Buying used has saved me a bunch, craigslist especially, I know living in florida (and those in so cal get great deals too) plays a big factor on the ease of finding cheap aqaurium supplies. I got a 55g for 30 bucks, my first 55g came with stand,lights, and filter for 60, I bought a 150 for 200 with a stand, got 2 ac70s for $25 total off CL,magnum 350 for $30, 2 300 watt heaters off ebay for a total of $25, you get my drift, be smart, look around, buy used if possible. Youll save money. Ive spent less on everything I own than some poeple pay starting up a decent 55g. As For fish,many people have their own grow out tanks so they buy little fish that are cheap that would be expensive if larger, and some sell/trade their grown fish for other grown fish when the time comes
Are Y'all Rich or Something?
- Thread starter eatingleg4peanut
- Start date
It's all about the wheeling and dealing on craigslist!!! OP, I don't know where you are in Md, but I live a little north of Hagerstown and I've found so many great deals. I run all over the place buyin used stuff. One of my all time favorites is just recent, when I bought an Fx5 and Xp4 with a bunch of other small stuff for $160 and both canisters were full of media. Sometimes good deals fall on you too. Like one time I had a complete 55g setup that I was sellin for somewhere around $100. A kid wanted it real bad but didn't have cash so he traded me his mint xbox 360 and tons of games, controllers and wireless routers. I played it for a week (sucked real bad and made me angry) put it on craigslist for best offer. Few days later a guy showed up with $230 cash and I made my car payment a month early. I since then got into buying and selling and refinishing tanks and stands. I now have my own fund set aside to as I please with and it's growing quite considerably in the past few months.
Buying used is the way to go.
But some folks here do appear to have money pouring out of their asses hah! When I first started getting serious about fish, I thought $20 was too much for one fish. A few years later I dropped $1500 on one fish, and several grand on others. When I finally sold all my big tanks/fish, I invested it into camera equipment and a planted tank
But some folks here do appear to have money pouring out of their asses hah! When I first started getting serious about fish, I thought $20 was too much for one fish. A few years later I dropped $1500 on one fish, and several grand on others. When I finally sold all my big tanks/fish, I invested it into camera equipment and a planted tank
I have been in the hobby 40 years plus. My daughter went through college..I survived a messy divorce lost a lot on the stock market but always kept 1 average tank. 50 -100 gallons. Right now have a 100 gallon. Rare plecos and black sided redhooks in there. I have had every freshwater fish at 1 time from guppys to large snakeheads. Always kept 1 tank though. Never got burnt out on the hobby this way. Only time I didn't have a tank was 4 years when I was in the service. Love this hobby!
Also I feel one reason why some people are into natives are because theyre free, thats how I got started.
fhawk362;4527061; said:
I wish Natives were free here in Nevada. With all the legal loopholes, permits, and red tape you have to jump through to have a native tank with something other than minnows or chubs, tropical fish are much cheaper and easier.
Carch;4526991; said:I think it also depends on lifestyles as well.
I don't drink, I don't drive (I use my cities public transit, so no car insurance bills), I don't smoke, I don't have a television (just the internet), I don't have kids, and I never really buy much else.
Call me a loser but I save a load of money by not indulging in some of the things other people do
21 myself and most of that is me too ^^ lol girlfriend and i spend time together that way a well...
who can forget deuce bigelow coming home and drinking brown water while giving the clear stuff to his fish.
priorities people!
priorities people!
I'm with all of you. I'm not rich at all, you just have to look for the deals. And I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of the "big chain" pet stores, but sometimes they can save you a lot of money. I buy all of my fish from my LFS because I know the owner and trust his fish, but I buy a lot of my other gear from a chain store. For instance I bought my new 56gal column tank at a chain store a few months ago. Original price $299 with stand, lid, and lights. But I waited till it was on sale for $229. Went to my LFS the other day and they had the same setup for $429. LOL Just gotta wait for the deals. Heck, I started a year ago with a 2 gallon Danio tank.
P.S. Oh, and having an understanding wife that is into the hobby as well helps.
P.S. Oh, and having an understanding wife that is into the hobby as well helps.
