Budgetting for a nano

[freakin]

I know everyone always talks about how expensive this hobby is, but I'm looking to get some more hard numbers.

I'm considering getting a 14 or 29g biocube, probably w/ PC or MH lighting. 10-20% weekly water changes. I look at this and it doesn't look that expensive. Bulbs 1-2x a year, 10-20% WC. Maintenance seems manageable.

Is the high ongoing cost everyone talks about just the lust for new LS and equipment? If I go slow and do as much trading/haggling/stealing:badgrin: as possible is this a reasonable hobby?

A year ago I wouldn't have cared as much but I have 7-day old twins that I need to care for now and it'd made me rethink some of my decisions

Any thoughts from those who have been in it for a while?

 

[roscoe]

For a tank that size..... no not expensive at all. It is when you get into the medium to extra large systems say 100+ gallons. Then what you care for comes into play hugely as far as cost goes too. For instance a softies tank don't need any special equipment besides the usual basic reef set up. Then there is a SPS tank that requires more lighting, more manual dosing or reactors or dosing equipment. I can go on and on. You get the point

 

[broskie]

I would say for a 29G setup your looking at $600 for the setup and a monthly cost of $20-30 dollars.
Electricity, food, RO water unless you get a unit and salt mix, ect

 

[freakin]

Yeah I'm taking my time and gonna try to pick something up used from the classifieds when it presents itself. Very glad to have found a forum that is a little more local. I'd rather get used equipment I can clean up and spend the money on LS in the future. I'm very happy to have found a more local forum than NR

A monthly cost <$50 seems pretty reasonable compared to some other hobbies I could pick up. I'll just tell my wife that :lol:

 

[broskie]

A monthly cost <$50 seems pretty reasonable compared to some other hobbies I could pick up. I'll just tell my wife that

HAHA thats what I told my girlfriend but then came along corals. I've dropped atleast $900 in livestock and corals in the last 3 months and am now getting to a point of running out of room.

 

[freakin]

Also, in terms of other non-equipment items I need to purchase... How much stuff will I be buying outside of my main hardware?

Planning on something along these lines

Tank (probably bc 14 or 29, possibly open top)
Lighting fixture (still very undecided)
Heater
better return pump
1-2 powerheads
probably fuge light
maybe a few other items like a media rack

So what am I missing from primary setup before I can add LR?

How much will I be spending on a average set of test kits? Are the prepackaged "reef kits" a bad idea? I don't want to go super-cheap on test kits and kill a tank full of livestock, obviously.

A few 5g buckets w/ lids

I'll probably get an inexpensive (~$40?) refractometer instead of trying to deal with a hydrometer.

Other little things I'm forgetting?

 

[broskie]

This is a good deal and you can probably haggle a little bit
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53388

But as far equipment as goes you have it pretty much covered. The only other cost you may have is sand and water. Are you going to buy an R/O unit or buy it from your lfs?

A full test kit will run you around $100 and last a year. This should cover you for
Ammonia
High Range PH
Nitrate
Nitrite
Cal
Mag

 

[freakin]

Yeah I saw that 50g cube while browsing. 30 is about as big as I want to deal with for my first tank, and I think I'd prefer glass over acrylic since I'm not used to working w/ a tank and may scratch up whatever I get.

I was planning on buying RO/DI water for now (Denny's Pet World is about 5 minutes from my house and I assume I can buy some there). There are also a few grocery stores (4 different ones) within 10 minutes that sell water and you can bring your own jugs so hopefully one of those would be acceptable quality. I can definitely see myself getting a RO/DI unit later on especially if I get a larger tank.

how common is it to continue testing for nitrate/nitrite/ammonia after they go to 0?

Is this about right for levels I will want to maintain?
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: 0
Nitrite: 0
PH: 8.1-8.3
Cal: 430-460ppm
Mag: ~1200-1400ppm

 

[broskie]

Denny's pet world is where I use to go for RO water but I soon found out I was spending more money on driving there, the water, and sometimes a fish while waiting then just getting the RO unit for my house. Barrier Reef just had a great sell and I picked up my RO unit for $150. I was spending $30 a month on just RO water from Dennys pet world.
But if you do go to Dennys Talk with Jessie he's the man there. Tell him Branden Sent you, he'll set you straight and in the right direction.

Water from most grocery stores is just Carbon filtered and not going to be good for aqauriums. As for testing after getting to 0, I test every other week to see where I am, how food may be bringing up my ammonia, where the CAL and MAG are for my corals ect

 

[jgalvin]

I love my 34G Current Solana, I picked up the tank new from petsolutions for $269. I was initially looking at the 24-29G range, but glad I went a little bigger. This is my first tank, and I'd hate to go smaller now. I'm about 5 minutes from Denny's as well. Great great store and people (and prices). I'd say the only hidden gotcha is if you get addicted to SPS, that can get expensive quick.

- James

 

[lvsuckerfish]

I think live stock is worse then a buying a set up. even softies and taste you have some here have a expensive taste for zoas including myself. but I buy for trading and live stck issues not for likes really. sps can get up there I spent since I been here just on live stock a good 1500.00. and I still have room I am giving more stuff away because i want the room for other things. but craigslist get a complete set up or even hit up sushiboy he has a nice set up for a good price 300 tank lights ect can't beat that for a thick cube tank. thats a good deal and half the battle is already done.

 

[glasscabbage]

with a mix of lfs, craigslist, and dr s. i put together a 14g nano with all equip plus frills for under $400

 

[Skimmy]

first off, I think AIO's are never as good or as nice looking as building a tank yourself.
their filtration usually sucks, skimmers suck, and lighting usually needs to be replaced

mkay, check these out, topless, braceless sweetass tanks for cheap,
I've ordered one ,and the quality and shipping is good, they are beautiful, especially for the money:
http://www.marinedepot.com/Mr._Aqua...Aquarium_Tank_Cube-Azoo-AZ1133-FIAQRC-vi.html

cheap mh/t5 lights
http://shop.aquatraders.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=54241

or some inexpensive LED's from hong kong like mine:
http://www.reefshops.com/weipro-led-lighting-led-l-series-1w-per-led.html
I use the weipro LED for a daylight fixture,
then I use the ecoxotic panorama module for actinic supplementation and dawn/dusk:
http://premiumaquatics.com/store/me...A&Product_Code=EX-8201&Category_Code=ecoxotic

then for flow:
http://premiumaquatics.com/store/me...Code=PA&Category_Code=&Product_Code=T6045.000
or this for less, but the tunze is best.
http://premiumaquatics.com/store/me...A&Product_Code=CV-102B&Category_Code=OctoPump

then for a hob skimmer you could do several things:

a cheap chinese skimmer body w/ no pump,
then a cheap $20 pump modified for skimmers
that you could mesh mod for even more power;
http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-ProPack-Protein-Skimmer-p/43014.htm
or skimmer/refugium:
http://shop.aquatraders.com/Hang-On-Refugium-with-Protein-Skimmer-14in-p/43016.htm
and then the pump:
http://premiumaquatics.com/store/me...oduct_Code=CPR-ASP1-1000&Category_Code=Bakpak

or just buy a "real" skimmer:

http://premiumaquatics.com/store/me...oduct_Code=WM-H1&Category_Code=Warner-skimmer

http://premiumaquatics.com/store/me...Product_Code=CPR-AEROF1B&Category_Code=Bakpak

this one comes with a better upgraded pump than pictured
(OTP 1000, not crappy resun 225),
and has room for your bag of carbon/gfo and heater to fit inside the skimmer:
http://saltwaterconnection.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=6

now after all that, I would probably suggest that you also think about the possibility of getting a sump,
and in-sump skimmer/refugium/and media reactor ...yes, even for a nano...

here's my newly set-up 20g... LED's, SWC cone skimmer, IKEA stand:

 

[freakin]

Wow that MH/T5 fixture is an awesome find! Anyone buy one recently and know if the ballast is still underpowering the fixture? Found this mod on NR to fix it

is 150W + the actinics overpowered for something like a 14g? Will I have crazy evap and heat issues?

I am considering either getting a 14 or 29g biocube without the top (replacement tank from nanotuners) and using a MH pendant for it. I would have to upgrade the lighting anyways and I figure replacing it is just as good.

I think an AIO suits me better as I don't want to drill a tank, plumb a sump or anything that goes along with it. my wife is the biggest reason for this. it has to look as nice on the outside as it does on the inside =/

 

[johnpeezy]

Wow that MH/T5 fixture is an awesome find! Anyone buy one recently and know if the ballast is still underpowering the fixture? Found this mod on NR to fix it

is 150W + the actinics overpowered for something like a 14g? Will I have crazy evap and heat issues?

I am considering either getting a 14 or 29g biocube without the top (replacement tank from nanotuners) and using a MH pendant for it. I would have to upgrade the lighting anyways and I figure replacing it is just as good.

I think an AIO suits me better as I don't want to drill a tank, plumb a sump or anything that goes along with it. my wife is the biggest reason for this. it has to look as nice on the outside as it does on the inside =/

If your planning on getting a 29 gallon biocube with a metal halide why not just get the biocube HQI?

I haven't done any research into them at all but I do know you can pick one up brand new in local shops for like 500.00

 

[freakin]

If your planning on getting a 29 gallon biocube with a metal halide why not just get the biocube HQI?

I haven't done any research into them at all but I do know you can pick one up brand new in local shops for like 500.00

I can get a BioCube 29 tank for $150 and that 150W MH+T5 pendant for $100 =/

I have a hard time justifying the extra $250 (especially to my wife) when I can use the money to get a test kit, refractometer, K1 (or 2), upgraded return pump and some LR

lol every other day I change my mind if I am going to get started in this hobby or not. I think I just need to buy used (hopefully w/ some LR) from someone who hates life and wants out :badgrin: