125 gallon tank cost

I agree with the one 60" fixture, two 36" fixtures will look weird and they will be very tight together. As another example, I have a 55 gal. with 20gal sump. to initially set it up cost about $700-800. But that was bare bones. I also ended up upgrading several pieces of equipment and adding a sump, so to get it where it's at now with all the livestock, I'm in about $2500. I would estimate that if you do it "right" from the beginning and not buy cheap equipment that you will need to upgrade later, you are probably looking at close to about $5000 when it's all said and done. There are so many misc. expenses that you won't think of and plus the costs to run such as electricity, salt, test kits, RO/DI filters, supplements etc.

 

here is a rough cost break down of doing things on a budget:
Tank: between 200.00 and 375.00 depending on if new or used
Stand: Likelly 45.00-50.00 in wood, hardware, paint
Sump: likelly around 75.00 if using a smaller tank and making your own baffles, etc
Return pump(s): 125.00-200.00
Powerheads: anywhere from 150.00 on up
PVC and Hose: Likelly 50.00 or so depending on amount of piping and valves
Heaters: 75.00
UV Steralizer (optional but good to have): anywhere from 50.00-80.00
Lights: anywhere from 500.00 on up to 1100.00 plus depending
Skimmer: I ended up buying a bubble Magus skimmer for around 250.00 You can spend upwards of thousands on a skimmer. Just depends on what you want.
Rock: I bought all base rock, so about 350.00
Sand: 150.00

So you are looking at anywhere from 2200.00 or so on up to 3200.00 or so in starting costs. That doesnt include, salt, livestock, test kits, etc....

 

also, i have a 60 inch fixture above my 125 gallon tank. Ide be willing to sell it to you if youde like. I want to upgrade to a t5 fixture in 72 inch length. Its a Current USA Outer orbit with 2 150 watt halides and 4 54watt t5's. Along with white and blue moonlights. Ide like to get around 600.00 shipped for the light.

 

I'm $1,100 in to my 125 and honestly feel like I'm stealing it.

From getting my light fixture for 1/4 of it's 'new' price to getting LR at $1/lb, I can't imagine setting something like this up for less than $2,500 if you pay anywhere near market price for it.

It's becoming more and more apparent that this is not a hobby for the faint of heart. I've told my wife "it's only money, we'll make more" on several occasions over the last month and it seems that's about the only attitude you can have for these things.

 

Good post Screwtape and rodcpierce!

Its always more than you anticipate, so make sure you multiply whatever number you have now by at least 2 in my opinion.

 

Totally agree, I planned on spending $700 for my 55 setup, now it's 3x that.

 

Hehehe, I was revising my "aquarium expense spreadsheet" yesterday, and I was already by $4500 . The funny/sad part is that it does not look like it .