How much per gallon?

How much would you estimate it cost per gallon to set up a tank from scratch? I estimate about $5 per gallon

 

Really it depends. What lights do you want, what sales can you find, what tank size, what quality of equipment, what stock? If you just simply want say a 55 gallon new at petco during dollar per gallon you can buy them for 70$, a decent light if you want to grow low light plants (I use beamswork DA lights Pent Series) - 70$, cheaper if you don't want plants, Pool Filter sand is pretty cheap - 10$, Heater - 25$, filter 50$. This adds up to be 225$, but then there is tax. This equals out to about 4.09$/Gallon. So yeah, your price is pretty close, probably cheaper depending on what you want out of it... or much more expensive.
Also need a stand, which could vary greatly in price.

Or you could try to find a used setup which price really varies. I bought a 300w heater, zebra stone, two powerheads, and a large filter for 30$ today. I also saw a 90 gallon tank for sale for 15$ which I missed out on, but if I was faster I could have gotten everything to run a 90g tank barebottom for 45$!

Generally for the 55g setup I stated, or something similar, minus the sand, for probably 100$~ tomarrow if I wanted.

Sometimes it is worth it to scope out craigslist and whatnot. I personally hawk Facebook marketplace. I have picked up at least 3 free tanks - A 45L, 65g, 135g. I have seen a full saltwater setup 180g tank, stand, sump, and lights, and literally turnkey setup for free as well, guy just needed it hauled out asap.

 

5 a gallon is probably pretty accurate for a standard set up. Bigger tanks seem to be exponentially more expensive after about 90 gallons it seems for full setups. My 55 gallon is a fair bit more than $5 a gallon but it didn't start that way. But add a Fluval canister filter, a Fluval plant 3.0 48 inch light you are close to $400 before you even consider the tank itself. As you and the previous poster said very easy to go cheaper than that. I certainly started much cheaper than my current set up.

 

That's why we have MTS....the first tank is the most expensive, and the additional tank gallons will spread out the cost Interesting question, I have to calculate my numbers.

 

My first tank (15 gal) cost me about $250 by the end. My 2nd tank (65 gal) cost me about $200 (i got the tank, light, and filter in exchange for some babysitting) my 3rd tank(10) cost $50 so far but as of right now it is only a grow out so no fish cost.

 

I know there are lots of variables but I’m going for a “rule of thumb” which are never very accurate. It seems to me like maybe $7 is a more accurate guess per gallon after reading all of your posts

 

Well the thing I think we need to define here is why you want to get this information and what your goal is with it? Are you looking to set up a fish room for breeding? Maybe a fish store because I am fairly certain you made a post about opening one.

For this kind of topic it might be beneficial to give paramaters as to what you're doing. I wouldn't mind crunching some numbers on how much it would cost to build a rack for tanks, an air pump, sponge filters, irrigation, and the other 9 yards for it all. Gives me an idea of what I want to do on the future anyways lol

Also the amount of tanks you want spreads out cost too. Say you want 40 tanks, you can buy 1 large air pump for 250$ and that cost gets spread out considerably. Another big thing to consider is heating requirements and if you want to heat a room vs tanks. If it's a lot of tanks you may want to consider heating a room. Also with many tanks you want to consider getting a dehumidifier to eliminate issues with mold due to the high humidity.

 

Nothing specific, I'm just curious

 

Welcome to northern canada where itll cost you anywhere from 30 to 50 a gallon

RIP my wallet but whatever

 

I side with it depends. My most recent stand alone tank:
dollar per gallon sale 29.00
160 gph jajale pump 39.99
2" thick filter foam 12.00
Black diamond sand $15
I usually use rack lights at about $5 per array I add but in fairness my nicrew light was about $30 so will go with that one.
trash can $5
Various pvc fittings $10
Silicone adhesive $12
Plants were all leftovers and throwaways. I would say a "pack" bought from a fl member with the same stuff would be about $20-30

The fair version is about $200 for a 29= $6.89 per gallon

honestly the only things I didn't have on hand were the tank, trash can and filter, so $36 for that 29 is all that was felt, also back when I bought that pump it was only $18, and the foam was cheaper too.

There was a similar thread to this back a year ago about and I listed the cost of the whole rack I built. I think it was in the $1000 range but I can't remember (don't want to).

 

I have a 2.5 gallon that I'm already 100 bucks into and I'm not done lol