gallon fowlr with a clownfish and 3 chromis in it. I don't have a large tank yet, i'm in the planning stages of one, but I love nothing more than to read about a 220 gallon full blown sps reef setup, because it gives great inspiration, even for tanks much smaller. It's a shame that you are deciding to get out of the hobby, but that is up to you. Personally, I've sacrificed other activities to stay in the hobby, which is a personal choice, it depends on you dedication.
"^phosphate drips^"..... It's tempting, but I'll leave it alone.

[Tang Salad]

I think what the experts have are knoweledge and experience. Sure they've spent a lot of money acquiring these, but money is the least significant of the three.

[ccorpse27]

Don't try to out do the rich doctors and trophy wives on this site, you'll never be able to. You can have a very successful tank with simple equipment and easy to keep corals/fish.

[Colin]

I look at those tanks like I look at expensive sports cars. They're nice to look at, but I wouldn't want the burden of one.

Start small and work your way up. There are all kinds of critters with all kinds of requirements. You know what? A lot of the easy ones are interesting, too!

This hobby is expensive, true. But certainly don't try to keep up with the Jones'. There's always somebody with more time and money than you, and they loooove to post pictures!

Be proud of what you have! I know I am.

--Colin

[serpentman]

Like anything else, you can go overboard. You don't have to spend a fortune to do this. However, its a downward spiral when you get into higher dollar corals. When I started figuring in the cost of livestock, I began puting more failsafes in my system. That, coupled with the fact that I am an equipment junkie is a recipe for disaster on my wallet.

[dvmsn]

Agreed, you can have a very beautiful softie tank without all of those dohickies for easily under $1500.00 with live rock. Even a nice sps tank is relatively inexpensive when compared to many other "normal" hobbies. Even a small bass or john boat will run you that much money. Four wheelers are around that much. These are two things that many "normal" people have. How many " normal" people drive a $25,000.00 truck when a $ 7,000.00 will work just as well. Lots.

[jmait769]

I agree with nsreefer. Don’t worry about competing for the TOTM. I have about $2200 – $2500 tied up in my tank. I’m sure it will never be TOTM and that is fine. Now that mine is setup I have only to maintain it. This is a hobby like any other. You can do it on the cheap or you can go all out. I’ve seen a lot of great small/nano tanks to medium sized tanks on this site!

I followed Waterkeepers great advice on his So you got a new fish tank Newbie thread in the New To Hobby forum and he was up front on the expense.

But if I found no pleasure in the hobby then I would get out too.

Jay

[Redstratplayer]

Im with jmait

[piscivorous]

Yeah...a "normal" tank of the month thread wouldn't interest me too much. At the same time, I do appreciate it when they feature a 55 or a 75 just because I am currently setting up a 55 and it is just inspirational to see what is POSSIBLE. I do enjoy seeing a full blown 225 gallon aquarium mounted in a living room wall with the whole fish room behind it full of goodies and gadgets....just for the drool factor. You ARE going to be disappointed if you had been keeping goldfish and think you can do a reef tank for anywhere close to the same amount of $$$. However, there is a good general rule that I've found with most any hobby/sport that you want to get into...its the rule of a $1000. You can go cheaper and you can spend a ton more, but for just about any hobby that you want to get into, you should figure at least $1000 to get you up and running....windsurfing, skiing, backpacking/camping, RC planes/helicopters, scuba diving, used four-wheeler or snowmobile, and reef tanks....

[dvmsn]

double post

[maroun.c]

Well my tank is really basic started as FO and worked my way up till i got a full tank load of soft corals only reason why i didn't get hard corals is that their next to impossible to find in Lebanon. I had to wait sometimes for 2 months to get a shipment with only softies on...
bottom line ended with a fine setup that i'm satisfied with and which adds a nice mood to the house.
To my bad luck had to relocate to Dubai 15 months ago and still didn't find the time to setup a new tank so that i bring my stuff in and for 15 months my father (knows nothing about aquariums) and sister (well knowledgeable) took care of it.
3 moths ago my sister traveled and my father is taking care of it. He just follows some notes on feeding and additives... and everything is working fine. I was able to go back and do some water changes on the first few months however for 8 months could not do it. went home on christmas and the tank is still alive. Lsot a few corals but most others are still living. 5 fish are still alive. the tank had went over 8 months with no water change and with really basic care (food additives and top off).
To make things worse there was a 1 month war time in summer which caused a daily power outage of 15 hours. building generator works only till midnight so on many nights the tank was without electricity. Also MH cannot be supported on generator limited power.
to make it even worse I had forgottent o tell my father to take off the fans and plug in the hearter line ( My mistake).
With all that I came back found lots of corals still alive. not in their best condition but alive. 5 fish still alive. made 2 huge water changes and everything looked better 15 days later when I left again.
Bottom line is that when your tank matures it takes care of itself. the initial effort and expense is basically at the start which pushes off lots of starters.
TOTM would be an aspiration but no one is obliged to achieve that. especially having 2other expensive hobbies (cigars and photography are expensive too)
you can start with a decent size tank and go really slowly improving on equioment and inhabitants very slow at a rate of one thing per month and in one year you'll reacha very good level.
Good luck with whatever you chose but even a small tank can be rewarding.

[Wrench]

I am very happy with my 45g reef tank that has so far cost me $1300. I like looking at the bigger show tanks but I know that I wouldn't be happy with one. Too much work means it's not a fun hobby anymore.

If I ever get to the point where my fish tank dictates any part of my life it's time to quit.

[RyanM]

I agree that a reef tank's cost can get overwhelming but its not the tank that costs money, its your taste. Wanting the same equipment/livestock as the TOTM is a personal preference and in no way dictates how much you need to spend to have a nice saltwater tank. Time is also a factor. You want a beautiful tank there is 2 ways to get one. 1st throw tons of money at it or 2nd
go slow. Add a little at a time. And in a year or two youll have a nice tank. Its very easy to get cought up in the hobby looking at top of the line tanks and wanting to have the same thing. But saying that this hobby is not for the dusty wallet is simply not true. Frags of even the nicest sps corals are very cheep. $10 frag of an sps coral maybe be small and uninteresting to look at when new, will and can grow into as nice as any coral in any tank. for $10. Used equipment is even easier to get. Think about it this way. If there wasnt any people with money to burn in this hobby where would all the used equipment come from. They change equipment as often as I change my water. Keeps the hobby in used equipment and I for one am glad they have it to burn. cheeper for me.

[MIKEMARTIN]

I agree totally agree with wrench!!!!!

[MIKEMARTIN]

lol!!! guess I should have spent my money on hooked on phonic instead of a new skimmer!!!

[JamesJR]

I can tell you that size and money aren't the only thing required to have a nive reef tank. I had a 55 gallon tank that would put most home aquariums to shame. It had two beautiful full grown blue maximas, some big toadstool leathers and several big colonies of easy sps varieties. When I worked at the fish store I left pictures of it up there and people couldn't belive it was done in a 55. I will tell you that the aquariums you see on this website are truly exceptional and don't represent all the tanks out there. Besides, there have been several really awesome tanks that have been tank of the month and they were even as small as 40 gallons.

[old salty]

Like anything else, money is relative. I would venture to guess that every tank of the month has been established for quite some time. Spread the costs out over this period, and it really isn't all that expensive.

Let's say you want a large tank; 180 gallons is a good size. The initial cost is going to set you back a few grand. Once the main purchases are had, the rest is much less expensive. If this tank initially cost $7,000 to set up; this is the first year expense. At the four year mark, it intially cost you $1750 per year or $4.79 per day. Of course you have to think about the expense to maintain; a large tank requires more expense, but it really isn't out of reach of every day people.

Some also make sacrifices to maintain their reefs; I sold off my prized possession, a 400hp Subaru. I rarely go out to dinner or drink at bars, cook my own meals, brew my own coffee, mow my own lawn, repair my cars, etc... You may be surprised at how much this stuff costs. I still can't believe people pay five bucks for a cup of coffee!!! A 10% water change on my tank cost less than that.

[tkeracer619]

My fully stocked 150 is easier to take care of then my old 55g FW setup. Trust me, it is still fun when you have a car worth of corals.


Really though, it takes nothing to have a small reef tank. My nano was biult with junk laying around. I have spent a total of maybe $50 on it. Some sand and a heater is all I needed to get it going.

[RyanM]

$7000 to start a 180? dosent need to cost that much and Id say it can be done for less than half that if you look around. Used tanks are plentiful same with equipment. most equipment with the exceptions of the skimmer only replaces manual labor. Do it manualy if the cost is to much and save up to buy the easy living equipment once your tank starts to bring you money.

[aquaman222]

First off, I will start off by saying, I have a ridiculous tank. I could buy a car for what I have in it. Funny though that I see this thread today. I am in the process of tuning it down. I have seven SPS corals going to the fish store today for credit. I will unload about that number for the next couple of days and keep all my easy to maintain corals. I just realized the cost I was dropping to keep the SPS and higher demand corals and to me it is not worth it any more.

Many of the less demanding corals are just as pretty as SPS in my opinion, if not a lot more attractive.

I will lower my electric bill considerably by cutting three 250 metal halides down from 14 hours per day to six hours per day, dropping four pumps out of the system and removing chiller. I am going back to a basic softy LPS tank.

Tired of evaporation rate of 3 gallons per day, tired of running AC in winter to cool the tank room. Tired of high electric bills. All the stuff the high end tanks come with cause more involvement. Don't get me wrong, I love my tank, but my time with two young daughters is more important than doing daily fish duties, so see ya tech tank, here we go with a real easy basic setup and I promise I will enjoy it more.

[burton14e7]

Amen, I tore down my 55 hex about a 1.5 years ago. Everything computer controlled and decked out...gave my critters to a buddy and saved a ton of money. Just set up my 24 nano last night and when the cycling is done I'll be taking my true black percula(really is all black even the face and lips) back and get an anenome*sp and thats it.

[Navyblue]

I agree with all the other poster here, there are many who use a Ferrari desktop wallpaper, but there are a lot less people who actually drives them. The same goes with not many got themselves a supermodel wife.

Right now I am in the midst of setting up a 120G, other than the 2x54w T5 that I DIYed is new, the rest are either used or from my old system. Cost is one of my major concern.

I intend to keep softies especially mushrooms, but at the same time I aspire it to be a great looking tank like other super duper SPS tank around here, but with a different style, there aren't many around here but there are some great softies tank that popped up once in a while. Not that I can't handle SPS or clam (I've kept them before), just that I want something that need less of my dedication (I just won't give my life to a reef tank ).

My point is that you don't need really a lot of cash to have a great looking tank and enjoy this hobby. But for certain exotic critters you do need a thick wallet. If it is ok for you not to drive a Ferrari and have a supermodel as your wife, you don't really need those expensive to keep stuffs.

[Poorcollegereef]

I am a graduate student who only makes $120 per two paycheck... if I can afford it, then anyone can! (Its a SPS tank too) As far as te difficulty, it is realitive. I doubt the average "tank of the month" winner holds a degree in marine biology or invertibrate physiology.

jjschwi: GIS? Geographic Information Systems? I am a user of ERSI, Arc9 and I would consider a reef tank much easier than learning how to geocode. But where alot of people expect a single answer to solve one reef problem, the recieve alot of possibilities, causes and incomplete solutions that appear difficult. Reefkeeping answers come from a mix of different facts and knowledge and applying them together to find a best solution. Things become easier if you take a holeistic approach.

Reef people are normal people, just with wet shoes.