Here is what it costs to start a 75 gallon reef

smcdonn · #1 05/26/2006, 11:23 PM

Alright. Here goes nothing. I have been logging what everything has cost to start my 75 gallon reef. It took quite a while shopping around but so far this is what I have tallied up. Take it there is no livestock in the tank but this is a pretty simple breakdown for fellow newbies wondering what it would cost to start a REEF tank.

$280 75 gallon RR tank, stand, canopy, sump, and return pump off ebay. Kind of wasted my money because I threw the stand canopy away and didn't even use the sump that came with it. Couldn't fit the euro reef in it. Oh Well. That was really the only thing I have wasted my money on so far.

$165 Euro Reef ES5 protein skimmer from h20tropicals. it was a blem but is working great

$30 Gate valve and plumbing for the euro reef. THIS IS THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO. I recomend this to everyone. All you do is turn a knob to adjust your skimmer height. Best $30 you could ever spend

$180 2x 250 Watt Metal Halide electronic ballasts. Got these from affordablelighting and they work great

$225 Typhoon III RO/DI unit. GREAT UNIT!!

$30 Refractometer Bought it from a guy here on RC. Check out the selling forums, lots of people sell good stuff here. And it's usually a lot cheaper

$30 2x 250 Watt 10K Metal halide bulbs off ebay. Wasn't really sure about these when I bought them but fired them up and they look great. What a deal. $30 for 2 bulbs, doesn't get any better than this

$70 2x Reflectors for the MH's. Got these from hellolights when they were on sale.

$75 29gallon sump with fuge. I actually bought the tank for $45 and then bought a bunch of glass for $30 to turn it into a sump. Works great.

$450 100lbs of live rock. I am getting this from a guy that is shutting his tank down. LFS sells it for $8.75/lb plus tax so I'm getting this stuff for more than half off.

$100 Lowes stuff to make a hood and stand. Not the most pretty pieces in the world but they will get the job done.

This is pretty much the bulk of it. I have spent probably another $150 on salt and crap like that from the LFS and other nic nac stuff from lowes like plumbing pieces. I have it all tallied up in an excell worksheet and right now I am sitting at about $1800. I know some of you new guys will think thats a lot but I spent tons of time shopping around and doing my homework. Don't waste your money on crap like protein skimmers off ebay. I almost did this one and then decided to hold off. I'm glad I did because that euro reef is top quality. So all I can recomend is if your going to get into this hobby, be sure you know what your getting into. Stuff adds up pretty quickly. In the end though I feel it is definetly going to be worth it. I am going to be adding the live rock tommorow so hopefully I will have some pics up soon. Cheers mates

phlipper84 · #2 05/26/2006, 11:38 PM

Anybody who gets into this hobby thinking they can do it on the cheap has another thing coming. When I set up a 125 reef tank about 3 years ago, I told my wife I thought I could do the changeover from fresh to salt for roughly 1000 dollars as I had the tank canopy and stand. She says " Oh that is cheap. I thought it would be like 2000 dollars." So after filling the tank up with corals and equipment, I think I stopped counting after about a billion dollars. Now we have gone to a 240. I figure I could have driven a Porsche for what it has cost so far. At least the insurance company paid for 3 rooms of laminate flooring and about 8 pieces of furniture to be refinished!

yoboyjdizz · #3 05/26/2006, 11:39 PM

$1800... man thats nothing but you did a good job on getting good bargins man it just hurts thinking about how much my new 280 is costing me.

Fmellish · #4 05/26/2006, 11:44 PM

My 120 gallon reef tank came to around $8,500 when I was done.

Josh

M peacock · #5 05/26/2006, 11:53 PM

how many of us make a trip the lfs and come home with a new coral or whatever it may be and tell the wife it was 15 or 20 dollors when you just dropped an easy fifty. maybe im the only one

Fmellish · #6 05/26/2006, 11:56 PM

My wife thinks the entire thing came to around $1200

If she actually knew I'm sure she'd pull a lorena bobit on me.

M peacock · #7 05/26/2006, 11:59 PM

if we have company over at the house or what not the tank always seems to be at discussion. when questions of cost come my way i go the other way

somethings are best left unsaid!

serpentman · #8 05/27/2006, 01:27 AM

SSSHHHH! I must make sure my wife never reads this. The conversation went like this: My wife and I were at the public aquarium looking at the displays:

"Honey, I should fire my tank back up. I mean, I have all the stuff, it shouldn't cost much."

"Only if you do it right this time. How much do you think it'll run?"

"Oh, I don't know, under $1000."

"Thats not bad, go for it."

Well, I think $1000 was the first week! Just to fire up my old 92gal it has run me (and this is a conservative estimate) not including any livestock :

$450 - LR
$130 - 250W MH
$300 - PC Lighting
$150 - New pumps
$200 - Skimmer
$100 - plumbing supplies
$50 - QT Tank
$50 - Phosphate Reactor
$150 - Salt
$100 - testing supplies
$100 - Misc. Electrical (new breakers, GFCI, timers, etc)
$150 - RO/DI

This is not including the $5-20 I seem to constantly be dishing out on a regular basis for misc junk. Last week I also informed my wife that I would like consider switching to a 125g. Love to see how that goes.........

phlipper84 · #9 05/27/2006, 02:00 AM

It is not the standard equip. that kills, it is the 50 trips to lowes at 10-20 a shot. When I built my tank, I swear I was there more than the employees. The wife was like, "why don't you make a list and just get it all in one shot?" Who is she kidding. Half the time I don't even know what I am looking for, let alone how much of it I need.

Fmellish · #10 05/27/2006, 02:55 AM

I agree with the trips to Lowes, (or Home Depot in my case).

Especially when plumbing. I would make several trips per day.

Josh

onegreenray · #11 05/27/2006, 05:11 AM

how about this one. when you buy a coral or fish at the local fish store you tell the clerk not to write the price on the bag.

20 20 · #12 05/27/2006, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by phlipper84
It is not the standard equip. that kills, it is the 50 trips to lowes at 10-20 a shot. When I built my tank, I swear I was there more than the employees. The wife was like, "why don't you make a list and just get it all in one shot?" Who is she kidding. Half the time I don't even know what I am looking for, let alone how much of it I need.

And I thought I was the only one!

smcdonn · #13 05/27/2006, 08:40 AM

And I almost forgot to give a shout out to everyone here on RC that has guided me through this. I was a 100% retard when I stepped into the LFS about 6 months ago. Now I am only 99% retarded. Only the first 1% of knowledge will actually get the tank up and running. Anybody out there hit 2% yet

I don't think I will ever be there. Just too many questions. Cheers

z_rivers · #14 05/27/2006, 11:57 AM

you forgot to add water circulation to your list. thats another 200-800$ depending on what you want to buy.

old salty · #15 05/27/2006, 12:59 PM

I stopped adding things up a while ago. I sold my prized possession at the time (400hp Subaru), so essentially in two years, I will have broken even!! The little stuff definately adds up. Then again, I didn't get into this hobby to save money. I earn money so I can SPEND it. It's really not good for anything else, anyways.