bottomless pit that's what a reeftank is or where to get the best cup of coffee
 

holy cr*P *esus spare me from this. my S O who's been secretly tallying my hobby spendings from last year has just presented me with a tallied sum total 5433.71 i'm looking at this inches tall stack of bills and receipts and am having difficulty accepting them for what they are. HELP! proof has been presented before me yet i can't stop myself.

Quick, burn all the receipts and stop keeping track of the spending. It's only gonna get worse.:lol:

$5K in one year. Getting off lucky LOL. But really, Reefing can be as expensive or frugal as you make it. And, once you get the equipment, the buying stops......For some of us. others, just need to keep upgrading LOL. Buy good once, then you wont need to upgrade.

$5433.71 That's it?

What are you going to do when the bug really bites?

Stop keeping track and do it fast :lol:

I just keep telling the wife that this is the last item I need to buy for awhile, but I when I say it every week-end I'm afraid she's catching on to me!

Hehehe, I think I am easily into for that much and its only been 6 months. Ssshhhh. The sad thing is I haven't gotten into the cool controllers, reactors, etc...

Good thing interest rates are low, its time to take out a second mortgage!

LOL, that sounds just like me. I just become acustom to the scowl face. I always say its easier to beg for forgiveness then ask for permission.

Good Luck.
:lol:

Yep I don’t want to keep track I have only had my new tank for just over 4 1/2 months which cost a ton of cash and I am still spending....good thing I only have to answer to myself:lol:

Just 5.5Gs??? That's nuthin'. Cash is your friend.

I said to my self it only costs alot to start the system... dear God was I wrong! Just forget the past and move forward that's what I do.:lol:

Dont fret. She is getting even.
Check the bags in the trunk of her car, the shelf above her clothing in that tiny walk in closet that if full with stuff, and the back of her bedroom drawersl. You will find lots of receipts.
Keep them for the day when she starts complaining about how much you spend on the tank.

:lol:

Sorry to hear this, man... how big is the tank?

For posterity (and since I'm home on a Saturday night), quick tally of what I've spent on my 10 gallon... I don't include the tank, heater, or HOB filters here...

70W ballast - $25
Noma fixture - $35 (DIYed my own MH light)
14K bulb - $25
Wire, tools, electrical tape, connectors - $60
Bucket of Instant Ocean - $100 (waaaay overpriced, tell me about it... I won't forget this one for a long time)
Live rock - $60
Seachem Sand - $40
Test Kits - $100
Refractometer - $45...

The list goes on, and I won't tally what I've spent :biggrin: Cause honestly, I don't wanna know :lol: And I haven't even started stocking the tank yet... that's just the equipment and basic stuff I bought to do a very low tech 10 gallon.

I knew this was going to be expensive when I got into it... I feel your pain man. At least I knew what I was doing when I started, I can see now how expensive (and painful) a mistake could be. Precious little comfort... but even unstocked my tank brings me a certain amount of joy.

Perhaps you could offer your wife some consolation... take her snorkelling on a shallow reef somewhere warm in the middle of winter? Then when she sees your tank, it could then conjure up warm memories of a winter vacation with her family. Everybody wins :wink:

cost
 

Trying having a his and her tank. It starts off innocent, Oh honey just a small tank. Three upgrades later and she has a 150 and he got a 300. two people who say oh just one more and we;ll stop for a while:mrgreen:

Don't know if we work for the bank or the fish!!!

It's sad when you build a house around a fish tank. That was one stipulation while we we building a house was there had to be the perfect place for a fish tank. We had most of the equipment from our previous fish tanks but I'm still a couple of thousand into the tank so far and I don't even have water in the tank. But my mentality now is - this is all part of the "start up" costs. Once the tank is running it'll just be electricity and food that we'll be spending on the tank :)

Well,
I have a very simple philosophy how to handle this situation….







































http://www.melih.com/wp-content/uplo...1/ostridge.jpg

:nod:

Love the head in the sand. :lol:

Actually its not anymore expensive than most other hobbies/recreation thingys. My boys snow machine equipment is much more. My boat and fishing equipment used to be a lot more. Crap, I use to sepnd more on the cash bowling circuit without much return. :lol:

I think its all just relative.

Ya, try juggling Reefs, Snow machines, Muscle car's AND a family on a measly Electricians salary. Good thing I don't drink Starbuck's. I couldnt afford that HAHAHA

:decision:No comment!!! hehehe! Have a good day salt addicts and don't think to much!!

WOW I have spent that on skimmers alone LOL:lol::lol::lol:

i think that i have a problem

But your not normal ROFL:mrgreen:

Normal vs reefkeeping ask anyone that does not own a tank what they think ROFL

I think I might spend more at sbux than on my tank. I spend a lot on my tank....sad...:)

Shite, quick calculation, I spend $2034.00/yr at sbux.

I've estimated that I generally spend about $2000 a year on consumable products for my tank (electricity, bulbs, salt, food etc). So now I regularly sell frags from nearly everything in my systems to off set the upkeep costs. I'm pretty excited because this year I should break even.

:lol: LMAO.... Wow... No wonder you're on Canreef at all hours of the day...

What you mean I'm not why didn't you moderators tell me that ...........

I can't speak:mrgreen:

Well, Mike, we have sort of hinted.....:)

no, we know you have a problem...:mrgreen:

you know if you switch to timmies you would have about 500.00 more a year for the tank with out giving up any coffies..

Steve

When Timmy starts starts selling real coffee, I might think about it.

I know.. it is sad how a company who wasn't even owned by a canadian for the last 5 years can brainwash a nation into thinking bad coffee is good.

Steve

The wendys people did a great job keeping the sale relatively quiet and most people don't seem to know tims is not Canadian anymore.

I don't think they sell coffee though do they???

I don't drink Tim's either. Good Old Maxwell House, at home, Unlimeted supply of Nabob at work. Good to know I save $5k a year LOL

but ,but ,but they said that you were full of SH.. lol back at ya ...:lol:

actualy it was anounced last month that it was sold again and it is now canadian owned again..

I heard this morning they are opening up in Newyork

Notice how the OP hasn't been back to reply to his own thread.. maybe his significant other tied him up.. :(

I thought that my FW addiction was bad.. once I got into the Salt thing I've been going nuts!

Put it this way.. $5000-$6000 a year is far less than other hobbies. You could be out drinking every night with your buddies.. at least you're at home doing water changes.

Also Tim's is currently incorporated in the US but will move back to Canada to take advantage of Canadian tax rates
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...rticle1201286/

LOL
Nice I thought maybe I was going a little over the edge...BC 29 just over a year ago and a 90 gallon added nw I am over 5 k spent also......AND I SET A BUDGET... My other hobby is tournament paintball try explaining the 2000$ paintball marker to your wife and you need 2 just in case:twised::twised: keeps sw in her good books

So then will they start selling coffee now?

I find not much beats a Timmie's double-double when it's done right. Starbucks, meh, it's nice, but too much coin and I can't really get into the double-tall venti latte this that and the other terminology. Is a tall a small? I never really know.

As for the reef hobby though .. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't had the tanks the last ten years I'd uh .. probably have way nicer other things. Yeah, I think I'm not going there. No tracking the spending, I'll just weep if I do.