I'm just getting started, but I must say that I wish someone would have warned me how expensive fish keeping can be!! lol, not to say that would have stopped me though. This was, well...an impulse buy. I thought it can't be THAT expensive once you get a tank and stand...ha!
I even got what I think was a pretty great deal to start with.
75 gal. tank, hood, light, stand, and a starter kit for $399. I did upgrade the filter for another $110. Which I'm really thankful for, because after reading all the info on this site I now understand how important filtration is! But, you all have talked me into (it's easier to deal w/ when I can blame on others! ) getting another canister filter so that's another $140 if I can find a good deal. I thought I found one on ebay for $60, but it was only for a 30 gallon tank..oops.
I placed an order last night for plants, decorations, food, testing kit and conditioner for another $120. Now I need gravel, some rocks to place around the plants so I can attempt to keep them where they belong, (you have told me that it will be hard to keep them from being pulled up, but I can't help but learn the hard way, lol) a gravel cleaner that I can also attach to the sink to fill and remove water, and the fish of course! I think that's it...
I sure hope so anyway!

Any of you guys do the same thing, and end up spending much more than you origianlly anticipated?? Tell me I'm not alone here...

Spent a few good hundred pounds over the years. My new tank setup I am working on have budgeted for about £750 / $1500.

My last hobby was remote control petrol helicopters that I still fly now and again. Thats an expensive hobby hence dont do it much now.

Had a Raptor 60 R/C Helicopter that had a servo stick on me. Came to earth with a bang and put dent of £800 in my wallet just to rebuild and repair. Was case of give up the helis or divorce.

Few years on know which one I should have chose.

Lets be honest here,which ever hobby you take on will cost u money.

I use to be in to jetski racing blew the motor and cost me $4500 to repair needless to say that jetski motors need to be rebuild at least once every 18months anyway.

Fish keeping has set me back alot of $$ but once you have everything the cost stops.

buy high quality equipment and it will last you for many years to come.pay the xtra few dollars for more expensive equipment and stay clear from the cheap rip offs,and trust me in the long run its gonna safe you time and $$.

Ive set up a savings fund specially for my fish keeping so every payday i put $80 to $100 one side for the day that equipment starts letting me down.

unfortunatly u can never predict when a heater is going to stop working or when the impellor in your canister filter packs up.

so thats why i setup the savings account and i also have a first aid kit(old shoe box) for my fish with spare heater,air pump,clear tubing and a few internal powerheads to temporaraly save my ass when something does goes wrong.

decide b4 hand what you need for yr tank make a list and buy only that and stay away from the LFS otherwise you end up like me with a whole house full of tanks
LOL

This is what I try and tell people, if you are serious about keeping large fish, you can't really do it on the cheap. Okay, you may be able to find all the equipment needed for very little money. However, I'm not a great lover of buying second-hand aquatic equipment. You often see very large tanks being sold for very little money. How old are these tanks? Quite often, very old. Fish tanks to perish, I wouldn't buy one that is anywhere near as old as some of the ones that are being sold. So, starting from scratch and buying new can cost an arm and a leg.

My philosophy is, if you don't want the hassle of tank maintenance and you don't want to spend a lot of money, get yourself a few tetras in a 20 gallon tank, 10 minutes to the water change and a pot of food lasts six months

So true...

I think the best estimation is to double what you expect to pay. That should give you enough leeway for everything that is really needed.

Lol that fits, Melissa!
Had just been thinking how I had set myself a limit for the tank I'm about to set up, and probably will come out at about double the costs now, while it's not even a new tank. Oh well.

Thinking of the average I spend for the fish in a month or so, it isn't all that much seen over the years, but still thinking all our other pets come cheaper.

Once the tank and all the other stuff is bought it isnt too expensive to keep fish. The electric bill can be quite high but the food and water conditioner are relatively cheap.

Saying that i dread to think about how much i have spent these last 3 or 4 years. The problem is it gets addictive and you end up wanting more and bigger tanks. I have been through 3 tanks in addition to the 3 i have now, but no more (although if i had room i would think about a brackish tank with archers and monos in and also a bigger tank for my discus)

Other pets may start out cheaper (if you adopt from humane society, ASPCA, or other adoption agency) ... but, most owners I know spend TONS of money on spoils. Cat cities , beds, clothes, food isn't cheap, running water dishes, litter, chew toys, cages, etc.

Fish come at at cost up front. Especially if you do it right the first time. I don't know how big of a tank to move up to, but it has to be big enough I won't want to move up again after that! Tank, stand, filters, heaters, decor really add up at the start. But, once you are going, the fluorescent lights don't use much energy (usually all the lights on a large tank adds up to less than 100W, so usually at most 1 kWh a day for lighting). Heating isn't too bad either, even at 5W/gallon on a 300 gallon, that is 1 kWh, but they don't run constantly, so maybe 12 kWh a day. The filters from an Australian power company site says 10W, but even if you triple that, and have three running it isn't even 100W. So give it 3 kWh on the high side. So for a day, you have used 16 kWh to run a 300 gallon tank. As of 1/1/07, Chicago's electric was 0.11/kWh. So about $1.77 or 88 pence if I have the European money system right

Now, think about how much the average person spends on fuel a week putting around in a car. Or how much a drink costs at a corner store or drive-thru.

I don't go through food much either. He hasn't even ate one bag full yet, and he is done with the fast growing phase, though treats I have splurged on. So if I just fed pellets, maybe two bags a year ... the most expensive stuff I have found is Bio-Gold+ at $20 bag ... $40 (20 quid) a year is so much cheaper than feeding most cats and dogs.

For tank maintenance ... a bucket, siphon, and python was a one time buy, and not too much. I buy API products StressCoat, MelaFix, and PimaFix (the last two when he gets clumsy and hurts himself). The direct API product is fine for smaller tanks, but API also makes these in a stronger dose under their PondCare label. Same product, but last MUCH longer. 15 mL for 60 gallons on the StressCoat dechlorinator. 5 mL for 50 gallons for PimaFix and I believe the same for MelaFix (maybe it is 10 mL). So, it goes a long way and they are only a few bucks more.

Bio-media almost never needs to be changed. Filter pads can be rinsed in tank water quite a few times before needing to be tossed.


So really, Spread out over the life of a fish (Oscar 10-20 years) ... Fish are much cheaper than any other animal, really.


At least I have told myself that

Kenshin_Himura wrote:

Whoa, I live in the wrong country!
Just got a letter that they want 0.3482/kWh (incl. tax) from January on here. Euro that is. So about US-$ 0.50/kWh, plus a basic charge
Really don't wanna do the maths now, it'll be too depressing. Think the dog is gonna get one toy less