I was wondering,....

What the cost difference would be when setting up say a 200L, if you were to either buy a complete set up from the store, or to use this site, trade me etc, and home projects to 'do it yourself'.

How much do you think you could do it for?

And how would you do it? ( if DIY )

I hunt around on that site quite often, and it's quite possible to pick up a 200L with a good external filter, light and stand for under $400. Would probably cost twice that to put it all together yourself for the same kit.

I set up my first 225L tank by buying it piece meal:

Tank $100 (110cmx45cmx45cm)

CF 1200 $112

Heater 300W $19

Gravel $10

Aquaone dbl 4' light used $40

I got the tank built for me and got the rest brand new from TM.

For my 280L Angel setup it's cost me:

$400 for bare tank made (got it for a bargain 'cos we our terrarium made at the same time)

$200 filter from LPS - also a good deal (1500L/H rate)

$60 gravel from LPS

$40 2' light casing (second hand from TM)

$10 light tube from lighting specialist wholesalers

$40 various bought plants

$50 8 X Angels (including courier from Auckland)

$30 Fishfood

Total: $830 from scratch - to date

what ever route you choose to go down; please buy a quality heater even if it costs more initially.

look around on trade me, there are some bargains on there sometimes. also some stores have huge specials - so keep a look out for them too.

good way to save is by getting gravel from a landscaping place, or secondhand off trademe.

I'd do a tally of what my tank has cost me but the cost would be astronomical even thought most components were purchased at cost.

usually already setup tanks on TM are WAY cheaper and comes with everything and if you don't like the community then you could always sell off the fish and get new fish BUT if you're like me and a bit wary of 2nd hand goods then new will cost a bit more.

usually already setup tanks on TM are WAY cheaper and comes with everything and if you don't like the community then you could always sell off the fish and get new fish BUT if you're like me and a bit wary of 2nd hand goods then new will cost a bit more.

Agreed

For my 280L Angel setup it's cost me:

$400 for bare tank made (got it for a bargain 'cos we our terrarium made at the same time)

$200 filter from LPS - also a good deal (1500L/H rate)

$60 gravel from LPS

$40 2' light casing (second hand from TM)

$10 light tube from lighting specialist wholesalers

$40 various bought plants

$50 8 X Angels (including courier from Auckland)

$30 Fishfood

Total: $830 from scratch - to date

$830, Sheesh

I wonder what the cheapest anyones ever do it.

Like beach sand, DIY filter, Lights etc..

I wonder what the cheapest anyones ever do it.

Like beach sand, DIY filter, Lights etc..

500L tank $100 in the buy sell swap

stand $90 on TM

Gravel, sand rocks and wood free from local river,

2x cf1200 filters $230 new

an old 5 foot flouro from work for free.

Total $420

dont ask about the new 8 footer and stand, sump, lights etc.. It would have beeen cheaper to buy a good reliable car

te best NEW value for money has to be the sunsun units. tank & stand for around $400 & after that all you need is a heater & IMO they are better quality than aquaone units.

500L tank $100 in the buy sell swap

stand $90 on TM

Gravel, sand rocks and wood free from local river,

2x cf1200 filters $230 new

an old 5 foot flouro from work for free.

Total $420

dont ask about the new 8 footer and stand, sump, lights etc.. It would have beeen cheaper to buy a good reliable car

thats less than $1 per litre, well done.

$830, Sheesh

I know! and I wonder why I'm a poor uni student lol - our big 5' tank in the living I got the tank itself off TM for $400 which cost the same as getting my 2' tank made - it's a bargain methinks

my 4 tanks are all trade me do-up's, and I say that because the cheapest way to get a tank on trade me is to buy a tank which has no frill's otherwise the sellers seem to get some crazy ideas on what the tank is worth.

But as others have said heaters, filters and other items that fish’s lives depend on are best to be brought new!

P.S don't buy a fish because its cheap as you will be stuck with it for as long as it lives, Wait and buy what you want.

My 180L tank cost $20 because it had a broken side, replaced the glass and siliconed it myself, think all up it cost me $50 for the glue and glass. If you can fix tanks you can get really good bargins

This tank(300litre), stand and lighting included, plus a Aquaone CF1000 filter

Grand total of $400.

This tank(300litre), stand and lighting included, plus a Aquaone CF1000 filter

Grand total of $400.

Nice!

Plastic bin 50L - $10

Heater - Got given it with a turtle tank($40)

Internal filter - Given it once again ($40)

Lighting- THE SUN!!!

So thats $10 for 50L....no joke

300L could be done for around $300-400

2.1meters x 900mm wide x 750mm high = $100 on that site

they don't happen very often, came with the biggest eheim water pump you can buy

if you are prepared to wait there are bargains around

man after reading everyone's posts I feel rather ripped

supasi - that is an AWESOME deal!! Is it a double sided tank too?? Always thought about getting one to divide the living room from the dining room

I got my tank (including lights, heater, eheim filter, gravel, driftwood, assorted food & chemicals) for $350 off Trademe. I already had a piece of furniture that I use as a stand (the seller was willing to throw in the breeze-block & wood stand but it didn't look pretty ).

The best thing about it is that $350 included a bunch of monster fish. I sold the fish one by one on trademe and made back (I think) $200... so the whole setup cost me around $150 in the end. Oh, and I "gave away" two giant pacus because nobody wanted to buy them (for obvious reasons). But the guy I gave them to gave me his spare 4-foot light! So actually I made on that deal too! :bounce:

I'm trying to remember the fish that were in the tank when I got it... I remember an arowana, the two pacus, a huge pleco, a bichir... and something else that slips my mind right now. So four fish sold for an average of $50 each = $200.

I still can't believe the guy had all those fish in a 4-foot tank.

whetu - Man I would've kept the fish and upgraded to a bigger tank lol

whetu - Man I would've kept the fish and upgraded to a bigger tank lol

LOL yeah I was (briefly) tempted but I already had my community of little fish - any one of the biggies would have eaten them in a single meal!

BTW I only told the good news above. I didn't mention the infestation of BBA that came along with the tank despite me thinking I had thoroughly disinfected everything. :roll:

man after reading everyone's posts I feel rather ripped

supasi - that is an AWESOME deal!! Is it a double sided tank too?? Always thought about getting one to divide the living room from the dining room

It was advertised on this site for a week or so before I enquired.

I cant believe no one else wanted it.

The thing is, it still has no fish in it. It being used to grow emersed crypts, which to me is better than fish

I got a 200L 4ft tank, cannister filter and light off TradeMe for $70

I built the stand for $25

total $95

I got a 250L 3ft with a broken side for $2 (she threw in the cannister filter too :bounce: )

$30 stand and $10 new piece of glass

total $42 no light though