How much is YOUR nano setup worth???And the stuff in it?

[saltman123]

I am curious to know how much people have put into their Nano's from both an equipment size, as well as the live stock, corals, etc.

I have been reading up and learning for the past few weeks now and am realizing just how expensive it is to get into the hobby.

I am curious to know how much people have spent on their equipment. Then separately on the critters, fish, live rock, corals, etc.

Anyone care to share?

I am considering an Aquapod and have also factored in:

Power Head
Aquarium Test Kit
Lighting - Included with the Aquapod
Salt
Water-Reverse Osmosis
Heater
Thermometer
Refractometer/Hydrometer
Algae magnet
Algae Scraper
Food- For Fish and Corals, etc
Skimmer


Then lastly, the inhibitos for the tank including:
Live Rock
Sand/Substrate
Clean Up Crew
Fish
Soft Corals
Anything else.

Anyone care to share their investments? Just trying to get an idea of just how far people have gone.

Either way I am sure the payoff is WELL WORTH IT IN THE END. There is nothing like an awesome looking tank. I am jealous of you all jk

 

[Anonymous]

I think my 12g cube ran me a total of (roughly)..
$200 - misc*
$150 - tank
$150 - rock
$70 - various soft coral frags
$70 - light upgrade/replacement
$60 - replacement bulbs
$50 - fish
$40 - various snails

*misc would be scrapers, replacement ro/di cartidges, salt, test kits, makeup water and mixed salt when ro/di was down waiting for replacement cartridges and various foods

I already had the ro/di unit itself, the hydrometer and heater and didn't bother with an upgraded powerhead in the tank though it would have been nice. (I wouldn't have had to deal with so much cyano all the time..)

So altogether, for setting up and running for a year, close to $800.

Thats just for a nano too...


This hobby isn't one you'll want to do a cost-analysis on by the way.. :lol:

 

[Meloco14]

Hmm, I've never added up the cost of any of my tanks so this could be scary... I set up this tank over 2 years ago so i am guessing at some of the costs.

Dry goods
1 - Nanocube - $99
1 - 32W PC retrofit - $40 (I think)
2 - 13W PC worklights I gutted and installed - $20 each
1 - small sheet of lexan to act as splash guard - $10
1 - fan from radio shack - $7
1 - variable power supply for fan - $15
1 - minijet 404 - $11
1 - Via Aqua 360 - $5 (on sale)
1 - Visi-Therm 50w heater - $15
2 - timers - $7 each
1 - powerstrip - $10
Dry goods total - $266 (plus tax and/or shipping)

Live Goods
10lbs live sand - $20
10lbs dry sand - $10
18lbs live rock - $90
3 - Orange/Green Ricordea polyps - $24
1 - Staghorn Montipora - $30
1 - Montipora Capricornis - $30 (moved to different tank)
1 - Pocillopora Damicornis - $25 (moved to different tank)
Various mushrooms and zoos - free from friends
1 - candycan coral - free from a friend
1 - unknown branching sps - free hitchhiker that showed up 2 years in
1 - unknown encrusting sps - free hitchhiker
5 bumblebee snails - $10
5 astraea snails - $5
5 margarita snails - $5
3 cerith snails - $5
Live goods total - $254 (plus tax and/or shipping)

Grand total $520

This is pretty much the cost of the current tank, minus things like water, salt, additives, and maintenance products that I have for my other tank. I don't have any fish in it, but in the past I had 2 gobies, so that would bump the cost up about $60 or so. Actually, I am a bit surprised the tank was this cheap. I don't even want to think about the cost of my 55 gallon tank. The lighting alone cost as much as this nano 8O .

 

[saltman123]

Care to show some pics of your setup?

 

[Meloco14]

mine's nice and dirty at the moment, if i have time to clean it in the next few days i'll take a pic or two.

 

[Anonymous]

Saltman,
Go take a gander at the nano build off forum. There you'll find all the info you'd like on different setups and costs. Something like 64 different setups, with 64 different price ratio's. Plus the bonus of all the knowledge learned and shared there.

Some people were much better at giving cost of livestock, some of us didn't. But live stock cost isn't really what is important with nano's anyway. Cost for live stock is really going to depend on where you live. Larger citys give for lower costs, free/cheap frags from hobbiests will bring down the total cost. Full retail prices in the boon docks will drive the cost up.

 

[Anonymous]

my lighting system alone has run me about 500 +/- . I have a 175 W MH with two 24 W PC 20k bulbs or something like that.

 

[Anonymous]

My 20:

3 20 gallon tanks (trying to get the external overflow right!) $65
Mag 7 and sqwd $60
PFO mini 150wDE pendant and ballast $150
CSL 2x32wpc $100
Acrylic for the sump $20
Litermeter $100
Box and timers for my light box $50

Wood for the stand/canopy $70
Solid oak trim for the canopy $164

Stain, paint, hinges, screws, biscuits $50

RO $125

Plumbing parts, Bulkheads, pipe, ect $50

MJ 400 to feed the fuge $10

Livestock and rock:
Sand $5 Southdown
LR $120 + 40 + frag of Caulastrea
2-false clowns $25
Corals I've paid for, maybe $400 in the last two years or so.
Pepermint shrimp $4
2-cleaner shrimp $30
Snails, hermits, ect $20
ORA Ultragrade Maxima, $35


I've traded for most of my corals. Tank raised is the way to go.

Also, There's the upkeep
For one year (or so)
Salt $50
RODI filters $40
DI $30
Lights
150w $60
PC $40
Kalk $10
Test kits $20

I'm afraid to add it all up.

I'm setting up a new 58 gallon and I've set the budget at $2500 for everything. I'm using my light and my litermeter from my old setup. Everything else is gonna be bought (hopefully used)

B

 

[garvondavis14]

wow...some of you guys seem to be spending a lot more on stuff than what i would think it would cost...maybe i'm just talented when it comes to finding deals

 

[linderaberry]

Wow. Good small lights are way more expensive than I had realized. Not that much cheaper than big lights. I need to totally reassess whether I am going to take up serious aquaria again. I kept aquaria in the 70s and 80s with 1970s equipment ...it's a whole different deal nowadays.

 

[saltman123]

Wow, this thread came back alive since May

Since then I purchased an Aquapod 12 gallon and am 3 weeks into my cycling process.

So far the tank is going through its ups and downs, but it is definitely worth it. I can't wait to start populating it.

Definitely not cheap, and seems like I need something else every time I read and ask questions, but it will be worth it if the tank looks great.

 

[skylsdale]

Um, let's see...

old hex tank from Wal-Mart: free
silica sand: free
couple pieces of LR: free (received in a trade with another reefer when I gave them some LR that I had obtained from someone else).
corals: a few tiny xenia colonies on the LR
turbo snail: $2
salt: $5
lighting: 20 watt curly-Q for $4

What is that...$11?

 

[flipteg]

i just did a rough calculation of this last night and it came out to $3000 for my 30 gallon Oceanic cube... this only includes livestock that is still alive, and items that is currently being used for the aquarium... this does not include livestock that has died and does not include items that has been replaced/broken... the tank has only been up for 1 year... but needless to say, $3000 is a very conservative figure... at first i kept all my receipts for purchases... the receipts just kept pilling up because i was too scared to add them all up... now, i don't care anymore... well, do but... ... ... you know what i mean... :roll:

 

[skylsdale]

I bought a damsel today for $3.99, which brings my total to around $15.

 

[wetworx101]

5.5g AGA: $10
DIY canopy and acrylic cover: $30
LED spotlights (two blue, one white): $85
Aragacrete: $5 of it, but I have it in bulk so its cost is hard to calculate for the small amount I needed to create the wall that covers the back and side wall of the tank, as well as conceals the 'in-tank-sump' made with a piece of 1/8" acrylic.
EBO 50watt heater: $20
MJ900 powerhead:$15
Thermometer:$5
DIY wetworx skimmer: $5 in parts, if that.

As far as tubing, buckets, nets, meds, suppliments, test kits, livestock, etc... Im just grabbing stuff from my other larger tanks. I will only dose calcium and alkalinity most likely... so ESV calcium chloride and Seachem Reef Builder... thats all.

I suppose I should count the cost of the sexy shrimp, porcelain crabs, frilly arrow crab, and neon gobies though... so another $150

So my 5.5g desktop nano... $175 in parts, $150 in actual livestock costs. Its cheap to nano when you already have everything from larger tanks.

 

[Anonymous]

It's been a while, but I picked up a 10g kit (tank, filter, lighting, heater, powerhead, live sand) for about $350. Add another $80 for a live rock pack from Fosters&Smith, probably $50 on testers and chemical additives.
Think I paid another $50 for a lunar nightlight of ebay.
I can't even add up all the random amounts I've spent on livestock here and there. Snails, microstars, spaghetti worms, redhead goby, percula clown, peppermint shrimp, blue-legged hermits, shrooms, button polyps, starburst, more?