The Real Cost Of Fishkeeping......

[bennett]

since december probably £600/700. it's really caught me this whole game. my lass can't understand why i am so enthraled about some plants in a tank, or i'm changing the stock of the tank. but it's a search of perfection isn't it? there's no point being half-arsed about it in my opinion! i want the best tank i can get (without bankrupting myself) and i'm setting about it in my 24 gallon.

 

[DarkSeraph]

Well, let's see what I'm using for my 60g that I'm building now:

DIY stand, looks reasonably good, I'm happy with it. There'll be pics of it in a journal I'll start in a week or so.
-$140 in materials, and a lot of time

Used Acrylic tank, in good shape, slightly scratched $50+ $15 on polishing things to get rid of some of the scratches.
-$65

Rena XP3
-$99

300W Tetronic(?) heater
-$25

Lighting, 2 T5 54W bulbs
-$55

LED Moonlighting
-$35

Pressurized CO2 System
-$150

Eco-Complete, at least 80lbs
-$80ish


Total: $649



Plants
I'm guessing at least another $80ish, if not $100+

More Fish
Most likely another $100ish, 3 discus puts the cost up quickly.

 

[SPLiSH]

And it's a fair bet that no 14-year-old of mine will be in a position to spend thousands of dollars on any hobby however worthy.

Haha, too late for my parents.

But that's the thing with fishkeeping. You can't stop - it's not like you 'finish' your tank. There's always some fish you want to keep or some plant you want to remove.

That's why it's so much fun!

Don't forget the other big thing about fishkeeping- that you CAN stop, that you can, to a certain extent, adapt your level of spending to the money available. Remember, not all the members on this forum, and not all the parents of forum members are well off.

Oh sorry DG- I didn't mean it like that. I'm really sorry if I sounded rude. I was just saying how hard it is to see a lovely decoration and not want to buy it. I thought you meant that no 14 year old of yours would be allowed to spend THEIR OWN money on fish.

I pay for all my fish stuff with birthday money and stuff as I have no job, so I definately know how pricey a hobby it is.

Again, I apologise if I came across as being rude.

 

[steppy104]

10g- $5
Gargoyle- $15-$20?
Piece of wood- $8 (God knows why I'm paying for a PIECE OF WOOD)
Small fake skull- $5
Fake plants- $4
Gravel- $5
Filter-$20
Heater- $15
Hood- $20
3 females@ $3 each. 7 minnows@ total $6. 3 corys@ $3 each.
GRAND TOTAL= Approx $120.

I think that covers everything for my 10gal...

Another 10gal- $5
Small live plants, about 10 of them- Total $11
Divider- $16
Gravel- $5
2 male betta's- $3.49 each.
Hood- $20
GRAND TOTAL= Approx $60

5gal- free
fake plant/cheesey decor- $10?
Gravel- Is the same gravel I used in the 10gal. Was leftover, and enough to cover the bottom.
Heater-Free?
1 female betta- $3.49
GRAND TOTAL= Approx $13

33gal- free
misc decor total- $25
Bubbler- Free
Filter- $25
Hood- $30
Dechlorinator and defogger- $10 total?
2 sunfish- $0.15 each.
Pleco&frog- Free
Feeders once a week- $1/week
GRAND TOTAL= Approx $90 (not icluding $1/week)

50gal- free (I'm lovin this)
home made divider x2- $6 each. (One broke, so that's $6 more)
Someone is making us a stand for the tank, so that'll be free. The fish going in it are the ones I own in the other tanks, but they'll only be in one half of the tank. The other half and other costs are going to rack up prices later on.

Not bought yet-
Mollies, swordtails, platies and guppies (or some combo). Probably 3 of each.
Clay pots, 2 med size, 2 small.
Java moss and/or Riccia.
PVC pipe (will be free)
Filter
Heater
Gravel
Hood and lighting
Breeding net x2
Airation hoses
Air pump & stones

I think I covered everything. God dang, that's my whole paycheck for the week. x.x

Wow. That is quite a bit. @_@ But if you look, I am saving quite a bit of money. XD -pokes at 3 free tanks-

 

[severina]

$158 on my 55 gal
$40 on my 5 gal
$10 on my 10 gal
$20 on my 25 gal
$30 on fake plants
$40 on gravel
and too much on fish

2 oscars $20
6 rosies $0.65
2 gouramis $13
7 bettas $45
1 plec $5
4 cories $10

$15 on meds
$15 on dechlorinator
$20 on Cycle
$30 on filter cartridges
$80 on heaters (I made a post about it)
$16 on food

I could have had a freakin car by now. I hate this thread. *cries*

 

[kramers]

Roughly $100 or so on the 10g and $500-600 on the 55g setup and ever increasing.

 

[dwarfgourami]

And it's a fair bet that no 14-year-old of mine will be in a position to spend thousands of dollars on any hobby however worthy.

Why not? There are much worse things that money can be spent on by teenagers (drugs, alcohol), I think every kid should have a hobbie, and if they have the money to spend on the hobbie, then they should be aloud to spend it.

Because we would have the house repossessed, that's why!!! Because we haven't got thousands of dollars left over once the essentials are paid for. Please accept that not everybody is rich, and that some of us find it quite difficult to come up with the cash even for necessities. I am glad to say that my children are understanding of this. And so are many million of other children whose parents are on moderate incomes- they don't all turn to drugs and alcohol just because they can't have everything they want.

Splish, your apology was very sweet. But you see, even buying things with your birthday money does presuppose that you have relatives well off enough to give you sizeable chunks of birthday money. My children would regard a fiver as a generous gift. It's not that we are poor- lots of people are worse off around where we live- it's more that a lot of the teenage members on this forum seem to come from quite wealthy families (or else don't realise how much their parents have to juggle).

 

[Balloon_molly]

I actually counted it up one time. It was about $700. That was a few moths back. Before we got fry. I mean seriously!! Since then it's been about, $100-$200 dollars more. I'm only 13!! Of course I only spend about $100-$200 of what the total is.

Tanks:$100-$200
Fish:$100-$200
Other:$600
The joy of keeeping fishriceless
For anything else fishy there's a help line.

That is so funny.

 

[helsekia]

ok here goes.........

we have a 4ft tank we paid £800 for the entire set up minus fish

we have a 61/2 ft set up we paid £1200 for the entire set up minus the fish

my 4year old has a dwarf frog tank we paid £50 for

we spend about £15 month on food then you have the cost of fish,plants e6tc etc get the pictureweve saved to feed our hobby and dont regret spending a penny of it.

would we do it again?most definately yes yes yes

 

[BettaGardener]

I am just crazy, but I've spent probably about $3,000 on fish and supplies. In the last three months, I have gone from two 10 gallon tanks to 17 tanks. This is what I have now:

5 x 2.5 gallon (hospital tanks)
2 x 5.5 gallon (for spawning)
4 x 10 gallon (for spawning)
2 x 20 gallon long (one divided into 6 condos for male bettas, one for juvenille betta grow-outs)
2 x 20 gallon high (for grow-outs)
1 x 37 gallon (female sororiety aquarium)
1 x 50 gallon long (divided into 10 condos for male bettas)

The costs were all related to the tanks themselves, bettas from Thailand, heaters, hoods, lights, filters, pumps, medications, water conditioners, food, live plants, gravel, decor, extension cords, etc...

This doesn't include my boys' tanks. My 11 year-old has a 25 gallon high and a 10 gallon. My 15 year-old just bought himself a 29 gallon tank last night.

I have turned my boys into fish addicts... teehee... my 6 year old also has a crowntail betta he's just crazy about. I also recently seduced my fiance's daughter to the dark side B) ... she desperately wants one of my betta fry (they are only two weeks old) and we just bought her two guppies.

At any rate, I recently got a humongous bonus and the money I spent on my fish addiction was only about 1/3 of it, and well spent in my opinion because bettas make me happy and it's a great family hobby we all enjoy together. So it's all good.

 

[Qays]

all together £300 so far.

Will be spending about £100 on a new 11gallon setup soon! woo