Originally posted by italianwjt
Holy Crap, the progress you made is awesome. Question...if you dont mind me asking....But, how much did the tank/fish/supplies cost you?
Typically, I don't like to discuss finances openly, but one of the biggest goals in setting up this tank was to create a stunning reef on a minimal budget with as few shortcuts as possible. In the end, I will only be out around $3,700 for the tank and construction materials.
I posted that figure to demonstrate that it doesn't take 10's of thousands of dollars to put a large reef together, but rather a knack for finding a good deal on used equipment, some minor DIY skills, and a patient wife!
Even though the tank was started on a minimal budget, monthly operating expenses can't be discounted. The electricity alone to run this tank will cost about $80 a month, along with another $100 or so per month of maintenance goods (salt, food, etc.). But fortunately I'm in an area with a good frag trading network, so I hope to make up some of those expenses with trading and selling of frags.