What was the initial cost for your reef?

[saltyfilmfolks]

Given that I think Lights are by far the most costly part of a beginner set up

curiously its not that expensive anymore.

 

[Jenna Bearden]

I just upgraded to an 85 gallon with overflow sump and pump included from planet aquarium for 1600. Another 100 for plumbing. I had my rock from my 65 which was around 100. You need carbon, gfo, reactor was $30, two heaters around 35, salt your preference I use tropic Marin $90, all my test equipment including refractometer, test kits and chemicals $300 rough estimate. Ato $30 with Apex Neptune jr control system $200 miracle mud for refuge $30. The total cost for me was $2,590 for my new tank I got a year ago. As far as livestock goes, close to $1,000. Good luck!!!

 

[Uwharrie]

curiously its not that expensive anymore.

I think it depends on what you want to keep and the quality of build. But YES seems to be coming down all the time

 

[679x]

curiously its not that expensive anymore.

I don't want to get in the whole debate about "which light is best" because A: that's been done a lot, and B: this is not the thread for it...

...but as I did my research on the lighting aspect, I figured if I wanted LEDs (which I do) then I'd have to spend a great deal of cash in order to get a light that will have good growth and colour across all corals. I kept reading about people who said they switched their lights and found differences like night and day, which made me think that spending a little less would get me something much different than what I want.

Because of that, I estimate my LED lighting contributes nearly $1000 Canadian dollars towards my grand total, and I think it's the #1 reason why my build is costing so much.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I think it depends on what you want to keep and the quality of build. But YES seems to be coming down all the time

SBreeflight. 1500 par at 12in will grow just about anything. 140 and up. A mars aqua is not too shabby either. $89 will also do close to 1500 par.

 

[Nolan Shinn]

Kinda depends on how hard you're trying to go and how new. My first tank was a 55 I got new off Craigslist for 100$ with a stand. I spent another $160 on sand, salt mix, dry rock, basic test kit and refractometer.

My current setup is a 155 and I got it with 200lbs of dry rock, a 50gal sump, return pump, heater, protein skimmer and halide lights for $500 off Craigslist. Downside is I had to put in a bit more elbow grease to get it looking like new.
Point is, you can get started for next to nothing or spend ungodly amounts setting up a tank. Just depends on how much work you're willing to do

 

[679x]

SBreeflight. 1500 par at 12in will grow just about anything. 140 and up. A mars aqua is not too shabby either. $89 will also do close to 1500 par.

I looked at those, and I can't remember why I looked away! I need to start writing stuff down when I read it so that I'll never forget anything.

I want the Red Sea tanks, they look amazing and I like not having to do all my own plumbing and whatever -- I'd only do it if I knew there'd be no leaking or anything. But the Red Sea Max e260, my current tank idea, comes with two AI Hydra 26 lights, which probably adds a good chunk to the cost of the system itself, and the Red Sea Reefer with SB reef lights instead of the two Hydra 26s would still be more money than the RSM e260 because two mp40qd pumps cost like $1000 Canadian, argh...

HMMmm... what if I got the RS Max e260 and just sold the lights and kept the SB reef lights?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I don't want to get in the whole debate about "which light is best" because A: that's been done a lot, and B: this is not the thread for it...

oh but that price is quite important. It used to be the single most expensive thing. that price drop right there I think made the hobby more accessible than any other so far.
you dont need a skimmer, you don't need a reactor or gfo, you dont need a sump. You do need light.
So I think its pretty valid.

 

[Cameron Martinez]

Red sea reefer $1,200
Quantum skimmer. $350
Radion lights x2. $1,300
Mp40 x2. $650
Vectron m1 return pump. $350
Live rock $150
Live sand $60

Did it need to be that much.
No!!
but I figured buy the best and not want to upgrade and end up spending more when I did decide to upgrade.
Plus did my research to see what was working for everyone. Also warranty and customer service of who's equipment your buying.

 

[Digby57]

It's been said in a few different ways, but if you have the budget for a $4,000 tank you can build a tank that's a heck of a lot bigger than 55g for $4,000. And it's not like a 100 gallon tank that cost $4,000 is going to be somehow inferior to a 55g tank at $4,000. Heck, you could go a lot bigger (a lot) than 100g and still kill it with equipment. On the other hand, to stock a 55g with corals will be a lot less expensive than a 100g, depending on what you're trying to accomplish.

I read most of this thread, but I'd like to offer another possible plan for you. It's sorta what I did, but I didn't have $4,000 to get started. Maybe consider spending $1,000 on a smaller tank first. You could then later use this tank for a QT, a frag tank, or a specimen tank of some sort. Then you'll have a real feeling of what is worth how much money, if that makes sense. Because a $4,000 tank is $4,000, but experience is priceless.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

It's been said in a few different ways, but if you have the budget for a $4,000 tank you can build a tank that's a heck of a lot bigger than 55g for $4,000. And it's not like a 100 gallon tank that cost $4,000 is going to be somehow inferior to a 55g tank at $4,000. Heck, you could go a lot bigger (a lot) than 100g and still kill it with equipment. On the other hand, to stock a 55g with corals will be a lot less expensive than a 100g, depending on what you're trying to accomplish.

I read most of this thread, but I'd like to offer another possible plan for you. It's sorta what I did, but I didn't have $4,000 to get started. Maybe consider spending $1,000 on a smaller tank first. You could then later use this tank for a QT, a frag tank, or a specimen tank of some sort. Then you'll have a real feeling of what is worth how much money, if that makes sense. Because a $4,000 tank is $4,000, but experience is priceless.

In fact that should be the biggest consideration. 2 QT's maybe 3. 1 coral 2 fish? ugly to spend money on real needs.

 

[DBR_Reef]

A standard 55 is a bad tank shape/ size for a reef. But I think you should be able to do it for significantly less that $3000- I haven't spent that much on a $180 and that includes all corals and fish with medium to high end equipment, apex, etc

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-much-did-you-spend-on-your-tank.264243/

 

[679x]

Did it need to be that much.
No!!
but I figured buy the best and not want to upgrade and end up spending more when I did decide to upgrade.
Plus did my research to see what was working for everyone. Also warranty and customer service of who's equipment your buying.

That's the approach I'm trying to take, too. I don't want to buy some cheaper stuff and wish I went with better stuff.

oh but that price is quite important. It used to be the single most expensive thing. that price drop right there I think made the hobby more accessible than any other so far.
you dont need a skimmer, you don't need a reactor or gfo, you dont need a sump. You do need light.
So I think its pretty valid.

I do agree that lighting is important. I just didn't want the thread topic to shift from "how much did your reef tank cost" to "what light do I need in order to grow SPS?"

It's been said in a few different ways, but if you have the budget for a $4,000 tank you can build a tank that's a heck of a lot bigger than 55g for $4,000. And it's not like a 100 gallon tank that cost $4,000 is going to be somehow inferior to a 55g tank at $4,000. Heck, you could go a lot bigger (a lot) than 100g and still kill it with equipment. On the other hand, to stock a 55g with corals will be a lot less expensive than a 100g, depending on what you're trying to accomplish.

I read most of this thread, but I'd like to offer another possible plan for you. It's sorta what I did, but I didn't have $4,000 to get started. Maybe consider spending $1,000 on a smaller tank first. You could then later use this tank for a QT, a frag tank, or a specimen tank of some sort. Then you'll have a real feeling of what is worth how much money, if that makes sense. Because a $4,000 tank is $4,000, but experience is priceless.

I do agree that the plan you offered is a good plan, but I don't think I can do it easily. If it were up to me, I'd definitely consider it, but I probably mentioned somewhere in this thread's replies that I'm a kid with no personal income -- I have no job or even an allowance. On the bright side, the lack of allowance means my family sort of shares money.

So why did I bring that up? Well, because I have two freshwater tanks (one of which requires two people to do water changes, part of the reason I feel guilty) and this new saltwater tank is going to cost a decent amount of money in its current state, which also makes me feel guilty. My family hasn't directly told me "this is your final tank", but I thought it would be reasonable to put that limit upon myself, for their sake so their house isn't filled with fish tanks everywhere, and also for myself because if I allowed the house to get filled with fish tanks in every room, I'd feel bad about it. When I move out and get a good job, I can get as many tanks as I want, but that time has not yet come.

So because of all that, I don't think I'm going to start with a smaller tank. Thanks for the suggestion though, I appreciate it

On the other note, I am still thinking about a way to get a larger tank for around the same price. I don't know how big of a tank my family will allow me to get, because they already said they don't want anything much bigger than what I'm looking at. I think if it will be a better thing to do in terms of cost for what we're getting, maybe they'll be fine with it. I still have a lot of thinking/planning/convincing/research to do!

A standard 55 is a bad tank shape/ size for a reef. But I think you should be able to do it for significantly less that $3000- I haven't spent that much on a $180 and that includes all corals and fish with medium to high end equipment, apex, etc

Since I'm new to reefing I don't know what is TRULY considered high-end, but from what I've read, basically all the equipment I'm getting (including the tank itself) is pretty high-end. I'm trying to get the best equipment so that I don't have anything bad happen. As I stated somewhere else, when a risk involves a large glass box filled with many gallons of water and many living creatures, which all costs thousands of dollars, it's probably a risk I don't want to take.

Because of that, the amount I'm spending is large. I'm still on the hunt for ways to make it cheaper without getting 'worse' equipment (not saying that anything less expensive is automatically worse.)

 

[Areseebee]

The lighting and power heads is very honestly how you cut costs in this hobby without making a sacrifice.

 

[AwildcatsZ]

29 Gallon Aquarium..........................FREE
HOB Filter.........................................FREE
Petco Stand........................................$120
CPR Bak Pak HOB Skimmer.............$140
AI Hydra 26 HD................................$350
20lbs Live Rock.................................$140
10lbs Live Sand..................................$20
35 Gallons Saltwater.........................$50

Total...................................................$820 (approximately)

 

[Reef2zach]

Not sure if anyone has said this yet but a good RO/DI should be part of your startup budget too. That'll save you alot of headaches down the road

 

[MNDavid]

It seems with more responses your budget is a sound one. There are some cheaper and some more expensive posts so overall good job picking a decent number. Costs seems to add up a lot especially if you track every single receipt. Thought I do think you might be better with a 75 for it being a wider and not much more $$ equipment wise.

One thing some people forget is used equipment varies drastically depending on where you are located. In Iowa you do not see used reef equipment frequently. The Des Moines metro has around 650,000 people and this was the CL listings today for reef aquarium (reef tank, coral all had fewer hits):

I agree that cost of used equipment varies.

 

[AwildcatsZ]

Not sure if anyone has said this yet but a good RO/DI should be part of your startup budget too. That'll save you alot of headaches down the road

This is an excellent point...I spent the first 7 months doing bi-weekly trips to fill my 5 gallon buckets at the store and was spending more money doing that, than if I just got an RO/DI right from the start.

 

[MNDavid]

I am getting back in as well after about eight years. I picked up a 90 gallon glass over-flow already installed. Stand and canopy were included for $450, vs using my old 55 gallon. I picked up a thirty gallon tank to build my sump. hardware to plum it, silicone for sump walls, etc... another hundred. New $65 Marine DC DSC-3000 for the return. using an old Oceanic Plus Series 6 protien skimmer to get back in. I have 50# of live rock that is dormant. once my levels are in acceptable range; I will add live stock. so it will cost about $1000. you have options to keep cost down. I am going cheaper on lights and before I add live stock I will upgrade to good LED's. then will upgrade my protein skimmer. you can do it all at once or do it slow. just don't add live stock until it's all dialed in.

I will add a little more. I think your budget is to high. I think you can get a bigger tank and set up for $2000. But this is just my opinion. Also my Craigslist mention was for empty tank.

 

[Medic58]

I am doing a new 90 gallon rimless and I'm already 2100 in that's tank stand,sand,rock, rodi unit ,synergy reef overflow, reef octopus skimmer, a brs dual reactor, and a vortec m1. The only thing i got used was my tank it was 2 years old. Everything else was new . I figuring 1600 -2000 for the lights and power heads, battery back up.. Don't forget the battery back up. OH and I will get an ato after I get use to the tank. So to answer the question start for will be around 5000. I'm buying quality new equipment so I only have to spend money once. I'm in it for the long a haul. Good luck with everything.