• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

How much has your equipment setup cost?

owenprescott

Member
Joined
3 Aug 2012
Messages
48
Location
Essex
So how big of a hole has the equipment for your latest put into your wallets :lol: ? I thought this might be interesting for new people like me to get an idea of the costs aside from the tank/cabinet costs. I am currently planning my first 35"x12"x16" tank so this info might be useful especially if the tank is similar dimensions. Feel free to list specifics or simply give a rough estimate, remember excluding tank and cabinet costs. :D
 
Re: How much did your equipment setup cost?

Hi Owen, as everyone's set up is different I am not really sure that even if anyone answers your question, it will be of any help. If, however, you give us an idea of what you want to have in your own set up, then I expect the forthcoming information will be a lot more useful :) Bear in mind, you can do it on the cheap or you can blast your budget into infinity and beyond !!! The only thing that keeps you at the cheaper end of the scale is will power, LOL. I reckon your best bet is to say what you hope to have and people can advise you on budget or blow out options :thumbup:
 
Re: How much did your equipment setup cost?

Hmm, well current setup on a 60cm/65litre would be:

Tank and stand - £110
Lighting - £25 (though £150 if bought new)
CO2 - £25 for FE, £45 for regulator and solenoid/needle valve
Substrate - £15 for plant substrate, £15 for fine gravel
Wood décor - £20
Plants - £30
Filter - External TetraTec EX600 - £65
Livestock - So far, £12 on 6 oto's and £30 for some bumble bee shrimp, more to add once the tank has been stable for a few months


As to what I've spent over the years of having it, err, well, best not scare myself by working that one out!
 
Re: How much did your equipment setup cost?

I have no idea how much i have spent in the 3 years from starting this hobby :)

Too much probably lol
 
Re: How much did your equipment setup cost?

Antipofish said:
Hi Owen, as everyone's set up is different I am not really sure that even if anyone answers your question, it will be of any help. If, however, you give us an idea of what you want to have in your own set up, then I expect the forthcoming information will be a lot more useful :) Bear in mind, you can do it on the cheap or you can blast your budget into infinity and beyond !!! The only thing that keeps you at the cheaper end of the scale is will power, LOL. I reckon your best bet is to say what you hope to have and people can advise you on budget or blow out options :thumbup:

Well it will be a long tank (Tropical freshwater) and around 90 to 110 litres. I expect fairly heavily planted also with woods and rocks. I hope to have around 20 very small fish (under 2cm) and a few odd shrimp and I will also be using Amazonia substrate. In terms of the equipment I am more confused about what will be appropriate for my tank as I have no idea how much Watts would be adequate for the various components to work well.

Basically if you imagine your standard tropical aquascape at 35"L x 12"D x 16"H (Inches) with a few shrimp and small fish then there you have it. :)

Also nry, sounds like you got some amazing deals on those. Where did you manage to get lighting for £25 as I assume its not a small type?
 
Re: How much did your equipment setup cost?

eBay - £150 of Arcadia T5 luminaire for £6, £11 courier and £10 for new bulbs...OK, so £27, not £25 :)
 
Re: How much did your equipment setup cost?

geoffbark said:
I have no idea how much i have spent in the 3 years from starting this hobby :)

Too much probably lol
I guess if you are going to waste money spending it on a natural aquascape for your home is healthier than beer and food.
 
Re: How much did your equipment setup cost?

owenprescott said:
Antipofish said:
Hi Owen, as everyone's set up is different I am not really sure that even if anyone answers your question, it will be of any help. If, however, you give us an idea of what you want to have in your own set up, then I expect the forthcoming information will be a lot more useful :) Bear in mind, you can do it on the cheap or you can blast your budget into infinity and beyond !!! The only thing that keeps you at the cheaper end of the scale is will power, LOL. I reckon your best bet is to say what you hope to have and people can advise you on budget or blow out options :thumbup:

Well it will be a long tank (Tropical freshwater) and around 90 to 110 litres. I expect fairly heavily planted also with woods and rocks. I hope to have around 20 very small fish (under 2cm) and a few odd shrimp and I will also be using Amazonia substrate. In terms of the equipment I am more confused about what will be appropriate for my tank as I have no idea how much Watts would be adequate for the various components to work well.

Basically if you imagine your standard tropical aquascape at 35"L x 12"D x 16"H (Inches) with a few shrimp and small fish then there you have it. :)

Also nry, sounds like you got some amazing deals on those. Where did you manage to get lighting for £25 as I assume its not a small type?

I think your comment "In terms of the equipment I am more confused about what will be appropriate for my tank as I have no idea how much Watts would be adequate for the various components to work well" is the most important part of this, and I also think that asking people how much their setups cost will confuse you even more and potentially put you off.

Can I ask, have you read much yet about the difference between low tech and high tech and the associated equipment that is necessary ? And also, how tight a budget are you on ? That will help my next response ;)
 
I think the basic term of everyone's answer is going to be "to much" but at the end of the day people spend what they can afford to spend when they want to buy something :)

My only saving grace is not having funds in paypal unless I sell something or my costs would sky rocket lol At the moment the new system I am planning will work out to around £1300ish not including any livestock :crazy:
 
Re: How much did your equipment setup cost?

Antipofish said:
I think your comment "In terms of the equipment I am more confused about what will be appropriate for my tank as I have no idea how much Watts would be adequate for the various components to work well" is the most important part of this, and I also think that asking people how much their setups cost will confuse you even more and potentially put you off.

Can I ask, have you read much yet about the difference between low tech and high tech and the associated equipment that is necessary ? And also, how tight a budget are you on ? That will help my next response ;)

My tank and stand will cost about £200, the substrate and fish I am looking at about £100 so I guess about £400 for equipment though I can spend more if I must. I assumed high tech tanks just have the more expensive equipment like ADA branded stuff? I guess I just want medium range equipment really, all I need is a filter, co2 and so on that will work. Cant be to specific about what I want or I would not be confused about it. :lol:

* I am hoping to create something similar to one of the scapes from aquadesignamano's channel. *
 
OK fair enough. Do you want to buy new equipment or second hand ? Does the tank come with lighting ?
 
Antipofish said:
OK fair enough. Do you want to buy new equipment or second hand ? Does the tank come with lighting ?
Nope just the tank and nothing else comes with it, I think I will be going with "BLACK T5 FISH TANK LIGHTS TWO TUBES" so lighting is of my checklist. Also I have an idea of all the maintenance stuff such as tweezers, scissors and so on. Its pretty just all the equipment (aside from the lights) that plugs into the power supply, they all have different wattage. New or second hand does not bother me though I would have to get everything online as I do not have car, aslong as it works :lol: . Thanks for the advice by the way.
 
What difference does the wattage make ? Whether you get a JBL E series or an Eheim they will be very close o one and other. ? Are you looking at it from a "cost to run" angle ?
 
Anyway, for that sort of tank I would suggest something like a JBL e901 filter which is low on consumption, or an Eheim 2073 filter. These two are at different ends of the price scale and each are very good. Another option which comes up second hand reasonably priced (Usually around 40 quid) is the Rena XP2.

Sounds like you want high tech which means injected CO2. The cheapest way is to use a CO2 Fire Extinguisher and there are a couple of excellent threads on here about those setups. The equipment you would need for that though is;

* Fire Extinguisher (go for a 2kg for your size tank, it will last ages but also be a reasonable size if you go for anything up to a 4foot tank in future).
* Regulator with needle valve (I can recommend the ones by lunapet, but JBL also do a decent one, as to TMC.)
* Solenoid (so you can turn the CO2 off at night and have it come on in the day using a timer)
* Timer
* Bubble Counter (this is NOT an absolute measure !!! Use it as a guide to know if you want to turn the CO2 up/down)
* CO2 tubing (make sure its not just ordinary airline)
* Diffusion method (UP inline diffuser or ceramic disc in tank style or ceramic tube in tank or external reactor, all do the job but you get less bubbles with the reactor though it significantly reduces flow to the extent that you need a bigger filter or an extra circuit powered either by an external pump or an extra filter)
* Drop Checker (again, NOT an absolute measure but read the article in the articles section on Drop Checkers.

Thats it for CO2. You will need a heater. A lot of people are using the Hydor external heaters. The 200w one will be enough to heat your tank, but make sure that you get whichever one fits whichever filter you get... different model for different diameter filter piping :)

Cant think of anything else :)
 
I've probably spent £2500 on lighting alone. My current luminaire was £900. I've an ADA solar 1 @ about £450 the list goes on.
 
my shallow tank- 110 litres or so, eheim filter, external heater, rock, soil, sand ,plants and fish.... less than 100 pounds i reckon. maybe 120 max.
 
Mark Evans said:
I've probably spent £2500 on lighting alone. My current luminaire was £900. I've an ADA solar 1 @ about £450 the list goes on.

Only to find that LOW light suits you fine ;) :shh: :crazy: :D
 
Back
Top