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Tank Quote Feedback for a friend

thesassyindian

thesassyindian

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Hello folks,
A friend based in Florida is planning on getting a new tank and a local shop sent him this quote for a 48" long 94gal tank.

Can y'all please pick this apart and let me know if he is being ripped off or if he should substitute any of this equipment for better and cheaper alternatives?

Thanks!
Yash
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ATO seems expensive (an Osmolator 3155 is ~$230 new); though, given the other Red Sea equipment, could be the new 3-in-1 ATO they're making

Rock seems really expensive, though that depends on how much he's getting and/or if that's a custom aquascape

Sand could be a bit cheaper, depending on how much they're getting, but doesn't seem too egregious

Most of the equipment seems to be retail price, though, so nothing jumps out at me as a major concern.
 
If he wants to go high end off the bat, then stick with the return pump and skimmer, but those jump out at me as places that money could be saved by not going for high end gear. The $600 doser seems excessive too. The fuge light could be cheaper as well, don't need anything super high end there.

It looks like they are getting the high end of basically everything and depending on what they want to spend, could save a lot of money by going to mid level gear.
 
I mean I don't think he's getting ripped off by any stretch, just looking at some of the premade setups out there e.g. RedSea, Waterbox, etc this system looks cheaper of anything comparable when counting tank, stand, canopy, sump.
Not sure on the dimensions if the height is 18.5 or the width, if it's the height the canopy on it might look a bit weird and squash the apparent height a bit more.
Skimmer looks to be a bit overkill, but not tremendously so all of that depends on how many fish he plans on cramming in it. Could go cheaper with return pump and lighting if you wanted, not sure if that would be the best place to save money though.
I'm not a huge fan of those reefwave style pumps doubly so for only one being the only flow in the tank (outside of the return) I'd rather over spend with 2 pumps on opposite sides than have 1 pump as 48" is a long way to push water and that gyre action that is always showcased doesn't always work so well when the tank is full of rock.

Refugium light I would skip unless he absolutely wants a refugium
GFO reactor I would skip too as that's something you can always add later if you feel that piece of equipment is necessary
Ditto with the doser, while I know what I would want & need, does he know what he wants? Did he just say "I want a salt water aquarium of this size" and they told him all the equipment he "needs" ?
Not sure what "D Rock" means, obviously rock of some sort? but $900 for an undisclosed amount would worry me, I man a 40lbs box of marco is just over $200, are they going to do a fantastic reefscape where everything is glued together? is this an plastic insert?


Overally $9k for a 94 gallon system ... ooof, I'm glad I'm not looking to get back into this hobby any time soon
 
Glass seems like the loss leader while a couple other items are gain leaders? The business isn’t getting rich off the quote in my opinion… unless it’s used gear that ends up getting installed.

Who will be maintaining the tank? Business or tank owner?
 
Thanks everyone! I thought this was an insane price point for a ~90gal tank too!

And this doesn't even include tank monitoring/automation other than ATO!!
 
H2OPlayar said:
If he wants to go high end off the bat, then stick with the return pump and skimmer, but those jump out at me as places that money could be saved by not going for high end gear. The $600 doser seems excessive too. The fuge light could be cheaper as well, don't need anything super high end there.

It looks like they are getting the high end of basically everything and depending on what they want to spend, could save a lot of money by going to mid level gear.
Click to expand...
Re: the doser, it's a Reefdose ($429) plus tubing and supplements, which could bring it closer to the $530 price point quoted new.

But yeah; I think a lot of money could be saved going mid-tier or buying used gear.
 
Here are my thoughts, depending on what type of friend you have:

First type of friend: Wants a plug-n-play system, doesn't want to think too hard about equipment, and can afford the high end stuff.
My opinion: This seems like a good option, nothing seems crazy marked up (except for the rock, but maybe it's LR?). I assume whoever put this together has a plan for how the system will work as a whole. I personally wouldn't run GFO or a refugium in a brand new system, but maybe they are planning on heavy fish stocking.

Second type of friend: Your friend wants to get into the hobby, isn't necessarily looking for top-notch equipment, and wants to learn.
My opinion: Not the best option. Honestly I would buy a used system or piece the system together myself, learning about what each piece of equipment does. There is so much good information available online and through reef clubs, but it takes a motivated person to seek out and digest this stuff.
 
Everyone should keep in mind that businesses always mark up each item above retail if they are installing and troubleshooting them. Not to mention their expertise of designing the system with their hard-learned experience which doesn’t come for free. It is completely normal to be quoted significantly more for each item that they could be purchased for, not just in our hobby but any industry that involves installation and setup.

If your friend wanted to save money and design, buy, and build everything himself he absolutely could get it cheaper. At least money-wise, maybe not time-wise or frustration-wise.
 
Wait, wait, wait…. He’s getting a 94 gallon tank and being charged for 100 gallons of salt water. Definitely getting ripped off there. ;)

@JVU has a point. Is this getting delivered and installed or is this just the sale price of all the items? $250 for plumbing is reasonable for the parts but doesn’t sound like it’s getting installed.
 
Do they really want a canopy? That seems expensive
Skip the reactor. At least at first
Rock seems like a lot
I’d go 24” front to back and 18” tall or 24 for both
I’d go cheap in a sump, maybe a 40 breeder
I’d go mp40 over the reef wave
Plumbing for $250? What’s included. Seems like a rip off. Is it labor? Or is that the $700 install?
Maybe not a rip off overall, but could do better for sure in a lot of areas
 
Is this a custom tank built to his dimension specifications? An 18.5" wide tank for that price is suspect, as only the cheapo mass produced like Aqueons are that narrow.
 
Wait, hang on - i just realized they havent quoted him heaters / chillers and an Apex (or similar). He lives in Tampa, and I am confident that he will need a pretty beefy chiller as well.

Thank you all for your inputs! This sized tank is out of my wheelhouse, so this is all greatly appreciated!
 
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Flagg37 said:
Wait, wait, wait…. He’s getting a 94 gallon tank and being charged for 100 gallons of salt water. Definitely getting ripped off there. ;)

@JVU has a point. Is this getting delivered and installed or is this just the sale price of all the items? $250 for plumbing is reasonable for the parts but doesn’t sound like it’s getting installed.
Click to expand...
Need extra water for sump probably?
 
sfsuphysics said:
I mean I don't think he's getting ripped off by any stretch, just looking at some of the premade setups out there e.g. RedSea, Waterbox, etc this system looks cheaper of anything comparable when counting tank, stand, canopy, sump.
Not sure on the dimensions if the height is 18.5 or the width, if it's the height the canopy on it might look a bit weird and squash the apparent height a bit more.
Skimmer looks to be a bit overkill, but not tremendously so all of that depends on how many fish he plans on cramming in it. Could go cheaper with return pump and lighting if you wanted, not sure if that would be the best place to save money though.
I'm not a huge fan of those reefwave style pumps doubly so for only one being the only flow in the tank (outside of the return) I'd rather over spend with 2 pumps on opposite sides than have 1 pump as 48" is a long way to push water and that gyre action that is always showcased doesn't always work so well when the tank is full of rock.

Refugium light I would skip unless he absolutely wants a refugium
GFO reactor I would skip too as that's something you can always add later if you feel that piece of equipment is necessary
Ditto with the doser, while I know what I would want & need, does he know what he wants? Did he just say "I want a salt water aquarium of this size" and they told him all the equipment he "needs" ?
Not sure what "D Rock" means, obviously rock of some sort? but $900 for an undisclosed amount would worry me, I man a 40lbs box of marco is just over $200, are they going to do a fantastic reefscape where everything is glued together? is this an plastic insert?


Overally $9k for a 94 gallon system ... ooof, I'm glad I'm not looking to get back into this hobby any time soonif
Click to expand...
 
If its local Tampa bay live rock they dump in the ocean for a while then harvest again the 900 is on point for the packages the local companys charge for that size especially if the store is getting it and delivering..Great stuff and always bonus critters or crab pests lol
 
Yeah I'm not saying $900 for rock is outrageous, it's just that there's no information about what you get for $900, it just says D Rock and quantity 1.00. Besides I thought the huge expense with that rock was shipping it in a bag of water, if the guy is in Florida it may be considerably less expense. But again, simply no info on it hence why I question it if I'm spending $900 for something I'm damn sure going to want to know exactly what I'm getting for that money.
 
He's missing an RO unit, unless he's planning on using purchased filtered ocean water (he live in Tampa, right?).

100 bucks for salt water, I'd rather invest that into an RO unit, and buy a bucket of salt. $50 gets you enough salt to make 200 gallons of salt-water (just add the water!)

Then the doser ... what is he dosing? Gotta add that stuff too.



I'm assuming he has money and just wants to pay someone and a fantastic system shows up in his house. I totally get that.

For me, personally, I'd get a new tank, stand and canopy, then I'd shop around for everything else, and save myself thousands of dollars, but I like doing those things.

V
 
I assume your friend isn't a hobbyist. If not, it makes sense to not want to shop around and deal with figuring out what equipment is the best fit or bang for buck.

There is a big difference between someone who just wants a piece of livibg art and a hobbyist where the setup is part of the learning process.
 
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