$$$

[DesoShade]

Running a survey here. What is your tank size and how much $ do you spend on average for upkeep and maintenance on your tank?:twocents: I'm trying to figure out if I can actually afford it in the long run. :death:

 

[hibye]

30 so far and 100$ month

 

[yote]

75 gallon.

$15.00 a week for water.
Buy a 200 gallon mix bucket of Oceanic salt for 40 bucks once every couple of months.

 

[DesoShade]

you spend 100 a month? craziness

 

[DesoShade]

If mine costs 100 a month then I'll be in over my head and would be better off not to do the tank.

 

[hibye]

oh i thoght he meant like buying a skimmer then probaly 30$ a month unless something bad happens

 

[DesoShade]

Nah. I mean after you've already gotten all of your equipment. How much a month do you have to put out for salt, filters, water, test kits, etc. I'm trying to find out if it's going to be too expensive for me. Some have said it's really expensive.

 

[MikMcgyver]

Prolly about $15 a week in water, I still test my water a lot but I am really scared about my nano. Cant seem to make the water very good for a long period of time. So I spend a lot on test kits, try different ones and such..

 

[yote]

The expensive part is getting started and buying livestock.

A bucket of salt will usually last me a couple of months.
Most test kits will go around 3 to 4 months,depending on how often you test.

 

[DesoShade]

15 a week for water seems nuts. I got these jugs of distilled water for 66 cents a gallon.

 

[MikMcgyver]

I buy seawater from my LFS it costs a lil more but I dont have to mix it. I dont have space for a mixing drum, my garage gets way too hot during the day to store it in there..

 

[reeffreak]

I'll prolly spend $100 a month on upkeep for my 210g.Not including the electricity consumption,which I'm sure is going to be high.

 

[Bifferwine]

No idea (yet). My 240 has only been set up for a week and a half. Since I bought a RO unit, my only regular expense will (hopefully) be salt. And I will probably need around 25 gallons worth of salt per week.

 

[bobby]

I go to petco for water at .8 cents a gal and get 15 gal a week for my 30, so 1.20 a week for water and I buy a bucket of salt for 30.00 and that so far has lasted over 4 months. Not counting elect I'm at about 25.00 a month I guess then elec is about 15 I'm guessing. The big part is setting up, but if you look around for deals it's not bad at all.

 

[d.french]

i spent 99 buck for ro/di unit which is good for a year of water making before replacing the filters in unit, other than that just food and salt here and there i don't do water changes except once every 3 months. I know its crazy but not alot of fish just corals and live rock and cleaning crew and everything is going great so i don't change a thing. So probally at most 30 bucks a month for 3 tanks thats( food, test kit here and there don't test real often). other than that 3 metal halide bulbs a year and 4 t5's every other year.

 

[DesoShade]

Hmm. Doesn't sound all that bad. The electric I can compensate for turning some of the crap off that we normally leave running al the time. My desk lamp is on 24/7 and my computer is normally left on overnight as is my girlfriends. Little things like that we can do to make up for the electric expenses. so 30 a month. eh. that's not so bad. if I look around for deals, stretch out my test kits and all, I can prolly stretch 20 a month. :) And if I'm really tight, maybe 15! :-p

 

[fishbait]

i probally spend an average of 30 a month.

 

[Piggy]

Once you get all set up which is the most expensive part. You should only need water and electricity.

 

[LionFish]

Hmm. Doesn't sound all that bad. The electric I can compensate for turning some of the crap off that we normally leave running al the time. My desk lamp is on 24/7 and my computer is normally left on overnight as is my girlfriends. Little things like that we can do to make up for the electric expenses. so 30 a month. eh. that's not so bad. if I look around for deals, stretch out my test kits and all, I can prolly stretch 20 a month. :) And if I'm really tight, maybe 15! :-p

Shouldnt be to far of a stretch at 15

like yote said getting them going is the $$$ part
upkeep isnt too bad not coulting elect. im at around $ 15 to 20 monthly
that going up the times i need to buy salt. I too get it by the 5 gallon Bucket

You said .66 cents for distiled water, make shure you add oxygen to that water. distiled water dosn't have any

Wal-Mart sells RO water at .33 cents a gallon

I usually get to do water changes every 3 weeks ill do Smaller changes thru the week if there is any sign of a problem

 

[shihtzu217]

I'm in month 3 of my 55gal but started buying thing in March. I watched Ebay for used pieces and got great deals on equipment there. Saved myself a lot of money buying used, as setup and equipment is the highest expense. At this point I have spent about $900 and the only thing's I have bought new are my sand $50, Live rock $200, Heater $30, 3 fish $75, 7 snails $30 and my test kits $60. Monthly Operating costs are not bad depending on what you want to keep in it, fish food is inexpensive, I just started feeding Phytoplankton probably about $10 a month and dosing with calcium probably $15 a month. I haven't noticed much increase in my electric at all, 3 months in still using my original test kits testing weekly and still have plenty for future testing. The expense is the addiction......you always want more!:mrgreen:

Look for a reefing club in your area or your state, there is always someone upgrading and selling off their stuff and the one here in Michigan is allways offering to donate to Newbies, plus when you are ready to add corals there are Frag Swaps to get Corals at great prices. They even take care of each others tanks when they leave for vacations. Living Reefs members are awesome though so even if you find a forum in your state stick in here too, 'cuz these are the most helpful and friendliest people I have found so far.