What is your "inexpensive" hobby that turned out to be expensive/ you gradually invested lots of money into?
Edit: so it turns out that every hobby can be expensive if you do it long enough.
Also I love how you talk about your hobby as some addicts.
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Surprised there’s no reef tank people here. Imagine spending $5000 on a 20 gallon fish tank - BEFORE spending any money on corals.
Ya it CAN be done for $50, but nobody does that.
I had a small 160L tank, cost about 1000 dollars. Kept spending money buying more zoas and palys before I realized the filefish was eating them - he never did it while I was watching and started about 3 months after having him. Cute little gobshite though. Isolated him in a temporary tank, but then aiptasia started growing. Filefish back, zoas got munched. Left the hobby now but I fear I might do it all again.
Do it, you know you want to. >:)
Just a tank and some lights, add some flow and boom! You’re there. Just get some salt and testing kits to keep things in balance. Those Hanna checkers are nice if you want to splurge - but that’s it, you’re done! I mean…. You have to get the fish and corals too - but you can make friends and get frags for free! Then you’re really done. Everything beyond that is automation, you don’t have to do any of it (although you can really dial in your nutrient balance if you use protein skimmer, algae scrubber, refugium, media reactors). But you don’t want to do that because then you’ll need a sump (but aren’t sumps handy? Who doesn’t want a sump?). Just make sure your stand accommodates everything-you don’t want to rebuild a stand. Leave room for controllers and uv meters and all that other stuff just in case you add it in the future - which you’re not going to becasue it’s expensive and overkill…
Begone, Satan!
This hits so hard on so many levels. I started with a freshwater shrimp cube. Then it snowballed from there.
You know I’m right, but it’s cool af seeing your fish and corals.
Dooooo eeet
Steps to easy aquarium life:
2.stock with cheap mixed/hybrid cichlids
3.enjoy the multigenerational thunderdome.
I have twice as many fish as I bought, and it's been a decade+.