Tell us How you save money in our Hobby

I have learned a couple pretty well known ways to save money when maintaining or setting up aquariums that newbies may not know...

Substrate - Buy it at your local hardware store ( Lowes, Home depot, Eagle) especially if use sand and dont mind natural color you can buy 100 lbs of 100% silica sand for around six bucks
You can get the perfect materials for tank dividers here its called polystyrene Egg crate (not sure why) and can make four dividers that would fit a 55 gallon tank for ten bucks instead on one for 12.99


Filter Media - Buy at your Local Fabric store (Jo-ann Fabrics, Etc) You can buy a large bag of 100% Poly fiber for around three dollars instead of ten dollars at pet store and you will get a larger bag.. Same stuff different name...

Ph Raise - Baking Soda (alot cheaper than the buffers and such)

Powerstrips and extension cords, Terra cotta pots and silk plants - Dollar stores - Side note: Wallmart has better selection of Terra Cotta in bigger sizes for reasonable prices..

Rocks and slate - Try local Rockeries or Landscaping companies.. Be sure to buy only new and clean well...

Light Timers - will save money on Electricity bill..

Tanks - Local forums such as this and all of our Favorite Craigslist...


Im sure I got more ways to save money and will add my two cents as I remember but for now thats a start
Please post your ways of saving money Everyone always looking for ways to do that right?

DIY section! also i read somewhere online that if you bake your baking soda evenly spread out on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 400 degrees it will lower your PH rather than raise, something to look into!

Hardware stores for all your tubing, anything qualified to drink from is fish friendly! also surgical tubing from salt water fishing stores is great for air hoses very flexible and comes in black/clear/brown so easily hidden!

This is all over the place but here are some of the tips I've used to try to save money.

I wash my filter media from time to time to save money, filter floss and pad like disposible ones can be washed, rocks like lava rock or seachems rock filter media can be rinsed or cleaned in the sink...and your good to go again just stagger your media and not do it all at once. I also dry (bake my aquarium gravel) when I take down my tanks so I can use it in other aquariums. Also quarts and slate are much cheaper when found at hardware stores. I've stoped using carbon all together so I dont buy that at all anymore.

Raise your own feeders from those prolific breaders the convict or what ever you have at the time.

Keep lurker in your tank that eats all the babys...most cat fish will do so you dont have to fund grow out tanks or find new homes.

I have made my own shop light that rests on my tank (shop light mounted in a plastic fence post cut to fit)
if your not growing plants then the lights only for your viewing pleasure so cheaper to buy at a hardware store)...I've also cut my own tank covers from acrilic sheets.

Diy co2 reactor...yeast and sugar enriched jello in a jug.

Build your own tank stand...actually cost me more than buying a prefab one but love them and the learing experience.

Dig earthworms for food..compost bin is a great source. I keep the salmon row from fishing trips to feed to my fish. I also re-use some aquarium water for watering my fams gardens and house plants..saves water and great furts.

I grow veggies that my veggie eaters love to eat .

If you have fish that eat floating pellet food, check out the similar food sold for pond fish, the amount is most the time, DOUBLE, for little more than the largest cichlid version and the content is almost exactly the same if not identical in some cases.

Trade with other hobbiest to save money.

Quarantine tank, will save you so much frustration and money..might seem like a lot of extra stuff to do but it can prevent you from replaceing your fish that get sick from , non health pet store fish.

The greater seattle aquarium society has vender discounts if your a member.

Also just buffer your african tanks with crushed coral and sand as a substrate so you dont have to buy exspensive chems to buffer your water as much.

just get a handful of gravel from another aquarium person, and you have a nice seed of bacteria going. or run and extra filter in your tanks so you can transfer that to new tank and you have almost instant cycling for your next tank.

Your tank should be cycled before you ever attempt to house fish that you wanna keep alive.. Biological filtration is what breaks down all fish poop.. Using used filter material or gravel and deco from well established aquariums well help boost the cycling process, however regular water changes are still needed or you will get ammonia spikes and just all around poor quality water...

Should of mentioned that haha! Fishless cycling is way easier on your fish.

Those light timers at petstores are also about 15-40 dollars, you can get one at home depot for around 3$

Radio shack also carries the timers, very cheap think mine was under 4$ after tax and has customizable schedule

go to the river and get some rocks for free!!

lars on wrote:Those light timers at petstores are also about 15-40 dollars, you can get one at home depot for around 3$

I prefer mine from IKEA..they have the 3 prong kind cheap. The ones at the hardware store are mostly 2 prongs

How I save money:

1. Sand- get at home depot, like others mentioned above.

2. fish food. Buy bulk from internet and split with fellow hobbyists

3. Lighting- shop lights works fine for me, but I am leaning to build DIY LED lights..that will save me $$ on bulbs and electric in the long run.

4. Fishes..do group orders, you eliminate the middleman. Do not buy breeder fishes that the locals breed. If you are looking for a few fishes, go to the pet store. IF you are looking at least a dozen, go with group. If you are looking for rare fishes, go with the group. DO group orders on accessories too (Jehmco, Kens fish, Dr Foster Smith, Petsolutions, Big Als Online)

5. Try trading if you can't sell...most others do not have money avail....works well for me.

6. Multi tanks (12 or more)- use a single linear pump to provide air for your tanks. Use sponge filters for tanks 5g thru 29. If all tanks in one room..use one central heater, not individual tank heaters.

7. Do not buy store brand fish heaters. The cheap temp sensor will melt and will cook your fishes you invested in. Invest in good quality heaters like ebo-jager...better safe than sorry.

8. Do not look for used tanks under 20 gallons, except if you find them avail within 10 miles. Go spend a few extra dollars at the local pet stores. Think of the gas money you can save by not going the extra distance.

9. Attend fish/aquarium meetings. You get to make new friends, you get a better opportunity to do trades and sales, than break your wallet at a LFS. GSAS often have mini auctions at the end of the meetings.

10. Garage sales, you never know what you can find.

Did a little research and found out that you can use Morton "water-softener" salt instead of aquarium salt.

Can get a 40 lb bag for $5 at Home Depot!!! A 4 lb box of Aquarium Salt at Petsmart cost $8! 10 times as much product for almost half the price!

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trading and bartering stuff.

I am building a 24x22' 528 sqf fish room/reef i plan on plumbing a radiator shape under ground 36'' to cool my tanks and water evaporator to collect my salt back. Ill be starting off with just over 1000 gallons to salt them its about 400$ for sechem reef salt the good stuff quick math 1/4 mounthly water chainge X 12 = 1200$ a year.

saving money? What's that? lol..

I did the Home Depot sand and egg crate on the 180. I paid 5 times more for the 60# of sand in the 55 than I did for 200# in the 180. The egg crate is just good insurance for rock work and was very economical.

The only way I'm saving cash is from buying items from LFS's I know would give deals.
But....
Throwing money to help fix or solve a issue or probelm shloud not be the primary approach.

90 percent of the items recently purchased is going to be used for the 180 G.

2 200 watt heaters, fx5, xp4 and a ac50.

Pot scrubbies

I joined Washington FishBox and i started to meet new people but not just that you get free and very cheap stuffs.

jettej wrote:I joined Washington FishBox and i started to meet new people but not just that you get free and very cheap stuffs.

How is the filter working out for you?

@Spyral Hi the filter works very fine. I put it on my 30 gal. set-up and my fish are happy and more energetic i think they like how the water flows really strong. Thank you so much. probably if I didn't had these filter then it wouldn't be such a nice tank. Lol I was shock the first time i turned it on. it just sucked the water right away. the current was so strong it made the dirt go around then sucked it. All I can say is its a good filter for a 30 gal tank. The best!

P.S. I saw your 180 gal tank with those rock taht you just got. Its very very nice!

For me the temptation to buy new fish and add more tanks is always there. To save money, I put all my time, effort and $ into one tank; my 120g (60x18x27) and my small group of fish. I have decided to try and raise my existing group to a ripe old age instead of constantly changing out occupants.

buying bulk online from out of state dealers so dont have to pay tax.

Going to the beach to collect rocks/wood for decor

raising brineshrimp to feed fry, and cooking my own beefheart up

makeing tap water safe by just leaving it out with some corals in it to raise PH and kill chlorine without using expensive tap water conditioners.

Work at a petstore! You save a lot of money! You can see what stuff is put at half price or marked way down before customers can see it! You get an employee discount! Thats the best way to save money!