getting out for a bit

sellin my tanks! all of em. have been neglecting my tanks lately as i have been spending the majority of my paycheck on sound equipment (new PA system, new marshall tube amp, new esp ltd 7 string) and you can tell just by looking at my tank, its overgrown with kenya tree coral and algae. not looking its best at all so i have decided to sell it all.

what is a good price to ask for the tanks?
heres what i got

5 gallon marineland mini bow
-par38
-actinic panorama module
-aqueon power filter
-off brand heater
-stand
-8 or so pounds of marco shelf rock
-about 2 inches of live sand
-kenya tree coral (lots)
-neon goby
-aqueon powerhead
-a shat ton of supplements and test kits
-random accessories(nets, extra rock, filter cartridges, etc.)

10 gallon standard tank
-aqueon pwoer filter
-10 or so pounds marco shelf rock
-1-2 inches of live sand
-random purple damsel
-tons of fake plants as it was planned to be a seahorse tank

2.5 gallon standard tank
-cheap air pump
-5 pounds dry rock
-standard flourescent light
-star polyps
-clown goby
-stand

then of course i have 3 tanks with a pair of dwarf seahorses in each.

no idea when ill get another tank, judging from other times ive sold my tanks it will be a matter of months.

 

You are doing the right thing getting out until you can spend the proper time on the tanks. See back in a few months. You will probably be lucky to get half of what they are worth new.

 

yeah i was thinking maybe 70 for the 10 gallon. probably about 140 for the 5 gallon considering the lighting alone was worth around 200. and the 2.5 i was thinking maybe 50. i also forgot to mention there is quite a bit of kenya tree in the 10 gallon as well.

 

Might be good starting points.

 

thanks for the help, of course i will be negotiated down a bit.

 

Good luck Chelsea. Every time I have shut my tanks down I kept most of my stuff and was later happy I did!

 

I wish you the best of luck and I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that I hope to see you back soon.

That being said, with the right kind of automation and stability you really don't need to spend very much time or money on maintaining a reef tank.

I spend about $15 every 4-5 months on a variety pack frozen food, about $3 a month on RO/DI water, and a small amount in extra electrical charges. That's it. Regular water changes (cheap, you just have to not be lazy) and feeding small amounts every other day seem to be keeping my system in check. I don't run any special chemicals or anything, I even stopped running bio-pellets because I was tired of cleaning out the canister that they were running in. Honestly, my tank is very simple to maintain, because I have set it up that way.

I'm a full time student working on a masters degree and I also have a full time job. Reef keeping is near the bottom of my list of priorities but it's still flourishing.

My point: It's not very hard or expensive.

 

your tank does not have that large of an annual cost, but the startup cost was probably insane. i dont have that kind of money. i already have a very very expensive hobby and for reefkeeping i prefer to keep things simple, sure you could say i cut corners, but if i didnt i probably wouldnt have a tank. i usually only buy the absolute necessities, the only thing i usually splurge on is lighting. i cant go out buying expensive ato top off systems and apex control systems. which is how you keep your tanks cost down.

my tank is very healthy, i can tell by how my kenya tree grows about an inch a month. but like i said it is neglected, i often forget to top off the water usually it goes down all the way to the powerhead and starts making a god aweful noise before i even realise its down. and the glass has some algae on it that the snails seem to ignore along with cyano on the sandbed. i am not complaining that it is too hard or expensive per se, i simply dont have the time to put into the tanks that they deserve. right now i am just extremely busy.

 

i will probably keep a few things if i decide to one day just buy a tank off craigslist on impulse, probably a powerhead and a test kit along with some supplements.

 

I respect your decision and I don't wish to make you feel bad about it. Nor do I wish to argue.

However, there are many things that I feel could be explained further.

I do not use an auto top off system, nor do I own an RO/DI filter. I fill a 35g bucket with water from the grocery store every month or so, and use a 1g water bottle for daily top offs. (takes about 20 min on the weekend, 2 min each day)

My lighting is a $50 odyssea setup from ebay, with a couple ATI replacement bulbs for about $50.

The main tank and sump are 40g breeder and 20g long that cost $60 total from petco during their 1g/$1 sale.

Food is bought in bulk packs. I mince the large food to feed corals and inverts. I literally only spend $15 every few months on all total food costs.

Salt is purchased online at about $55 per 5 gal bucket. I use a high quality mix that allows me to get away with not dosing anything extra.

I keep my bio-load to a minimum so that I am not spending money to fight algae, etc.

Chaeto is grown in the sump via a $5 lighting setup from home depot, and this helps me keep nitrates low.

I have various pumps and powerheads that certainly were costly, but nothing crazy high. My protein skimmer was bought used on ebay, but that thing barely even pulls any skim anyway due to the light bio-load.

You're right, it did cost a lot to get where I am now. But not because the equipment I have now was expensive, it was because I purchased many things that I didn't need to buy.

Based on your for sale list, you pretty much have everything that I have now.

Everything I have said is more as a reference for other people who might find this thread in the future, because I know that you have made up your mind.

Again, the best of luck to you and whatever path you wish to take.