I often think about this topic and have to agree with you Justin, it's a obscene amount of money for a fish tank.

I keep coming back to most if not all hobbies are expensive and most of the time they are as expensive as we make them. Unfortunately I have multiple hobbies, Boating, Diving, Photography....oh yeah Reefkeeping.

Back when I was getting into this if someone told me I would spent 10k for a fish tank I would have never done it.

Having said all that I keep planing my upgrade in my head. :neutral:

The money is spent and we have to keep spending. I have been doing this for 16 months now and still find better things to upgrade to. Even on a bad day, I look at what I have and think of how great it is to participate in such a rewarding hobby.

It is horribly expensive and losing fish hurts badly, but you look at the survivors and feel blessed that they are there and that they really DO need you. When I see coral growth that is happening because I am doing things right, it makes me so happy.

I hate buying equipment since it does not have the same gratification of seeing something living... but after the money is spent and I see my living things thrive due to the ridiculous money I spent, I am feel at ease.

What kills me about this hobby is I really hate spending money... I always tell my friend I am done for spending for awhile, and then he says the LFS is getting Aussie corals the next day. I do try to fight it... but he knows I will be there in no time.

I am an addict but at least I have a wonder of nature in my home and will do whatever is needed to keep it healthy. I will be cranky when I buy a new pump again... but will get over it, I always do...

Yeah your right...you really do have to keep spending to keep a tank going. Even if I just kept the tank going (water changes, electricity, ect.) it would cost me around $200 a month I think.

For me, its not that I don't like to spend money--I do. Thats actually the problem. I don't and never will spend all my "extra" (and I use that term loosely) money on the aquarium.

As cprowler said, it really is an obscene amount of money for a fish tank when you think of it. Having said that, a few years back I paid what I thought was an obscene amount of money for a brand new Audi TT and...I got over it. Don't have the car or debt from it anymore, so perhaps thats why ;)

The Audi although a sweet ride will not follow you around, give you big cute eyes, come eat out of your hands greet you when you come to it...:lol: Plus it would be pretty darned hard for someone to steal your tank because they want it.

I don't know...my Audi was pretty cuddly :D And it used to go all kinds of places with me.

I was lucky enough never to have had my Audi stolen or broken into.

The funny thing...I sold it to my brother and a bunch of the money went straight to the tank at the time :rolleyes:

Actually he is still paying for the stupid car. I kind of leased it to him. That reminds me...he hasn't paid me in months :D

Well you better send the fish mafia after him or he will be sleeping with the fish...:mrgreen:

Well... more fun buying stuff for your system. Is your tusk fish settled in yet?

:D Nah...hes a student and my little brother. He gets a pass. I don't really think I will make him pay the rest of the car anyways. He loves the thing so much and it make him happy.

Yeah he is good. Hes calmed down a lot in the bigger tank now. After upgrading tanks, I realized many of my fish may have been slightly stressed. I never thought so but they are much calmer in the big tank and swim much more freely instead of pacing. The tangs just zip around the tank, in and out of rocks. The 30" from front to back is the real big improvement.

Some of our biggest joys in life are making others happy. In this day and age to make someone happy with a simple thing like a car is priceless since most are never content with the gifts we already have.

I guess that put the hobby into better perspective... if it costs obscene amounts and makes us happy at the end f the day, it is well worth it. Many people are gifted with wealth, power, health and beauty, and are still in misery. If looking into an expensive glass box makes us feel joy, it is a small price to pay...

I agree...the car meant nothing to me but he really loves it. I never cared too much about it and certainly do not miss it. I do miss having a car to go pick up corals and fish but thats another story.