$$$ MONEY $$$

[Flagg37]

I'm curious. If you had to take a guess, how much money have you spent on this addiction? I'm just looking for a ballpark figure. You don't have to include the increase to your water or energy bill (unless you want to).

The day I left to go pick up my current tank (29 gallon), my wife sent me with $150. I didn't tell her but I knew in my head I would spend more. At this point I don't think I've broken the $1000 mark yet but it's got to be close.

 

[HiFidelity]

I'm probably under $1k as well but admittedly I've also bought & resold some hardware for small profits to offset my spending

 

[Kensington Reefer]

$50/gal for "finished" tank
Excluding maintenance

 

[Vhuang168]

Lol, I don't want to know!


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[Klems]

I would have to say its probably close to $100/ gallon after its all said and done the right way.

 

[Newjack]

I've had fish for as long as I can remember. From my first little goldfish ( won at the carnival) to full blown reef set ups. And everything in between. That first fish was when I was 5 yrs. old, I'm pushing 50 now. The money I've spent over the yrs. has got to be ridiculous, ( I don't even want to know) but the hours of enjoyment a fish tank brings into my home "Priceless"

 

[Nav]

Under $1000?? really?

I used to keep track of all expenses but stopped! Here's a screenshot from 6-8months ago.

 

[iCon]

'Spent', easily over 10k. (eesh...)
Net... Probably 1/3 to 1/2 that. This hobby is a terrible investment.

 

[rygh]

Probably $8K in equipment. Lots of DIY helped.
Maintenance (power mostly) may be around $1500/year.

That is $30/DT-Gal for equipment, and $6/DT-Gal for maintenance, so pretty good I think.
(DT-Gal = Display tank gallons. Can't really count sump for that calculation)

 

[rygh]

Those numbers may sound high, but compare them to golf, sports cars, sailing, travel.
Not so bad.

 

[Tskiller]

I try not to think about it. Livestock alone would probably make me think about quitting if I really stopped to quantify the total costs.

And I might have just made an order with legendary corals for even more........

 

[Enderturtle]

Im with Vincent, I dont want to know!

Corals alone I want to estimate ive spent around 2,000$ (Slightly offset by selling of progeny frags)

Tank and equipment probably a little over 1,500$ (Tank, stand, lights were all purchased used)

Misclaneous things
300$

 

[Kensington Reefer]

like any committed hobby...its best not to think about it and just enjoy

 

[pixelpixi]

I tend to be very diy so my equipment costs might be on the lowish end. I also buy relatively inexpensive fish and have gotten a lot of coral through BAR. I've spent a few thousand over the years I'm sure, but the electricity cost is probably higher for me.

 

[650-IS350]

I don't want to know as I would hate myself, knowing I have other hobbies I could have put those instead to. As those won't die, RTN, STN, Crash, get pox, ich etc......

 

[Tskiller]

yeah honestly I think thats the worst part about this hobby. Watching one minor thing kill your prized frags.

 

[Kmooresf]

$50/gal for "finished" tank
Excluding maintenance

Erin, that seems painfully accurate. Total system gallons. Oh well. :O


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[Corallus]

If I think about the costs for my 25 gal, most of which I bought new, it eventually made it to around $1k. Much more than I initially thought I'd spend. Nano in everything but price...

My used 70 setup was $2.5k which is a lot, but it came with over the top equipment, for the most part much fancier than I would have bought (Royal Exclusiv skimmer, Vertex dosing containers, etc, etc) and was about the same price per gal as my nano. @Kensington Reefer 's estimate is not far from where I'm at. Knowing what little I know now, I think it could be done for less $ if need be, but when you're starting out it's tough to know how to intelligently spend the money. I agree w/ @rygh, there are a lot of more expensive hobbies out there - not to judge, but just think of everyone who's coming to SF for the super bowl in 2 weeks

Funny, my fish and coral expenses have been pretty low. Between the club, buying easy to grow frags and very few fish (so far), I pay mostly for the life support.

 

[HiFidelity]

Those numbers may sound high, but compare them to golf, sports cars, sailing, travel.
Not so bad.

I will second this opinion, my other hobby is cars and I'm not talking exotics, literally run of the mill Volkswagens granted they are anything BUT run of the mill by the time I'm done with one, in any case my most recent VW project is a 1995 car which you can pick up on craigslist for $1000 less if you're not too picky, well I've easily sunk $6k into it, it does not drive, hell it doesn't even start yet, just a bunch of very expensive parts in a not yet complete engine, how about I haven't driven the car yet, not even once, not even down the street and it's not finished so the total is going to go way beyond $6k, haven't even considered paint and the aesthetics which is whole other story. ROI on the hobby of building cars is typically $100 back for every $1000 spent unless you have the energy to tear the entire thing back down & sell the parts off in which case you might get 75% back at best granted you didn't put 50k miles on your parts.

Basically this car came into my life a year (or 2 I can't remember) after I got my first reef tank after moving to the bay area and as you can tell by now, I could have built 5 more tanks with the money I've put into this car, now imagine if I had a more expensive taste in my car hobby reef keeping is by far one of the more affordable hobbies unless you're into knitting

 

[Vhuang168]

my most recent VW project is a 1995 car which you can pick up on craigslist for $1000 less if you're not too picky

Not a Corrado by chance!?! I miss my 90 G60!