Real talk: How are we keeping cost low?

[PPBlimpy]

If you can swing it and know you are staying in the hobby for a long time... buy maintenance items in bulk during discount times.

black friday deals, christmas etc.

I picked up 4 boxes of fritz rpm salt during black friday, saved $30 box over my normal local supplier, Basically got the 4th box free. I should have gotten 5. Would have covered almost a full year of Daily AWCs. Also was delivered and didn't cost me 2 hrs driving to the LFS. will probably order 6 this year as I have recently started a second tank.
buying filters for my RODI in bulk.
If you use a lot of carbon, you can buy a 5g pale for approx $90.
If you dose, there is usually a DIY recipe.
Amazon is your best friend(unfortunately)
corals and fish I buy from local hobbyist mostly.

This works for me as i have more time then money sometimes but I have also gotten in the habit of buying complete systems from market place and local reef groups and parting out the systems. I will only buy if it has equipment or fish/livestock I want to ad to my system as an upgrade and then sell the rest to locals.

 

[DmitryB]

I think used equipment can be big savings if you do buy something.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Only buy what you absolutely need for your tank, wait for sales, and stick to cheaper corals is what I do!

 

[ColorMeGone]

Nano tanks.

 

[Uncle99]

Chinese everything!

Boy, this stuff has vastly improved in quality and the price can’t be beat. Wave makers and return pumps running beyond 5 years! LED lights beyond 7 years.

Thanks Jebao!

 

[crodaba1]

I doordash a couple nights a week and save that money. Going today to pick up some hydros stuff from a LFS

 

[Aquaman508]

Ive literally stopped my weekly water changes and do one only if my phos and nitrates rise. So far only 2 since January. Alk 8.5 PHOS .02 (I use Poly Filter) NO3 3, saved hundreds on salt.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

when I had a boat years ago people called it "a hole in the water to throw money in". What I have learned about this hobby is it is "A box of water in my house I can throw money in". I have no answers.

B.O.A.T. = Bust Out Another Thousand

Any boat over ~25' = B.O.A.T.T.

Any reef over ~200 gallons falls into the second boat category lol

 

[theclownshow]

DIY is a good option to save money. For example, i'm going to be making an AWC controlled with hydros which will wind up being about half the price of the one hydros is releasing soon. Still a luxury item, but still a big price savings for almost identical components.

There are also plenty of chinese products that are still of very high quality and will all offer a big price saving.

I agree on Chinese made products. I recently bought a $30 auto feeder since I’m going on vacay and as much as I would have loved a frozen feeder for my babies I just can’t stomach the price. That being said, the cheap little feeder is amazing and actually feeds my fish even on days I forget.

There’s always a lot of assumptions and hate for “cheap” products but they are almost always on par with more expensive products especially considering price

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

DIY everything you can from dosing liquids to tank stands and lids. I did A DIY feed button that cycles my power heads off for 5 min. and the return pump plus UV off for 10 min., its totally adjustable time wise from 5 seconds to 24 hours, $50 to build it. Carbon and alkalinity liquids for dosing are easy DIY.

 

[breathing underwater]

One easy one: buy as little reef specific equipment and materials as possible. There is any size and shape of liquid container you can need available in food safe plastic for a few dollars (why pay hundreds for a topoff tank?!?). Many chemicals (alk, citric acid, vinegar, peroxide, magnesium and others) as well. These can all be had in plain food grade packaging instead of one with a coral photo on the label for probably 15 cents on the dollar. Scrub brushes, tools, fans, just try to find generic alternatives and you save 50-80%.

Also, as others have said buy in bulk during sales, can save 20-40% off of most things. I typically refuse to buy anything for less than a 20% discount, ever, unless a true emergency.

A more recent one since I re entered the hobby: buy from smaller hobbiest vendors for corals. Again, a fraction of the big operations on cost, and you get to support someone's passion project!

Now if only I could save as much on my groceries as I do on my reefing supplies, now THAT would really help with raising a family...

 

[jonsreef2reef]

Feeling this one. The whole hobby has gotten harder to justify lately, so no shame in the slowdown — keeping what you've got healthy and looking good is the hobby, not just the upgrades.

The thing that's helped me most is leaning into the local side. If there's a reef club near you, their frag swaps and giveaway threads are a great way to keep adding color without really spending.

 

[PPBlimpy]

Feeling this one. The whole hobby has gotten harder to justify lately, so no shame in the slowdown — keeping what you've got healthy and looking good is the hobby, not just the upgrades.

The thing that's helped me most is leaning into the local side. If there's a reef club near you, their frag swaps and giveaway threads are a great way to keep adding color without really spending.

Along the line of local clubs.

I have gotten with a couple guys and started a “don’t break the chain” or coral share.

I had my tank crash about a year ago and now when frags grow out I frag then and share with a select few guys, they do the same with me. This is incase we loose a tank again we can at least get frags of what we had back without starting over.

We also coordinate when we are ordering corals or picking up something new.

We also try to buy larger frags or colonies and sometime go into colony purchases together splitting the cost and will break them up to 4 or 5 pieces.

When buying just frags we have to grow them out to frag them to share them.

Anyways it helps when there is trouble in the tank and also to help grow the variety very quickly

 

[Tangdora]

My top 5 some have already been mention

1) only buy bogo, sales and bulk save for Sunday RAPs when the discount start flying. Buy product in bulk like food.

2) indirectly - keep you equipment clean to maximize its longevity.

3) Chinese probduct (somewhat) I’m against Chinese on single critical component ie return pump, skimmer ets but man those Jabeo Mow 22s I bought 6 of them for less then the price of one mp60. Had only one fail and seize so far but at 100 bucks a pop can’t beat them for the amount of flow they give off

4) power adjustment Fine tune your controllers if you have one specfically for heaters. The apex seasonal table is great for in summer my heating spread drops to 78.0 to 78.1instead of the normal 78-79 in the rare case it kicks on. And just just serves as a quick hold till the room temp begins to rise. . Also recently have begun testing running my uv for only 12 hours and throwing my closed loop pump down to low speed during this time.

5) to each the own on this but at 350 gallon I’m on team no water change. I only supplement what’s needed when needed.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

this is my 15 gallon softie tank. The tank itself is a regular rectangle tank cost $20. Kamoer ATO cost $90. Eheim heater and an inkbird. The light is AI Prime, but I could swap it for a Jebao 60 watt that cost $90. Weekly water changes only, no filtration no dosing no testing no fuss. This is as easy and inexpensive as it gets IMO.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Two Cheapest Tanks to Run:

(1) FOWLR
(2) FOWLR + Softies

 

[terminallyonline]

First post.

1: Use AliExpress for more of the expensive common things.
Stick to generic brands if possible.
Like ATO system (got the bottle ones there for 3 US dollars vs Amazon’s 10 US dollars) and refractometer (13 USD there vs Petco’s 38 USD) among others.

2: Stick to nano tanks.
Stick to anything below 20 gallons, and whenever possible, utilize Petco’s 50 percent sale.
Personally I got my 11g rimless tank from them for 35 vs their “normal” price of 70

3: Get the smallest coral frags the store has or ask if possible to divide up macroalgae.
Self explanatory.

4: Do not chase intensive care corals or motile animals if you believe that you cannot reliably sustain them in the long run.
Taking time to go to LFS in case of emergencies or freak purchases and back wastes gas (given it has been expensive due to the Second Persian Gulf War), and buying supplements, lights or other equipment to host these species that build up costs rapidly.

These in the end helped save me money while setting up my first (and only foray into) 11 gallon reef tank (pictured below).

 

[Channas]

What i did was start working whenever i have spare time in my lfs

 

[PPBlimpy]

What i did was start working whenever i have spare time in my lfs

I may try this. I talked to one LFS owner. I did apply to Petco to run their aquatics

 

[kitti-fish]

One easy one: buy as little reef specific equipment and materials as possible. There is any size and shape of liquid container you can need available in food safe plastic for a few dollars (why pay hundreds for a topoff tank?!?). Many chemicals (alk, citric acid, vinegar, peroxide, magnesium and others) as well. These can all be had in plain food grade packaging instead of one with a coral photo on the label for probably 15 cents on the dollar. Scrub brushes, tools, fans, just try to find generic alternatives and you save 50-80%.

Also, as others have said buy in bulk during sales, can save 20-40% off of most things. I typically refuse to buy anything for less than a 20% discount, ever, unless a true emergency.

A more recent one since I re entered the hobby: buy from smaller hobbiest vendors for corals. Again, a fraction of the big operations on cost, and you get to support someone's passion project!

Now if only I could save as much on my groceries as I do on my reefing supplies, now THAT would really help with raising a family...

Bulk purchase and invest in a deep freezer. I only go shipping maybe 1-2 times a month and we keep it really simple with a protein, a carb, and always a veggie somewhere and of course add extra fiber where necessary. Chili is your bff!!