This hobby is getting out of control with costs

[Eagle_Steve]

Hey I love it!

I had one just like it years ago! I divided the 40 breeder the long ways with black acrylic and then added more divides in the back so I could run any filtration or just have a return pump spot, etc...

Is yours kind of the same idea? I see an egg crate spot.

This was my sump... it had a small cut out right and left for the water to flow in and out to the hidden chambers. I lit it with two t5's.

View attachment 2963076

@Joe Glass Cages and his team built mine. It was a customer idea I had for years and Joe was able to make it happen.

Just enough room for the skimmer and return.

 

[Amphibious Wallet]

@Joe Glass Cages and his team built mine. It was a customer idea I had for years and Joe was able to make it happen.

Just enough room for the skimmer and return.

So much room for activities!

 

[Rmckoy]

@vetteguy53081 you know yourself exaxtly how this works .
as a owner operator the majority of these prices are driven by the consumers .
The issue I have is someone selling from their home tank reflects market prices to
What they think they would sell frags for making tank raised no better than collected and imported corals .

if it were the old days when someone selling their whole tank for $200 filled to the top with corals .
Or another example . Some coral groups used to have monthly gatherings or frag swaps .
someone legitimately selling frags from their system to make room for it to grow . And not for profit

 

[Tamberav]

@Joe Glass Cages and his team built mine. It was a customer idea I had for years and Joe was able to make it happen.

Just enough room for the skimmer and return.

View attachment 2963090View attachment 2963091View attachment 2963092

I miss my display sump I will have to do one again the next upgrade. Glass cages seems to be doing awesome things

When I sold my set up... the guy who bought it said he really wanted it because of the sump lol

 

[JDCagley]

The skimmer game is pretty amazing, though, when you think of all the hype on BK skimmers. It's just a simple red dragon pump powering some acrylic tube. That same skimmer was called Vertex in the past and was maybe $750-800 at the time, lol.

Psst: reach out to Life Reef for new skimmer buyers. That guy makes amazing skimmers. They don't have to be fancy to be the best.

lifereef . com ? I am looking at new skimmer purchase. Current skimmer is over 20 years old!

 

[jmatt]

I will cop to being the culprit in all of this: Too much budget, not enough brains. The big thing being that I run my own company and have a bank account my wife can't see.

I am something of a perfectionist, when I do something I want to get it as "right" as possible the first time around. Coming back and redoing it a year later because I wanted to save a hundred bucks the first time is a waste... and in the meantime, how many critters will have suffered for it? So I buy into the marketing hype.

But ultimately, the most expensive aspect of this hobby is my time. I don't want to get started, flounder in the ugly phases for a year or more, and find myself three years in and not loving my tank. So I spend more money in an attempt to ward off an undesirable future.

 

[JDCagley]

Meh, ammo can be pretty expensive man, you go to the range with a larger gun for a few hours, you watch your dollars fly away. lol

Reload.

 

[t5Nitro]

^I'd put money on the $200-400 Japanese Iwaki return pump outlasting the German's Abyzz.

 

[ThaBeast]

lifereef . com ? I am looking at new skimmer purchase. Current skimmer is over 20 years old!

Yes that’s the place. Jeff is a good guy, he will take care of you

 

[Jrain904]

Honestly this hobby is only as expensive as someone wants to make it.

 

[t5Nitro]

lifereef . com ? I am looking at new skimmer purchase. Current skimmer is over 20 years old!

That's where I got mine. Grab one with the pump or without the pump and throw on whatever pump you want because they're universally accepted.

 

[spsick]

Honestly this hobby is only as expensive as someone wants to make it.

It really is. 10 years ago I ran 4x Tunze nanostreams, with 2 running on opposite 12hr cycles for an alternating laminar gyre. Those 4 powerheads can still be had today for HALF the cost of 1 MP40…

 

[JDCagley]

Thanks - that is next purchase and I have been stewing over what to get. The one I have now was from an old 75g that I intentionally oversized (at the time) for a 120, but now I have a 200g total system and just feel I need more.

 

[piranhaman00]

The only price gouging I see is eco tech, the vortech pumps are garbage, I cannot wait for that patent to expire so jebao can go to work!

Also like others said this hobby is as expensive as you make it, pointless.

 

[Sean_B]

fact;
7 pages in 48 hrs screams "legitimacy"

as far as "expense per consumer goes", if the top 2% of consumer expenses justify all sales then "case and point" justifies

 

[CoralB]

It's really taken a price hike. One laughable example: MP60 for more than $800? I'll be sticking with my Jebao for now.

When mine breaks I’ll be hooking up the kitchen aid mixer which by the way was way cheaper

 

[Amphibious Wallet]

The only price gouging I see is eco tech, the vortech pumps are garbage, I cannot wait for that patent to expire so jebao can go to work!

Also like others said this hobby is as expensive as you make it, pointless.

Is their 12v battery backup patented?

 

[Reefer1978]

I'm all in though if they bring back actual Fiji rocks. Take my money.

View attachment 2963074

How much do you need?

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

@Joe Glass Cages and his team built mine. It was a customer idea I had for years and Joe was able to make it happen.

Just enough room for the skimmer and return.

View attachment 2963090View attachment 2963091View attachment 2963092

Thanks for sharing @Eagle_Steve

That was really fun to build with you!

 

[Tamberav]

Is their 12v battery backup patented?

No? It’s just a normal battery in a housing that says ecotech. Other powerheads can also connect to a battery.