What’s your average monthly upkeep cost?

[mmorrison55]

As the title says, I’m looking to get a general idea of what I might expect to pay out each month keeping a reef tank. Please include your cost list breakdown (food, chemicals, water if you buy your water from the LFS, etc.), your size tank, and as much detail as you feel comfortable sharing.

Some of these videos I watch show some folks getting an icp test each month which I find hard to believe as that alone would add $ 40-50 for each test.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Lavey29]

As the title says, I’m looking to get a general idea of what I might expect to pay out each month keeping a reef tank. Please include your cost list breakdown (food, chemicals, water if you buy your water from the LFS, etc.), your size tank, and as much detail as you feel comfortable sharing.

Some of these videos I watch show some folks getting an icp test each month which I find hard to believe as that alone would add $ 40-50 for each test.

Thanks,

Mike

1/100th of my wife's monthly Nordstrom bill

 

[Ef4life]

I figure for my 3 tanks it’s between 100-150 month all in. It’s just an estimate as certain things like electricity and water are hard to itemize (more so I’m unwilling to do so) but that’s everything. And I think it’s quite reasonable. I don’t set aside a monthly $ amount as I buy in bulk to have stuff on hand so I might only place 1-2 orders a year for supplies so I just average out what I spend. I try to knock out the majority of what I need for the year at Black Friday sales to get he most value

 

[VintageReefer]

There is a difference between keeping an reef tank and stocking a reef tank. Also your filtration and maintenance choices will play a big part. Along with tank volume.

For me: keeping / maintaining one 75 and one 15g tank, aside from electricity - about 30$ a month on all for reef, and I would say 50$ a month on food

Stocking/filling the tank…Meaning buying coral to add…well…every month I add more and that is where the real cost is. I would say several hundred a month for me on new coral

 

[exnisstech]

.

 

[Narideth]

I keep three small tanks: 3g, 13g and 15g - the cost to maintain them is minimal. I buy one 200g box of salt mix every 1-1.5 years so far, replace the filters in my RO/DI Filter once a year, and from there it's just food, electricity, and water costs for the filter. I can't imagine it costs more than $10-$20 a month.

As has already been mentioned, that is not the case with stocking, which varies wildly based on what you're interested in getting. $10 corals, $500 corals, $15 fish or $300 fish. It's the wild west of wild prices.

 

[Chris Spaulding]

Just maintenance , Food ,Filter rollers ,Electricity,Test Reagents,Salt ,RODI filter stuff, The basics, Now down to 2 tanks 150+ Gallon and 250+ Gallon about $250 month The damm Harley is 30 a month in food alone.

 

[ryanjohn1]

Never ever keep track.

 

[tREEFarm]

About $350 per month. This includes water, electric, foods, filter replacements (floss, RO/DI), salt, carbon, and things like replacement scraper inserts over the course of a year. This doesn't take into account new corals, fish, CUC, or equipment.

 

[dangles]

I have a 120 gallon tank. This is roughly what my consumables come out to…

• RODI
  • Sediment filters $9 x2 (change when pressure drops)
  • Carbon blocks $19 x2 (annually)
  • RO membranes $42 x2 (every 3 years)
  • Anion resin $13 per canister on sale
  • Cation resin $16 per canister
  • Mixed bed resin $17 per canister
• Filtration
  • Fleece rolls $50 (2 months)
  • Carbon $34/half gallon
  • GFO $40/quarter gallon
• Testing/calibration
  • Salinity
  • pH $18
  • Nitrate $18/25
  • Phosphate $15/25
  • dKH $18
  • Magnesium
  • Calcium
• Salt $80 on sale (1 box every 45 days, roughly $53/mo)
• Citric acid $15
• Kalkwasser
• Equipment
  • 300w heaters $75 (3 year warranty)
  • Thermostats $50 (1 year warranty)
  • pH probe
• UV bulb $75 (annually)
• DOS heads $37x3 (biannually)

Of course ymmv but that all comes out to roughly $150/mo and includes setting aside money for things like periodic replacement of heaters, thermostats, and other equipment that should be replaced BEFORE it fails.

 

[crazyfishmom]

I don’t want to think about it.

Much more than I should.

 

[Formulator]

As the title says, I’m looking to get a general idea of what I might expect to pay out each month keeping a reef tank. Please include your cost list breakdown (food, chemicals, water if you buy your water from the LFS, etc.), your size tank, and as much detail as you feel comfortable sharing.

Some of these videos I watch show some folks getting an icp test each month which I find hard to believe as that alone would add $ 40-50 for each test.

Thanks,

Mike

Well, $40-50 per month is pennies in the bucket for some of us…. Expensive is relative.

That said, monthly operating costs can be kept very low with a little investment up front. At the top of that list would be water you mentioned. RODI system pays for itself very quickly.

My only essential operating costs for my 120g are fish food ($10-20/month), 2-part Ca/Alk (Randy’s DIY, maybe $50/year), mag adjust ($20/year), reef crystals ($5-10/month) and the biggest one; electricity ($50/month). I personally use a lot of other trace element supplements, coral foods, have active phyto and zooplankton cultures, buy reagents for my trident, rolls for my roller mat, and am always dreaming up a new DIY project that costs money. But all those things are luxuries and my tank could still thrive without them - just would require more actual work on my part, which I can afford to avoid.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I have 5 tanks running and it is around $325-350 a month total. About $200 a month in electricity (just for tanks), $15 a month in water, $60 a month in salt, $50-75 a month (average) in misc. items, depending on what breaks.

So about $60-70 per tank, per month in running costs without factoring in any livestock or equipment.

 

[mmorrison55]

I have a 120 gallon tank. This is roughly what my consumables come out to…

• RODI
  • Sediment filters $9 x2 (change when pressure drops)
  • Carbon blocks $19 x2 (annually)
  • RO membranes $42 x2 (every 3 years)
  • Anion resin $13 per canister on sale
  • Cation resin $16 per canister
  • Mixed bed resin $17 per canister
• Filtration
  • Fleece rolls $50 (2 months)
  • Carbon $34/half gallon
  • GFO $40/quarter gallon
• Testing/calibration
  • Salinity
  • pH $18
  • Nitrate $18/25
  • Phosphate $15/25
  • dKH $18
  • Magnesium
  • Calcium
• Salt $80 on sale (1 box every 45 days, roughly $53/mo)
• Citric acid $15
• Kalkwasser
• Equipment
  • 300w heaters $75 (3 year warranty)
  • Thermostats $50 (1 year warranty)
  • pH probe
• UV bulb $75 (annually)
• DOS heads $37x3 (biannually)

Of course ymmv but that all comes out to roughly $150/mo and includes setting aside money for things like periodic replacement of heaters, thermostats, and other equipment that should be replaced BEFORE it fails.

Thanks for the very detailed breakdown. This is very informative.

 

[mmorrison55]

Well, $40-50 per month is pennies in the bucket for some of us…. Expensive is relative.

That said, monthly operating costs can be kept very low with a little investment up front. At the top of that list would be water you mentioned. RODI system pays for itself very quickly.

My only essential operating costs for my 120g are fish food ($10-20/month), 2-part Ca/Alk (Randy’s DIY, maybe $50/year), mag adjust ($20/year), reef crystals ($5-10/month) and the biggest one; electricity ($50/month). I personally use a lot of other trace element supplements, coral foods, have active phyto and zooplankton cultures, buy reagents for my trident, rolls for my roller mat, and am always dreaming up a new DIY project that costs money. But all those things are luxuries and my tank could still thrive without them - just would require more actual work on my part, which I can afford to avoid.

I would definitely plan on buying a rodi system. My biggest problem with that is I live in Florida and don’t have a garage. So the rodi water and saltwater tanks would likely be outisde under the eaves, but I could see the water reaching 90-95 degrees at times. That in itself might be a deal breaker, idk.need to research how much a 10-15 % 90+degree water change in a 180-220 gallon tank (my intended size) + 50-60 gallon sump would increase the temp in my main tank, and what kind of impact that temp increase would cause to my livestock.

 

[mmorrison55]

Thank you all for your responses. So it seems at minimum with electric increase, food, and a few basic supplies, I’m looking at least ~125-150 usd per month in operating cost. And I know if I’m hitting up the LFS, I’m likely to buy frags and fish so that cost could easily hit the 250+ per month.

I’ll be honest, that a bit more than I expected and remembered from the last time I had a tank. albeit that was 20 years ago.

I’ll figure out some way to rationalize it I’m sure .

 

[ca1ore]

Excluding livestock purchases and occasional indulgences (should I buy the trident NP, for example) running my current 110 is about $250-300 per month. Double that when I also had the 450.

Went back and looked at my purchases from BRS, LFS, PetCo, etc. and it was almost $1,400 over the last 12 months. I’m on a well/septic so minimal incremental water costs, but of my $400 monthly electric bill I would judge the tank is at least a third, perhaps close to a half.

 

[mmorrison55]

Excluding livestock purchases and occasional indulgences (should I buy the trident NP, for example) running my current 110 is about $250-300 per month. Double that when I also had the 450.

Went back and looked at my purchases from BRS, LFS, PetCo, etc. and it was almost $1,400 over the last 12 months. I’m on a well/septic so minimal incremental water costs, but of my $400 monthly electric bill I would judge the tank is at least a third, perhaps close to a half.

Wow… my electric bill in the summer already hovers around $400-450 per month. I couldn’t imagine a $6-700 electric bill per month. Might need to look at some solar panels to help offset the long term cost.

 

[dschuffert]

I am spending around $300 to $500 a month on average. There may be a few months where I am a little less and a few months where I am a little more.

 

[buruskeee]

I’m in a CA climate with a 150g tank.

Power averages about 200kWh/month, which is around 150kWh in summer months and 250kWh in the winter (can be $20-100 depending on how much your electricity costs). You’ll pay more for being in extra hot or extra cold climates
For more chiller or heater power.

Salt for 20% WC per month, phyto, fish food, filter media, supplements for me average about another $80/month.

So depending where you live, for 150g, it’s about $100-$200/month not including replacement parts.