Fishy888
2500 Club Member
My lighting and RO/DI are tied for my biggest money savers.From the latest and greatest reefing gadgets and equipment to the colorful corals and rare livestock, maintaining a reef tank can strain the limits of our wallets!
I know it's almost comical to put the terms, reefing and money-saving together!
But between buying everything you want and being a budget conscience hobbyists there has to be ways that you were able to save some money! Perhaps there was ONE GREAT money saving decision that you made and that's what we want you to share today!
What was the ONE GREATEST money-saving decision you ever made concerning your reef aquarium?
I paid 15 bucks for my lighting. I have a 90 gallon cube so I bought an old metal halide 400 watt luminaire and modified it to allow me to install the transformer remotely. Even though it’s 400 watts, since my heaters don’t run while the halides are on and the temperature remains the same, it’s a wash in terms of electrical use.
My RO/DI unit was a gift from someone who I consider one of several mentors, @Lost in the Sauce. Even if I had to buy it new, it would still have paid for itself already. Our apartment is dry especially with having the air conditioning running at 67 degrees. It only takes two to three days for 5 gallons of water to evaporate from my system. At 50 cents to a gallon for “RO/DI” water the LFS sells (and you get it home, test the water and find out it has more TDS than your own tap water lol) you can see the savings. Besides saving money for water, you know you’re getting zero TDS. That also saves money on “cures” for nuisance algae and the fish and coral deaths that occur from the tap and what comes from most LFSs.
