I'm curious to know how everyone cuts costs in a hobby that can be quite expensive. Some ways that I do:
Homemade frozen food - Super easy, super good for the fish, and it is way cheaper to buy seafood at the supermarket than a Petstore. (I also feed normal frozen food to certain fish, as well as NLS, but my frozen is one of the main staples.)
Craigslist - I have found so many good deals on tanks on CL. You just have to be a good bargainer/willing to just watch the ads and be patient. I figured out I bought 550 gallons in tanks (8 tanks total) off CL in the past year for $165. It also helps if you are willing and able to re-seal the tanks.
DIY - I do a lot of DIY. TheKingofDIY on YouTube is very helpful, so I have made some of my own filters, and other paraphernalia, including my own base rock for my SW tank. It is amazing how much you can make if you're willing to be handy.
Breeding fish - This is new, and I am not sure if this will help offset the costs yet, but I figure if I have the fish and equipment anyway, I might as well make a concerted effort to breed some of my rarer/more expensive fish. We will see how that goes.
Make friends with LFS, and watch Petsmart sales - At least here Petsmart (NOT Petco) has pretty good fish, and great sales. They are especially nice for picking up big groups of schooling fish. Also I have made friends with the LFS, and so they will often give me very good deals, because they know and like me.
LEDs and unheated aquariums - This is also new, but I am thinking of changing over entirely, or at least mostly, to LEDs since I found a DIY LED light I can do for about $25. I need to check what the saving would be on the electric bill. I also intentionally keep some fish that don't require heaters, both because I like them, and it saves money. (Native darters, sunfish, gymnogeophagus, goldfish, salt and pepper corys)
Collect you own stuff - I keep native fish, and not only do I really enjoy collecting my own fish, it is free. In addition, I collect my own driftwood, rocks, and some plants.
And lastly... Never buy anything at the fish store if that same product going by a different name is available at the hardware or grocery store.
Homemade frozen food - Super easy, super good for the fish, and it is way cheaper to buy seafood at the supermarket than a Petstore. (I also feed normal frozen food to certain fish, as well as NLS, but my frozen is one of the main staples.)
Craigslist - I have found so many good deals on tanks on CL. You just have to be a good bargainer/willing to just watch the ads and be patient. I figured out I bought 550 gallons in tanks (8 tanks total) off CL in the past year for $165. It also helps if you are willing and able to re-seal the tanks.
DIY - I do a lot of DIY. TheKingofDIY on YouTube is very helpful, so I have made some of my own filters, and other paraphernalia, including my own base rock for my SW tank. It is amazing how much you can make if you're willing to be handy.
Breeding fish - This is new, and I am not sure if this will help offset the costs yet, but I figure if I have the fish and equipment anyway, I might as well make a concerted effort to breed some of my rarer/more expensive fish. We will see how that goes.
Make friends with LFS, and watch Petsmart sales - At least here Petsmart (NOT Petco) has pretty good fish, and great sales. They are especially nice for picking up big groups of schooling fish. Also I have made friends with the LFS, and so they will often give me very good deals, because they know and like me.
LEDs and unheated aquariums - This is also new, but I am thinking of changing over entirely, or at least mostly, to LEDs since I found a DIY LED light I can do for about $25. I need to check what the saving would be on the electric bill. I also intentionally keep some fish that don't require heaters, both because I like them, and it saves money. (Native darters, sunfish, gymnogeophagus, goldfish, salt and pepper corys)
Collect you own stuff - I keep native fish, and not only do I really enjoy collecting my own fish, it is free. In addition, I collect my own driftwood, rocks, and some plants.
And lastly... Never buy anything at the fish store if that same product going by a different name is available at the hardware or grocery store.
