Cost Of Running Large Tropical/cichlid/sw/reef Tank In Uk

[jaarus]

Also posted this in Marine/Reef as users tend to have their 'areas' and I am after advice on both types


As you can see from my signature I currently have a few tanks on the go. These are all smallish, and all are tropical and scattered around the house.

We are going to put a large tank in the room at the end of the house as soon as the room is finished - thinking of a 7x2x2 (possibly an 8x2x2, as it all depends on against which wall we decide to put it!)
This is a great opportunity to try something new.
I like Cichlids and I absolutely LOVE Reef tanks but I have never attempted one before and I am aware they cost more to run than tropical but HOW MUCH MORE I am not sure. How does a reef tank compare to the cost of a saltwater tank for example?....no idea!

Now that is what I would really like to find out - so hoping someone here has already done the calculations!! - how much does each type of tank cost (very approximately) to run over the course of the year.

Say, rough annual running costs for a 7x2x2 including food, water/substrate additives, anything special you need - etc etc!:

Tropical (hi-tech planted) tank
Cichlid tank
Saltwater tank
Reef tank

I know its asking a lot but as I say I am hoping that someone here has already done the calculations - maybe not in comparison but they know how much their tank costs to run per year etc

Cheers all

 

[jaarus]

Thanks to some helpful people in the marine/reef forum I think I can safely say that going salty is out for now - I knew it was more expensive in both setup and running costs but WOW it really is A LOT more expensive

So now its either planted community or malawi cichlid that are the front runners.

I like the look of them both...
A planted tank of that size could look amazing but the maintainence on it will be pretty extreme - would end up spending a lot of my time upside down in the tank with a pair of scissors trimming back the growth!
A rocky Malawi Cichlid tank, I presume, would be far easier on maintainence.

Decisions, decisions!!

 

[Musho3210]

They both cost around the same.... Planted and lower specimen reefs i mean.