28 gal nanocube tank build cost thread

[James]

We all know keeping a proper saltwater tank is never cheap, in fact often times it is quite the opposite. I have been out of the hobby for a few years but a recent deal I randomly fell upon had me asking the wife if we could start up a tank. I told her that the tank/stand was "a really good deal" and that it won't be too expensive (a clear white lie). I am hoping that she will get interested in the hobby because she loves talking to my freshwater plant tank that only has 2 fish. I figure if she thinks two tetras are cool she should get hooked on a reef quickly. When I had my other two nano-reefs, (a 10 gallon and a 26 bowfront) I was single and didn't have to report my expenditures to anyone. Oh how times have changed. Hence this thread.

Every penny that goes into my tank will be documented here for at least the startup/first year. I am doing this more for myself but also if anyone is looking for estimates for a similar setup. I am going to try to have a high quality/lowest possible cost ratio going but we will see. I hope to keep mostly softies and some LPS. I hope to get involved in the NYC reefing community and get lots of cheap little frags. I love cheap corals as much as the pricey ones. I am thinking my showpieces will be a nice big colony of pulsing xenia and either an open brain, brain or one of those really colorful scolymia corals as the centerpiece for my waterbox.
I have been looking at these tank threads and although people complain about not having the money, you rarely hear what they paid.


Here we go, I live in NY so I will include tax and shipping if applicable and will round up to the nearest whole dollar.
Since I have been a member of reefcentral for awhile, I know how picky a site can get regarding sponsors and such, so until I hear from a mod, I am going to refrain from putting the names of where I purchased my equipment until told otherwise (not assuming MR is like this but just being careful).

1st, got the tank and salt. Didn't get reef crystals. IO worked well for me in the past.

$45 - 160 gallon bucket of IO salt.
$260 - 28 Gallon nano-cube system with free stand (tank arrived cracked, waiting for a replacement on Nov. 25th. will cycle the LR in a tank lent to me by chraddam who is the man btw)
good thing is the place I got it from gave me a 25$ credit for my trouble. Better than nothing.
$6 shipping for both. no tax

$16 - Pentair/Lifegard LITTLE TIME or TEMP Digital clock/thermometer
$17 Aquarium Systems Maxi-Jet 900 (MP900)
$20 Seachem MultiTest Marine Basic
$40 Salinity Refractometer
$12 shipping no tax.

$4 5-gallon bucket with lid (for mixing water changes)
$7 18-gallon rubbermaid with lid (for lots of different things; storing rocks when I am aquascaping, separating problem animals to mixing bigger amounts of saltwater)
$0 shipping bought local (tax included in prices)

$160 5 stage RODI unit with DI Bypass Assembly ( i need to drink too) and TDS Meter
$25 shipping no tax.

$28 - 5$ coupon 100 watt ViaAqua titanium heater
$6 shipping no tax

Going to order.
$120 - 40 pounds premium coralline encrusted Bahama Honeycomb
aquacultured LR (I like the idea of aquacultured rock and coral and try
to support this when possible, I also have had it before and loved it)
$34 20 pounds of live sand
$20 box charge (2 boxes)
$71 air freight shipping, no tax yet (this is a guess, will edit with true cost Monday when I order and receive
at the airport)

This is enough to start the cycle.


Corals purchased today from Questionmarc to pick up at the fall fragswap.
tubbs blue 10 for 10-15 polyps
very purple with green center 5 for 20$
bright orange paly 5-10 for $20
green mouth people eaters 10 for $10
heads of frogspawn $10
[FONT=&quot]cats eyes 10 for 15$
A disc of GSP for $5[/FONT]

2 admissions for fall swap $40 (the wife is coming around, she wants to come to the swap now and I will most likely be forced to buy something purple because she is in love with anything purple) :birthday: 11/16

valve adapter for my faucet to run the RODI. 11/18

$8 11/18

$200 11/27 - Full 29 gallon setup, with LR and coral.

$4 11/27 - 6 outlet powerstrip.

$98 - 11/30 Reef Keeper Lite from Saltwater Critters. Purchased with 10% MR discount for frag swap.

$36 - 1 pregnant cleaner shrimp, 3 turbo snails and one orange mushroom from LFS.

$130 - Frag swap, lots of various coral frags, a clownfish, some inverts, even some free seagrass.

Total Cost so far:
$1497 and climbing for 2 tanks.

James

 

[masterswimmer]

You're a brave man :sad2:

swimmer

 

[cali_reef]

Didn't NYS pass the law that you have to pay NYS sales tax on all mail order stuff, regardless where they come from?


You are a very brave man for posting this for your wife to see.

 

[James]

I haven't heard anything about this, I truly hope not because I buy almost everything online and from out of state vendors. Most of the time I don't get taxed. I feel like only NY vendors tax me. I could be wrong. For this stuff, this is all direct from the receipts and there was definitely no tax charged.
As for me being brave, it's not so much bravery as much as I am really banking on the wife not finding this (pun intended).

James

 

[Quang]

take what you think the total cost will be and multiply it by two.

 

[dsgray16]

Buy used!!!! the For Sale section on this forum is an amazing resource!

 

[James]

Yeah, thank you for the advice. I am all about buying used. I actually kept my other tanks reasonably frugally by doing this. Back then I also had good water and didn't use RODI ( I think my building had a filter). This year I think I need a new heater (I don't remember the brand of mine but it will need to be replaced. I don't trust it for fish and coral but it should suffice for the cycle). I also want to convert the back to a refugium so I will be on the lookout for some cheato and other fun stuff for natural filtration.

 

[cthoughts1]

This thread is actually a good idea Educator.. I'm sure it will help those who are thinking of starting the hobby get a reasonable idea of what it will cost to do it right. Seems like you have the essentials. Best of luck, maybe some pictures as you go along?

 

[James]

This thread is actually a good idea Educator.. I'm sure it will help those who are thinking of starting the hobby get a reasonable idea of what it will cost to do it right. Seems like you have the essentials. Best of luck, maybe some pictures as you go along?

actually !?!?!?

Hehe, Yeah, I figured that there are a billion tank threads out there ( I love them because you can learn a lot, especially when setting up something similar) so I figured I would do something a little different and put prices. Tomorrow I should be getting my LR and LS and I will take some pictures in case anyone other than me is reading this.

1 question, i have never used an RODI , how long will it take to get 30 gallons? The unit should have been delivered Sat but it wasn't 't so I am going to cure with tap water(!!!!:shhh and conditioner to take out as much crap as I can, then once the RODI is hooked up later in the evening ( I hope) I will start to get that high quality H20. Is this really stupid and impatient? Since it will only be a day or so I am thinking it really shouldn't make a difference. Any comments, advice? better yet, anyone in BK want to give me some RODI water tomorrow hahaha

James

 

[masterswimmer]

1 question, i have never used an RODI , how long will it take to get 30 gallons? The unit should have been delivered Sat but it wasn't 't so I am going to cure with tap water(!!!!:shhh and conditioner to take out as much crap as I can, then once the RODI is hooked up later in the evening ( I hope) I will start to get that high quality H20. Is this really stupid and impatient? Since it will only be a day or so I am thinking it really shouldn't make a difference. Any comments, advice? better yet, anyone in BK want to give me some RODI water tomorrow hahaha

James

James, to use your own words, yes, I see this as stupid and impatient (I would have been much more diplomatic if I were to use my own words

You've waited as long as you have, for you not to wait another 24 hrs is foolhardy.

A 100 gpd RO/DI unit will produce 30g of RO/DI water in approx. 8 hrs.

Russ

 

[cthoughts1]

Ditto Russ. RODI water is fundamental, trust me I learned the hard way.. lol

 

[James]

I know it is impatient and I can wait... Ugh, I hate it though, I feel like a kid on Xmas morning. My problem is the rock is coming. So my choices as I see them are.
1. the impatient and stupid using tap water and getting the rock into the water asap (usually lots of hitchhikers and things that may die)
2. leave the LR in the shipping container until I get the RODI set up (I would say an hour to set up (i have never done it before) and 8 more hours to get my water. plus have to wait for the salt and temp to get to proper levels( although I will just be heating it and mixing as it comes out so lets say Figure the rocks and sand would be in the shipping box another 9 hours give or take. not horrible but I could imagine I might get a lot more die off that way.

3. find somewhere in BK with reasonable prices for RODI and get that. (trip to Home depot for 5 gallon pails too)

Right now, after hearing you tell me what I knew and didn;t want to hear, I am leaning in the middle of options 2 and 3. any other input?

Edit: Just got the email from the distributor, looks like my rock will be here tomorrow afternoon and not this afternoon. So as long as my RO unit arrives today I will not have any problems or delays. If I get home from work and the RODI isnt there, I will be making a trip to get buckets and will get some water from somewhere.

Thanks for the help guys, you convinced me to not do something stupid.

 

[tonyyammine]

you should just buy everything from the members here and read up on everything u can good luck to u

 

[James]

The day before the day I get my rocks the anticipation is building.
Here are some absolutely boring pictures just to document the process.
1st is the 30 gallon tank I will be using with just the LED moonlights from the JBJ hood and about 15 gallons of RODI saltwater. It is heating up now, will check salinity later.
2nd is heartbreak in a box. the broke-ass jbj 28 nano that someone dropped on the way to my apt. It just sits there looking all pathetic.

Anyway, tomorrow afternoon the rock will come, problem is tomorrow is
parent-teacher conference night at my school and I don't get out until 9. I get a 3 hour dinner break btw 3-6 so I am going to try to run to the airport, get my rocks, speed down the belt to my apt, double park, run the rocks up and get them in the water asap, then speed back to school. I expect things to not go too smoothly because face it, I have crap luck and timing.

Anyway, the one extremely bright note is that after visiting a local reefers tank (chaddram) and several LFS's in Bay Ridge, my wife is full steam ahead and even wants to come to the frag swap. If I can break her down, I will have nothing in my way for upgrading!!! (except a tiny apt) When we saw a 300 gallon display at one of the stores, she asked seriously "when we get a house, can get one?" Oh man. I am a lucky man. So do me a favor, if you meet us at the frag swap. Be extra nice to her so she knows how cool reefers are

Will update tomorrow. gonna add the best $20 I have spent on my tank right now (her ticket to the swap),

James

 

[James]

Ok, update with a couple crappy pics (once I get the tank setup, I need to learn how to take tank pics. The last tanks I had I was too poor to have a camera, now I have a Canon G9 and it is pretty nice but I still cannot get the true colors on this rock)

There is a ton of life on the rock...lots of algae and sea plants (not the scientific name I know) polyps, a coral which you guys could help me identify, sponges and lots of clams, worms and crabs) , The rock came in today at about 11am, went to the airport on my lunchbreak, got it into my tank by 4, went back to work. Shipping was 71$ not $50, pushes me over the $1000 mark. As for the rock, there is lots of pink, purple, red and orange on the rock. All in all very beautiful. Not the amazing shapes of other LR but stocked with fun stuff to look at. So far no mantis hitchhikers so that is good, there were 5 dead red little 1 inch crabs in the bag when I tossed it.

Anyway, I thought I could get the RODI installed in an hour. WRONG. I did not know there was "real" plumbing involved. Turns out my faucet is too small for the adapter so I need to make a run to the plumbing store tomorrow to try to get some stuff for the install. I have no clue what I am doing and am making an open invite for anyone in BK or anywhere else to come over and laugh at me as I try to figure it out. I will supply the beer, you can supply any plumbing knowledge you may have (which if any, is already way more than I have). I love a challenge and although "self-tapping valves" and other things sound weird to me, they can't be that bad. So I will take pictures of the RODI install to help and amuse other RODI newbs. BTW, I only own a screwdriver, hammer and tape measure. I am pretty sure none of those are necessary for this project. I am guessing I need at least a couple wrench sizes, will most likely be hitting up the home depot as well, nice little Wednesday planned

The pictures. I left the sand resting on the plastic bag and just cut around the edges to let it "breathe" so it will be easier to put in my real tank when it comes. This is just curing, no aquascaping attempted and the colors do not show up in my pics.

Will do a parameter check tomorrow. I am sure it will be bad because there are at least a couple dead/dying clams in there now.

my first coral, alive now, shouldn't be after the curing process unless it is tough.

Hope ya'll enjoy. Tomorrow's post should be funny. I have never plumbed anything in my life, there will quite possibly be a watery disaster tomorrow and I will document it with photos. :birthday:

James

 

[James]

Well, I didn't take pictures but lets just say there was a minor incident involving a heater, some spilled RODI water and my hardwood floor. I got the faucet adapter and installed the RODI that way with an easy on/easy off adapter they sold me at the plumbing store. I will install it below the sink as originally planned later on.

As for my incident (I had a feeling about it and when it rained it poured)

I got the RODI all set up nicely, had the tubing going into a 5 gallon bucket (without securing it, mistake #1)
I rearranged the bucket at an angle on a shoe.... (no comments necessary) so the heater would be fully submersed (mistake #2)
I decided I was dirty and needed a shower (mistake #3)

I get out of the shower 10-15 minutes later to see a 3 foot puddle and the tubing out of the bucket. The shoe didn't cause this, the bucket actually was good, but the tubing just slipped out and started draining my beautiful 0 TDS water all over my hardwood. In a frenzy, I ripped off the towel I was wearing and threw it on the puddle, hitting the cord and pulling the heater out of the tilted bucket. Heater (cheapo I got a while ago) smashed and started sizzling in the puddle. I hit the power off on the surge protector and started cleaning the glass, water and my ego off the floor. Of course the wife comes home in the middle to see a naked, angry husband and her living room (and basically apt) a disaster area. Top that off with the smell coming from the tank and she was not really happy with me. I smoothed things over by taking her to dinner. Then I came back and did some water tests. Ammonia is off the charts. PH is 8.2 (didn't check Alk), salinity is 1.024, no2, no3 are 0. I really hope for her sake this cycle is quick because the small 1 bedroom is not smelling so hot. I told her it is worth it and in time the tank will be beautiful. Goodnight MR.

James
(is anyone reading this? )

 

[bubbles4]

< reading!

 

[chanman]

The startup is always expensive but dang $1000+? lol be patient dude, you could've easily cut that cost down by $400. Are those corals in good parameter'd water?

 

[James]

I know buying used stuff I could have saved money. What I am trying to do with this thread is keep an accurate count of all the little things as well as the big ones and actually add them up. I think people more often than not are not very honest with themselves and what they spend, often either omitting (on purpose or not) many things. When I started doing my budget and tracking all my expenditures many years ago (not talking about reeftanks, but everything I spent) I was amazed at how much I was spending and was able to curb it. I now put 30% of my salary away for retirement because I found ways to save. As for my patience, I want to have this tank ready by the time the frag swap rolls around and if the parameters arn't perfect I will not take any of the corals I prepurchased home. I am not irresponsible at all. I just wanted to get in on the frag swap and not miss some really nice prices. The only coral in my tank came attached to my LR (which I got for about $3 a pound) I am hoping it makes it but my ammonia is really high now so I don't know. I will keep you guys updated on the tank and how things are going. I will know a couple days before the swap if I can take delivery on the frags or not. Hasta manana,
James:bablefish

 

[chanman]

No doubt sir, I am merely stating that fact that there are deals out there for even new stuff. That LR you got was $3 a lb but with the shipping costs its atleast double. Many people on MR are selling the rocks for $2-$3 a lb. I am not saying how to spend your money cause in the end its your money so you can do as you wish, just trying to help haha.

Just don't rush the tank man, coral deals are always around. My RSM 34g took about 2-3 weeks to cycle with half new saltwater and half cycled saltwater.