Cheapening the hobby

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Hmm....yarn. That makes sense. Dancing? I don't know - I've always considered hobbies as disposable income and not taken out of primary accounts.

Start small. Get an understanding of what is required to keep various fish and corals while practicing basic husbandry. Read, learn, plan, and the small rolls into medium and medium to larger over time.

Yarn though - didn't see that one coming.

Nice yarn ain't cheap apparently.

 

[SubzeroZoaNut]

Not sure there is such a creature, in regards to my situation. I live in the Heart of Alaska. There isn't many... if any, cheap ways of going about this hobby here. I've found one store online that will ship me coral. One. And my lfs is petco. Again... one. Bulk reef supply has a great selection.. and I couldn't get them to ship me bone cutters. So, yeah. Um... buy on sales?... that's all I got. Lol.

 

[Theodin]

I usually wait for local reef shows to stock up on any new corals. The vendors are usually pretty competitive at the shows and are often willing to give you good combination deals. Also, I buy almost all of my fish as juveniles at a lower price and just wait for them to grow.

Also - 3D print everything you can! I have designed so many custom things for my setup, from cable management to lighting brackets. It’s fun and saves money.

 

[bakbay]

Mind sharing how you help bring the Boss to the mindful conclusion that I need that ultra colony of Wilsoni?

??

No secret here — be supportive of her own hobby & collection but usually frame the conversation that it’s an “investment”. That is, it will be a coral farm one day and we both will retire comfortably selling corals! I think she now knows it’s a fat lie! Ha

I persuaded (ok, dragged) our oldest kid into the hobby so he’s running one of my tanks on his own. The Red Sea 250 is now his. There are two reef addicts in the family — she’s outnumbered!

 

[Mschmidt]

I take advantage of live sale after party coupons where you get 15% off if you spend over $1000000000. When you factor in the up to 80% off live sale pricing, I literally save thousands by spending thousands

I mean, I do have the $125 gc, so I probably need to spend at least that much on top of it. plus I need to offset all those $1 frags I got.

Oh that's not cheap. My wife started out on hobby lobby synthetic yarn. Now she can't go anywhere in the world without coming home with multiple $100 balls of baby alpaca yarn sourced, cleaned, dyed, and spun on the same farm.

She spends so much on yarn that when she questioned my cornbreads Valhalla purchase, I merely reminded her of the angora knit beanie she spent 225 making. Fight in LFS averted successfuly.

are you or is she familiar with the rare breed conservancy and sheer em to save em? my MIL would love to tell you all about it.

 

[dMiles]

Maybe consider picking up another hobby. Say knitting?

Well said.

 

[chousecat]

The used equipment forum here has saved me so much money.

 

[MnFish1]

None on us. I am assuming, got into the hobby expecting it to be cheap. But the costs can be overwhelming some times.

What are some ways you have found to get the tank you want for less than the sharks are charging?

Here are a few of mine:
3d printing for my lfs, got $200 in credit for a $20 investment, on the stand in the cup.

Knowing things about fish. Club meetings end with a quiz for gift cards. $100 for first place.

I try to buy only what I need, not the newest 'gadget' or method or supplement. Additionally, paying for quality livestock (even though a little more) - means that I'm not constantly replacing them. If I buy coral - I plan for its eventual size - I don't buy 50 frags, and then forget the fact that some will outgrow/outcompete each other. I never buy so called designer corals. I like the look of a reef, but to me it's the fish that are important so I don't need very expensive coral.