A question for everyone

[matt77]

How many liters or gallons of water do you use over a month doing water changes and how much do you pay out for food, i have just worked mine out omg i must be mad food bill for the month 65 pounds, water 3375 liters or 891.5 gallons

[Jase]

haha, i have no idea what mine is.
... i'd rather not think about it.

another one to factor in for ya though. electricity...

[DRRT]

and salt and test kit stuff and buffer and and and the list goes on

[Pufferpunk]

I know I spend ~$40/ months just on blackworms!

[Nick]

About 100 gallons and change of water a month, I'd say, but next to nothing for food, maybe 5-10$? nightcrawlers, blackworms in DP quantity, and frozen green mussels are cheap.

[flash.dan]

1100 - 1200 uk gallons a month

and about £10-£15 a month for food for all my fish as each month i buy bulk of one thing so usually always have mussels, cockle, squid, crab claws, bloodworms, dalphina, king prawns

Just raid the fresh fish section deals and home Freeze!

electricity about £10-£15 a month.... not really a factor as the powerheads 9x are 8W and the external filters are 4W so its just like running a few light bulbs 24 7.

One main expense is filter pads and media which is about £150 every 4 months and bio balls for the sump :/

[edmlfc1]

I don't have to pay a water bill at my apartment but here's my list
Monthly shopping list:
Pound of Mussels $4.99
Dozen Clams $5.99
1lbs Raw shrimp $7.99
6 blue crabs $3.00
1-bucket of salt $40-$50 (some months I go through 2 buckets)
Vitamin C $14.99
Electricity $60-$80 (this is how much my electric went up once I got MTS)
Total $136.96-$166.96
Fat Puffer's : Priceless
At the moment I can't think of anything else I get, other than replacement things like bulbs, ballast, prime etc. But I usually buy my other items in bulk and they last a while.

[flash.dan]

this may sound v v v v v dense but as i have no knowledge of marine tanks atall as i only ever had FW!

anyway i know through evaporation salt is left in the tank so presumably you only have to replace the salt taken drom WC's

cant the water you take out be boiled off slowly leaving the remaining salt in the pot? as if its costing 30-60 a month its a aweful lot. God im glad i have FW tanks ha

[Iliveinazoo]

This year we roughly estimated that we'd spent about £4000 so that's just over £300 a month but we've gone from 0 tanks to 4 tanks so hopefully next the costs will start to come down.

Then again i've programmed in getting a new 600l in the new year so maybe my costs will come down the year after that?!?

At the moment it's,water= 600litres, food=£20, salt=£5ish, ferts & water conditioner=£5ish
The girlfriend will probably tell you that we spend more!!

[marksrush]

I go through roughly 140 gallons per month, my salt bill is maybe $40/month, but food is cheap as I do like the other guys, buy my puffer food at the fresh seafood counter at Price Chopper. I'd say I spend $10 or so a month on their food; they let me buy single clams and oysters etc., so I get off pretty easy.

What I'd like to know is how edmlfc1 gets blue crabs for so cheap! I'd be eating pretty good if I had access to crabs that inexpensive.

[Jase]

What I'd like to know is how edmlfc1 gets blue crabs for so cheap! I'd be eating pretty good if I had access to crabs that inexpensive.

I was thinking the same! That'd be more like $30.00 here...

[edmlfc1]

It's an old chinese secret. Just kidding. I live pretty close to the gulf of mexico. I remember as a kid catching blue crabs in ditches by the ice chest full, then having a crab boil later that day. I guess that's why they are so cheap around here. I bought 2-3 the first time and it was $1. But if I wanted to buy a lobster it would probally be about $30 a pound.

[Jase]

I lived on the gulf coast too and I never saw them real cheap. we always caught our own

[edmlfc1]

I told you: Ancient chinese secret.








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