[andrewsk]

I also think that is't a combination between money and time.

People need to understand before they get started that this is an expensive hobby. If you want a reasonable large tank, you better get ready to spend a lot of money to get it running and a fair bit of monthly maintenance.

I think my 225 gallon tank and 100 gallon sump will end up costing upwards of $10,000 when I am done and will cost over $250.00 per month for electricity, salt, RO, and suppliments.

Sure you can cut costs here and there, buy used if you have patience, and some of the DIY stuff is great, but that takes even more time to do.

A Salt tank is about $50 per gallon to set up new and about $1 per gallon/per month to maintain.

I had a friend ask me to help him set up a 50 gallon Salt tank the other day. The FIRST thing we did was look at cost. We priced out some new and used equipment and the overall cost was going to stretch his pocket book pretty thin. Add to the fact that he is busy with his job and it was just a recipie for failure. He decided not to get into it.

Once it is setup and running well, it really is worth all of the work and $ to me though.