What is the highest ONGOING cost to your reef tank?

[Jbell370]

What I have to cave-in and let my wife have so she’ll tolerate my hobby...

Lol....could be worse, I have a Calvin which is apparently the yellow tang, also have a second tank with 2 fish she brought home as a surprise. If you're referring to material things, well it is not a coincidence that my new tank at Christmas resulted in her new car last month...I'll just leave it at that.

 

[Jbell370]

A few people have said electricity now, and I'm wondering which of two interpretations is true - does this mean that electricity cost goes up A LOT, dwarfing the other semi-expensive ongoing costs by comparison, or that it goes up slightly and the other costs (and general ongoing maintenance costs) are actually quite small?

I'm in Ontario Canada and our rates are insane.

 

[reefiniteasy]

Hanna Alkalinity reagent for me.

 

[Timfish]

Salt.

 

[Clo]

PODS :<

 

[vetteguy53081]

Chiller unit. Jumped my electric bill almost 48 dollars per month

 

[Rscott]

For those of us with big tanks and doing water changes as a primary source of nutrient export it’s rodi resin and salt
Followed very closely by the $100 a month in electricity followed by food
My dosing is not expensive because I replenish by way of auto water changes

 

[Streetcred]

Electricity followed by NSW deliveries.

 

[Bensonthefish]

Replacing dead fish and corals.

 

[PeterB113]

Lol walking into a fish store. I always leave with hundreds or thousands of dollars in New corals lol

 

[ClownWrangler]

Time

 

[Reef.]

The upgrade.

 

[peffy03]

1. Electricity.
1a. resin
2. livestock
3. salt
4. Lrs reef frenzy

 

[Jekyl]

Getting my plan together for my tank has me wondering. After we're through all the costs of entry - the basics like salt, RODI unit, poweheads, testing kits, basic entry level livestock; what is the biggest cost when it comes to ongoing upkeep?

I dont mean expenses related to catastrophic failure interventions - just day to day, nothing particularly unusual going on upkeep costs.

Let me know! From a noob perspective it kind of looks like it might be salt, especially if you have a larger volume setup.

Electricity

 

[Ef4life]

My costs are probably about $50 a month for 3 reefs. Not including electric since I can’t really give an accurate amount.

$20 a month in food - frozen and nori, pellets and coral foods last a long time.

$20 month dosing - I will say using brs 2 part is very cheap maybe $5 a month by itself, but I’ve started adding the tropic Marin part c and trace. While still affordable it’s definitely more than doubled the cost. And since I started with the tropic Marin my dosing amount has almost doubled in about 2-3 months. Lots of new growth. I also mix up diy all for reef for my 2 small tanks.

$10 misc stuff - floss, test kits, frag plugs, glue etc.

 

[coralfishreef]

Time

Time is often overlooked. Lots of time spent in reef keeping. Keeping a saltwater tank is comparable to having a dog that you have to walk every day, clean up after, wash, feed, clean bowls, clean blankets, vacuum and pick up hair, buy food, go to vet, pick up meds, etc…

Reef keeping is a lot of work and time and dedication.

I have 4 tanks and the most expensive ongoing costs include food, salt, 2-part, electricity.

 

[Huenemedoe]

A few people have said electricity now, and I'm wondering which of two interpretations is true - does this mean that electricity cost goes up A LOT, dwarfing the other semi-expensive ongoing costs by comparison, or that it goes up slightly and the other costs (and general ongoing maintenance costs) are actually quite small?

For me at home, it’s my ongoing cost are just that low. I have 2 SPS focused nanos at home a 7 and 20. Electricity is about $30 a month both running AI primes. I have had these tanks set up and running for a couple years now so it’s pretty rare that I add anything or switch anything up with my routine so my 2nd highest cost is salt. Which is about $15 a month if you break it down. Food is about $25 all year and that is high on the estimate. Alk and Calcium is about $50 a year.

However, I own a small shop (7 tanks) and there it reverses. I spend a lot on food and salt if we just talk about what I use for maintaining my systems. I feed lots of different foods at the same time every day I spend probably about $30 a month on food alone. So I think to answer your question, it’s really just dynamic on what you’re trying to accomplish and can go either way.

 

[hotdrop]

Coral Salt, replacement of used equipment, electricity and 2 part in that order

 

[Erick375]

Coral Pro Salt Mix 200 Gallon Sack - Red Sea costs $100 at BRS.
10-15% water change every other week on a 180G +40G sump is 30G
So 7 changes (14 weeks) wipes out a bag
4 bags ~56 weeks
so $400/year in salt or a dollar a day

Actually glad you made me run through this bc I'd have guessed more, thanks!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Food. The big fish in my two 150-gallon FOWLRs eat a ton.

As for electricity, almost everything I run seems to run on basically a fraction of the watts a lightbulb would take. Granted, it’s all on 24/7... unlike with lightbulbs.