Whats the monthly cost?

[Oberst Hajj]

I know this will vary from setup to setup, but has anyone figured out what your monthly cost are to run your tank? Utilities, saltwater, water changes, doses? Please let your tank size for a frame of reference please.

Thanks,

Keith

 

[revsgirl]

:bump2:

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

For my 75 gallon,with 2 250 watt mhs,including my electric bill ,salt and etc I figure around $45.00 a month.

 

[kevinf]

75g/ 40g sump

Just costs me electric. $50-$100

RODI 5 stage: Replace the filter set every 6months $30ish
Food: pellets i've been using since last year & still have half left. mysis last months. reef roids also last months.
carbon/gfo: depends.. but still not a montly thing.
biggest thing is chocolate starfish for my harly's $20ish a month


I don't dose.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I think it’s a number you don’t want to know. It might scare you. I know I don’t want to know. You just do it for the love of the hobby.

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Thanks for the info guys, I'd love to hear some number for a ~200g setup.

I think it’s a number you don’t want to know. It might scare you. I know I don’t want to know. You just do it for the love of the hobby.

Doing it for the love of the hobby is great, but without knowing what your expenses are/could be, it's not a smart move. I'm in to cars as well, but I'd not go by a car without knowing what the payment would be first!

 

[90greefman]

I have a 280. With a reeflo gold, 3 evo leds, 3 48" reefbrite, 3 heaters, 2 mp 40s, 1 tunze 6101, 1 koralia and i am sure a few smaller things i am missing my electric alone is around $100/month. Water changes and food is minimal. I run a ca reactor so i dont dose. The original investment was a lot. After that it isnt bad imo.

 

[natesreef]

Well I'm 15 without a full time job and I'm able to pay for the hobby. Granted I don't have to pay the electric bill but everything else is affordable for me. I have a 90g tank and probably spend $50 a month on my tank.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Doing it for the love of the hobby is great, but without knowing what your expenses are/could be, it's not a smart move.

I look at having a tank like having a kid…….because the large majority of parents don’t consider the cost of having a kid and raising the little beast until they finally move out (if they ever do.) If everyone calculated the cost of kids, they wouldn’t be having them!

I will tell you that having a 200 gallon tank won't be cheap. After the initial $$$$$, just salt alone, considering 10% per week, is a 200 gallon box every 10 weeks. Electric can vary greatly on type of lights (MH versus LED's), pump types, etc., and your local costs per kW. This could easily be $100 month (or considerably more), but again hard to calculate without detail. Repair costs are another consideration...I would guess I spent a couple hundred a year just replacing broken parts. Back to lights, if you have MH or T5's, consider replacing XX number of bulbs a minimum of once a year....again costs could vary on number of bulbs....3 - 4 foot T5s run about 22/bulb. I've just touched on costs....a number that is hard to predict without detail.

 

[Trex]

My ComEd bill averages about $175 a month -- this is including the summer months, and I have the A/C set at 75*, and 71* for sleeping; this is for me and not the fish.
Also included in this is an 1,000 watt power amp for my home stereo that is on at least 5 hours a day. Also, the girlfriend works from home, so power is being used all the time.

For tanks;
40 breeder 6*39 T5, 2 MP10's, skimmer, heater, fuge light and return pump
65 2*250 MH+2*96 PC, 2 MP10's, skimmer, heater, fuge light and return pump
75 2*250 MH+4*54 T5, 2 MP10's, skimmer, heater, fuge light and return pump


Should note that my town just approved a switch to a different electric co. and the rates are suppose to drop - 10-30%.

 

[WillKatt]

Use this calculator to determine your monthly electrical costs. I used this allot when planning my system.
Tank Electrical

 

[Oberst Hajj]

We'll most likely be going with LED lights to reduce the heat dissipated into the house (the wife does not like it hot. lol) as well as for their looks. Saving on energy is also a bonus.

The comment on the salt for the water changes was a good one, I'd not thought to figure that out yet!

 

[Theclutziestspazzofaninja]

Also LEDs will cost a lot more than other lights especially for such a massive tank, but they're worth it! I really enjoy mine and think they do a great job lighting my reef.

 

[jdpiii3]

Thanks for the info guys, I'd love to hear some number for a ~200g setup.


Doing it for the love of the hobby is great, but without knowing what your expenses are/could be, it's not a smart move. I'm in to cars as well, but I'd not go by a car without knowing what the payment would be first!

Hi Oberst Hajj, my system is 400 gallons I had to find some ways to keep costs low so I went with natural sunlight for lighting, total cost to run the system is less than $40. a month. I use 1 box of Kent Marine Reef Salt Mix a month cost $45 a month, and food somewhere around $50. a month.

 

[danka-cedium]

My 450 gallon system cost about $200 a month. electric about $100, salt, kalk, media, filters, mag, and average bulb changes = $100

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Thanks guys. That large tank info is helpful... not that I'm going to have a 400g+ tank though!

 

[Singlefin]

Maybe you can start a thread or ask these guys how much time they spend on their tanks a month also. I hope a 200g doesn't take 5x as much as 40g, because I can barely get any chores done at home. Every time I walk by my tank I need to take a quick stare or fiddle with something. And it's set on cruise control right now. Haha.

 

[AlexStinson]

I collect almost everything from the ocean for my 30ish setup.
Free electricity, and LED's so no bulb replacement.
So maybe $10/mo for food and carbon/gfo and misc supplies.

 

[mc-cro]

I run a 220 system, with 1000W of MH between the frag and display.

Electricity is cheap where I live. $0.072 pr/ KWH. Based on that caclulator, my tanks uses approximately 680KWH/month, $49

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Thanks mc-cro, that's closer to the size I'll be running and my electric per KWH is not much more then that.