Why is this hobby so expensive ??

[amado]

I am currently remodeling the basement of my home. I recently moved and I am setting up the basement as a office/ fish room.

To make sure I stay in budget I created spread sheets with line by line cost of everything.

I was able to buy 32 sheets of sheet rock.
20 sheets of durock. 29 boxes of tiles. 2 x 5 gallon of paint, 2 boxes of LED pucks with 6 pucks in each box. for the same price
As one ecotech xr30 g4 pro with arm =1,100

My tank is 6ft so I would at least need 3 x xr30 pro so that’s 3k and That’s just lights.

My wife thought that was a mistake. How can three lights cost 3k.

 

[Mark_C]

Ha!
I'm waiting to see if I'm getting a tax refund to help support a new powerhead for my 120.
Recently I put together a pico/frag tank, 5 gallon, and with pump, bulkheads, small light, sand, rubble rock, etc. I'm still out a couple hundred bucks before livestock.

I'm sure if EVERY hobbiest began purchasing Jecod/Jaebo pumps and black box lights Ecotech prices would drop by 40% in a year.

 

[Sponge]

No doubt. This hobby is expensive. And lights are really out of control. For me it’s the pumps. There is simply nothing new about them. Yes some are built better than others. But let’s be real. There is very little difference. In a modern aquarium pump than some old sump pump from the 70s. Just a Magnet. Some windings and fan blade. Given there size. They should cost ten bucks.

 

[deepblue68]

agree

 

[motortrendz]

No doubt. This hobby is expensive. And lights are really out of control. For me it’s the pumps. There is simply nothing new about them. Yes some are built better than others. But let’s be real. There is very little difference. In a modern aquarium pump than some old sump pump from the 70s. Just a Magnet. Some windings and fan blade. Given there size. They should cost ten bucks.

Agree, especially for AC pumps. Last forever. But can be quite the watt killer, dc pumps are so much nicer as far as being able to control them without a valve and the actual amp draw is quite low comparably to the same flow/volume of an AC pump. Only downside is DC pumps just dont have the umph to run a big system which I learned the hard way, I was told the m2 would be just fine for my new sump build, nope not even close, (400$ waste) so then I was told to do the L2 bc it's got a taller head height and an extra 1000gph flow... 500$ later. I'm literally milking that pump for everything it has, just enough to run my system. So well see how long this pump lasts running 100% 24/7...

 

[amado]

No doubt. This hobby is expensive. And lights are really out of control. For me it’s the pumps. There is simply nothing new about them. Yes some are built better than others. But let’s be real. There is very little difference. In a modern aquarium pump than some old sump pump from the 70s. Just a Magnet. Some windings and fan blade. Given there size. They should cost ten bucks.

Yes that is my point if I decided to use ecotech pumps I would need 2 mp60
@ $700 each 1,400 on two pumps.

 

[motortrendz]

Yes that is my point if I decided to use ecotech pumps I would need 2 mp60
@ $700 each 1,400 on two pumps.

Theres always a way to do it the cheap way, but let's be honest. They look visually terrible. Lol. Unfortunately this hobby has become an investment(hopefully the return is the nice tank) hobby. Kinda like building racecars, you do it bc you love it knowing you'll never get that money back bc once you put the part on the car it's worth half. Frustrating at times. But when everything is looking great it's really a happy time (for me anyway) until my wife sees how much I spent. Lol.

 

[Sponge]

Theres always a way to do it the cheap way, but let's be honest. They look visually terrible. Lol. Unfortunately this hobby has become an investment(hopefully the return is the nice tank) hobby. Kinda like building racecars, you do it bc you love it knowing you'll never get that money back bc once you put the part on the car it's worth half. Frustrating at times. But when everything is looking great it's really a happy time (for me anyway) until my wife sees how much I spent. Lol.

Do you know how to make a little money with race cars..... start out with with whole lot of money. Same think applies to reefing.

 

[amado]

Ha!
I'm waiting to see if I'm getting a tax refund to help support a new powerhead for my 120.
Recently I put together a pico/frag tank, 5 gallon, and with pump, bulkheads, small light, sand, rubble rock, etc. I'm still out a couple hundred bucks before livestock.

I'm sure if EVERY hobbiest began purchasing Jecod/Jaebo pumps and black box lights Ecotech prices would drop by 40% in a year.

The problem that I see with this hobby is that the gatekeepers are the ones pushing this stuff. They make people feel like if you don’t buy ecotech lights your house will burn down.

Jaebo pumps move water and are very good pumps. Black box will grow any coral 100%

 

[Humblefish]

You can do this hobby on a budget, but you've got to be willing to compromise. As you mentioned, black box LEDs will grow just about any coral... maybe just not as well as a Radion. Koralia makes big, ugly wavemakers... but they move the water just fine. Buying used equipment is probably the best way to save money in this hobby. You can get some amazing deals if you are patient.

 

[Sponge]

That’s me used, reused, fixed and used Again. Even my kessils.... Used. Yes purchased quite a bit new but saved where I could. STILL ITS QUITE AN INVESTMENT. But gotta tell ya. I’m enjoying the ride... both the frustration and success.

 

[MadReefer]

Like this.

 

[Mrx7899x]

You can make this hobby as expensive as you want.

When I setup my 225 I did the whole thing for less then one xr30 pro with mount. I grow acros and any other coral just fine.

 

[iTzJu]

I was able to grab Gen 3 Pros, 5x XR15s and 1 XR30 for less than $1000. there are deals to be had out there if one is patient and willing to look.

 

[Sponge]

Definitely I picked up four of the latest new in box never used kessils. For great price simply because someone purchased them and changed there mind. Paid way less and was able to warranty them as well. Two had problems in like three months. And kessle replaced them no problem.

 

[Justin]

Yeah a lot of the prices are pretty ridiculous when you think about what you are buying. Personally I try to look for good deals when I can and it seems to be working so far for me so far, knock on wood. I'm actually considering selling my kessils and swapping over to black boxes. Apparently some of the black boxes are UL listed now which makes me feel a little bit better? Lol

 

[Sponge]

Yeah a lot of the prices are pretty ridiculous when you think about what you are buying. Personally I try to look for good deals when I can and it seems to be working so far for me so far, knock on wood. I'm actually considering selling my kessils and swapping over to black boxes. Apparently some of the black boxes are UL listed now which makes me feel a little bit better? Lol

Now that’s a jump. They do grow coral. One caveat is I read every day about burnt out LEDs and power supplies. But for the price you can buy quite a few replacements

 

[Justin]

Now that’s a jump. They do grow coral. One caveat is I read every day about burnt out LEDs and power supplies. But for the price you can buy quite a few replacements

Yeah well that's the thing, I only have 2 kessils which is not nearly enough to cover my tank so I figured by selling them I could get better coverage. Another brand that's gaining some traction is noopsyche and they are about $150 a light for 95 watts which isn't bad so I was considering them as well. Supposedly they are comparable to an AI Hydra 26 HD

 

[amado]

You can do this hobby on a budget, but you've got to be willing to compromise. As you mentioned, black box LEDs will grow just about any coral... maybe just not as well as a Radion. Koralia makes big, ugly wavemakers... but they move the water just fine. Buying used equipment is probably the best way to save money in this hobby. You can get some amazing deals if you are patient.

I agree 100% I buy a lot of equipment used.
My two sumps are used. One of the sumps is very thick acrylic that sump will last forever. Most reefers are out of the hobby in one year.

 

[amado]

Yeah well that's the thing, I only have 2 kessils which is not nearly enough to cover my tank so I figured by selling them I could get better coverage. Another brand that's gaining some traction is noopsyche and they are about $150 a light for 95 watts which isn't bad so I was considering them as well. Supposedly they are comparable to an AI Hydra 26 HD

If you could wait I would see what the new PhilipS reef care lights sell for. They are very popular over seas and they will be available here soon.

Philips Coral Care Gen 2 Coming to U.S. Next Year | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The Philips CoralCare Gen 2 LED fixture is an exciting new follow-up to an aquarium light that has so far not really ventured far outside of Europe. Built with, let’s call it European Sensibility’…

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