Budgeting For Your Tank

[ruegaroo]

We all know this hobby comes at a price. To our significant others, that price may be much lower than they truly realize. I'm interested to see if anybody has set any personal budgets for their tanks to keep from overspending as well as making any unnecessary and spontaneous purchases. With WYSIWYG items there is a certain aspect of FOMO involved and live sales definitely push our buttons to pull the trigger on frags that we may not have planned on.

I've been toying with the idea to set a monthly budget for tank stuff. This would help keep my spending on track so I don't overdo it. Maybe even set up a separate savings account specifically for the tank that I dump a certain amount of money into each month to use as I please or as needed. At least this way if I spend all my tank savings on 20+ frags it won't impact any other aspect of my life financially. Do any of you do anything like this or is it generally a "buy-what-I-want-when-I-want" kind of deal?

I'm trying to be more responsible here...those 20+ frags sure would look good in my tank though!

 

[kevin_e]

For 2 years have put my partner through nursing school. She said she will pay me back by letting me get the tank of my dreams when we move into our house next year. I told her that will be 6-8K in equipment and she gave the thumbs up. So $6-8k lol.

 

[ruegaroo]

She's a keeper!

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

What is this "budget" thing you speak of?

 

[kevin_e]

She's a keeper!

Absolutely. School and life needs haven't been cheap though lol.

 

[Ti64reef]

I get plenty of heat from my wife on the fish. I'm now down to about $200 per month to manage a 450 gallon system. U quickly learn to buy in bulk when available. I would say where I still struggle is stocking the dang thing. I'm still looking to get a school of anthias and haven't pulled the trigger yet. I'm also only about 20 percent there on coral.

 

[LeprechaunReefer]

Tough topic. I’ll try to offer my input without being a hypocrite.

1. be really nice to your significant other
2. Try to get them to admit (face to face - this is key) that they think what you’re doing is cool.
3. Spend everything you can without borrowing or Overlooking the needs of your loved ones/dependents.

In all seriousness, even though I’ve actually been practicing the above, it’s probably best to figure your maintenance/husbandry costs by month or annually and then set a budget. You can easily buy corals on impulse that you wish you’d have not bought to save for nicer ones.

 

[Victor_C3]

I’m a divorced guy, living alone. I typically have about $1,500 a month that I budget on my hobbies and personal interests. Other than that, I buy what I want when I want to buy it.

I’ve been working on getting my tank set up since February and I’ve probably spent $7,500 on it so far. I thought it was going to cost me about $5,000 to get it going. My tank ended up costing double what I thought it would and I ended up spending $2,000 on an Apex and getting it set up with a few of their add-ons.

Once I get my tank running, I’ll probably keep spending to $300-$500 a month. I’ll be mostly buying livestock and corals for a few months. I want to keep my monthly costs associated with running the tank to less than $150 a month between live plankton, food, additives, and other consumables.

 

[BighohoReef]

Haha, I had a budget once... then I got introduced to euphyilla and that quick turned into SPS. Lol

In all seriousness I've definitely gotten better with equipment purchases. Researching and taking my time has helped me build the right setup for my tank size. In additional to planning for future tanks. Where I find that I spend the most money is in live sales and LFS shopping it's always an in pulse buy. My wife doesn't help either as we're both in the hobby. Whats worked for us know is really identifying the corals that we really want in the tank. i.e. I'm saving for a Malaysian Gold torch and a OG bounce everything else is secondary meaning it needs spousal approval.

If you aren't in a relationship I'm not sure what to tell you lol. Looking forward to seeing how folks tackle this thread, as you've already seen saving in this hobby is rare

 

[ReefLab]

I usually make compromises with my SO to buy tank stuff.. Getting a t5 hybrid and kessils cost me a new bedroom set..
definitely slows down the big purchases..

 

[BighohoReef]

I usually make compromises with my SO to buy tank stuff.. Getting a t5 hybrid and kessils cost me a new bedroom set..
definitely slows down the big purchases..

Well I've found most of my stuff used on this forum and when I say used someone put it in the water for a week and then took it out. I got a brand new ReefOcto Vario6s on the cheap when someone decided to fold their tank. All my MP10s I've gotten for $100... Just be patient all the good things will come