120g cost breakdown

[luca61]

I asked one LFS to give an estimate on a 120g. I don't have any real experience to compare this, it does seem steep... I thought I could share it, and perhaps get some advice on how to get the best value. It's in Canadian dollars.

- tank, 48x24x24, starfire front, 2 durso overflows, 5 CL holes: $1080
- cabinet, AGA solid pine 48x24", oak finish: $340
- RO-DI, Aquasafe 100 gpd: $160
- plumbing (misc): $350
- lighting, Maristar 48" 2x250 + 2x54 T5: $1160
- sump, glass, 36x19x18, 3 baffles, 1 hole: $249
- pumps, 2x reeflo dart: $700
- water movement, oceanmotions SS 4 way: $400
- skimmer, ASM G3: $430
- heaters, won titanium, 2x350W: $80
- auto top-off, gravity: $50
- instant ocean, 2x 160g: $80
- kit package: $133
- sand, carib-sea sugarfine, 210lb: $232
- LR, Jakarta, cured, 120lb: $707
- shipping: $50

Added up it's $6,200 total, plus taxes (add other $800) is just over $7,000, before any livestock.

Would be nice to hear your comments, both on the technical and the... financial side.

Luca

 

[SnowManSnow]

Here's My opinion on a few things.
TANK: Forget the starfire, its clear, but IMO it isn't worth cost. Go with a cheaper glass tank and save $$$$$$

SKIMMER: Consider an OCTOPUS skimmer rated for about double your tank size... at that size it would be... ummm around...100g? So I'd look for one for at LEAST 200g. They are VERY well built and one rated for 300g is about $330 I think.

STAND AND CABINET: If you have the time and are brave enough. Make the stand and canopy yourself. Save LOTS of $$$$

Lighting: Not sure if your just sold on Maristar or somthing, but check out some brands like Current USA and that sort of thing. I believe you could get a very nice light and spend lots less $$$ there too.

There were just some ideas. Take it or leave it. Good luck to you

 

[Anonymous]

I see a couple of spots where you can save a few bucks with out compramising the system.

The tank. I agree with snow, starfire is nice but is it really worth the extra cash?

Cabinate - build your own if you have the tools.

Lighting - look at putting your own system together instead of an all in one. I have two MH pendats and a VHO system I think it totals out at about $700 us for every thing.

Pumps - I doubt you need a dart for you return, consider a pump that will give you 1000-1500 GPH at rated head.

Sand - check around to see if you can find some southdown play sand or other arrogonite (sp) type sand

Rocks - That seams high, check some on line vendors. Buy uncured and do that yourself.

 

[luca61]

I see a couple of spots where you can save a few bucks with out compramising the system.

The tank. I agree with snow, starfire is nice but is it really worth the extra cash?

Cabinate - build your own if you have the tools.

Lighting - look at putting your own system together instead of an all in one. I have two MH pendats and a VHO system I think it totals out at about $700 us for every thing.

Pumps - I doubt you need a dart for you return, consider a pump that will give you 1000-1500 GPH at rated head.

Sand - check around to see if you can find some southdown play sand or other arrogonite (sp) type sand

Rocks - That seams high, check some on line vendors. Buy uncured and do that yourself.

Thanks Snowman and Mark for your replies. I guess starfire is off.

Still, LFS asks for $790 for a standard AGA with durso kits. And that wouldn't include any drilling for the CL, claming that that wouldn't be structurally sound on a standard tank. Makes sense?

Cabinet: yes I could build my own

Lights: I'll look into currentUSA or the canopy kit options

Pumps: I objected to 2 darts myself. The store's reply was that in case of failure it'd be easy to swap them. Still, would the return pump have to be throttled down? Is that a good thing?

Sand: I guess the main thing is the granules size, and silica sand is OK?

LR: LFS says that fiji LR would be cheaper, but the word 'boulder' came up to describe it. They recommended 120lb (I was initially thinking ~180lb). What amount of LR would you guys recommend, knowing that I'd like to be able to keep clams/ SPS?

Luca

 

[Anonymous]

I see a couple of spots where you can save a few bucks with out compramising the system.

The tank. I agree with snow, starfire is nice but is it really worth the extra cash?

Cabinate - build your own if you have the tools.

Lighting - look at putting your own system together instead of an all in one. I have two MH pendats and a VHO system I think it totals out at about $700 us for every thing.

Pumps - I doubt you need a dart for you return, consider a pump that will give you 1000-1500 GPH at rated head.

Sand - check around to see if you can find some southdown play sand or other arrogonite (sp) type sand

Rocks - That seams high, check some on line vendors. Buy uncured and do that yourself.

Thanks Snowman and Mark for your replies. I guess starfire is off.

Still, LFS asks for $790 for a standard AGA with durso kits. And that wouldn't include any drilling for the CL, claming that that wouldn't be structurally sound on a standard tank. Makes sense?

Cabinet: yes I could build my own

Lights: I'll look into currentUSA or the canopy kit options

Pumps: I objected to 2 darts myself. The store's reply was that in case of failure it'd be easy to swap them. Still, would the return pump have to be throttled down? Is that a good thing?

Sand: I guess the main thing is the granules size, and silica sand is OK?

LR: LFS says that fiji LR would be cheaper, but the word 'boulder' came up to describe it. They recommended 120lb (I was initially thinking ~180lb). What amount of LR would you guys recommend, knowing that I'd like to be able to keep clams/ SPS?

Luca

Look at other sources for the tank. You should be able to drill a tank no problem.

For the lighting look at piecing together a system. It will be cheaper that any unit you can but. Here is mine.

Dart is way to much pump for a return on a 120. Having it throttled back will not hurt the pump unless it is way down for a long use. The bigger pump will cost you mor to buy and more to run than a properly sized pump. Look at a blueline 150ps as your return pump.

Silica can work, but you will more than likely scratch your glass, I did.

Fiji is fine. I have a mix of fiji and hati rock in my tank. It's just rock after all. Hopefully the corals will grow to where you only see some of the rock. I prefer rock on the light side so 1 to 1.5 lbs per gallon will be fine.

 

[SnowManSnow]

My personal favorite for sand is argonite.. I had one set up with crushed coral and switched back to arg last week.

Keep in mind that the LFS wants to sell you things. They have been know to sell things that are subpar, or maybe way overkill just to make a $$.

 

[dnorton1978]

Have you thought about looking for some used equipment? Sometimes when someone is leaving the hobby you can get a good deal.

Most of the time buying everything from the LFS is going to cost more than buying from various other places. I ended up buying from a lfs an all glass 125 gallon tank oak stand and canopy with wet dry sand salt delivery install the whole 9 for $1,300. I added lights after that and took rock from an old tank, but I shopped for awhile before getting the deal I got.

 

[cindre2000]

Yeah, the tank price seems very expensive. Are you up to drilling your own holes? That is a good money saver. And the misc plumbing- You probably can plumb a tank yourself for half of that. Same with the sump: build it and plumb it yourself.

What is the "kit package: $133"

 

[luca61]

Yeah, the tank price seems very expensive. Are you up to drilling your own holes? That is a good money saver. And the misc plumbing- You probably can plumb a tank yourself for half of that. Same with the sump: build it and plumb it yourself.

What is the "kit package: $133"

Yeah I've been keeping an eye on craiglist and such like, and I'm not afraid to try my hand at plumbing. $350 buys you a lot of elbows and valves at HD.

The $133 was actually 'advanced reef test kit package: pH, Alk, Ca, Mg, Nitrate', thanks for pointing that out. I think that almost everything is more expensive in Canada, compared to the US. If the items aren't very bulky, you probably save money buying online, I do that for my FW tank all the time. Tank doesn't qualify though.

FW tanks come on sale at decent prices here, for instance, what I paid for my 125G at petsmart was maybe half the price that the SW store quoted for the reef tank, and included the cabinet. :lol: Just wondering, would a shallower tank, like 125G, be OK for a reef. What are the drawbacks of an external overflow?

Luca

 

[Anonymous]

One more spot to save money is the sump. Get a regular glass tank and install your own baffels. My sump cost me about $120 for the tank, glass for baffles and the silicone.

 

[trido]

I thought the Canadian dollar was quite comparable with ours lately. Actually stronger isnt it? Well anyway, Saving a few dollars here and there in this hoby is huge. The Price of $7000 Canadian or American isnt rediculous unfortunately.
For your wave maker, that sounds high. Skip the LFS and go direct. http://www.oceansmotions.com/store/?osC ... 47e14691ab
For your ATO, Im not a fan of drip rates and gravity as it needs constant tweaking. you may want to consider this
http://www.autotopoff.com/products/DS1/index.htm I have one and really like it. You just use a small powerhead in a container of RO/DI water .

I think that almost everything is more expensive in Canada, compared to the US

I just moved back to the Seattle area form the San Fran. Bay area. Everything here is more expensive than down south. I think it has more to do with shipping prices than anything

 

[bleedingthought]

One thing that no one has mentioned so far is to look into clubs/forums/hobbyist around you that you can trade/buy stuff from. You will save huge bucks on that.

Live rock for example, will cut you back at least 1/3 of the money. Sand is always available, pumps, sumps, lighting are usually way cheaper also. The two elements involved are patience and the amount of people that reef around you.

But I would definitely recommend looking into it as it can save you lots of money and will also get you in a circle of people that will teach/help you with stuff and it's fun!

Good luck!!

 

[SnowManSnow]

If you REALLY want to save money, just buy a nice $10,000 plasma TV. It will end up being a LOT cheaper over a 5 year period And you DON'T have to feed it!

B

 

[luca61]

If you REALLY want to save money, just buy a nice $10,000 plasma TV. It will end up being a LOT cheaper over a 5 year period And you DON'T have to feed it!

B

Yes, I realize that... Unfortunately, I'm afraid it's just a matter of time before I jump in. :wink:

I can't even decide on the tank's size, perhaps I should go with something smaller than a 120g.

Luca

 

[bleedingthought]

If you REALLY want to save money, just buy a nice $10,000 plasma TV. It will end up being a LOT cheaper over a 5 year period And you DON'T have to feed it!

B

Yes, I realize that... Unfortunately, I'm afraid it's just a matter of time before I jump in. :wink:

I can't even decide on the tank's size, perhaps I should go with something smaller than a 120g.

Luca

Don't go any smaller than a 90G or else you might regret it and wish you'd gone bigger. (IMO)