What are some of your ways to save money in the hobby?

[TheReefer]

This hobby can get expensive, so what are some of your ways of saving money?
Some of mine are using worms/bugs I catch and raise myself (in a compost)
Using aquaponics to remove waste (I use vegetables so I can get food from it too)
Using polyfill in my filters as filter floss
Using lava rock as biomedia
Using Seachem Safe for water changes
Raising my own crayfish (when I had puffers and large cichlids)
Feeding fresh fish fillets when you go fishing
Using a large air compressor to power multiple sponge filters
Buying food in bulk
Catching mosquito larvae for my fish (make sure this is legal in your area as intentionally farming mosquito larvae is illegal in some areas)
And collecting my own rocks and driftwood (again, check with your local laws to ensure this is legal)

 

[kno4te]

Get my filter floss from Walmart. Use lava rock for media. Reuse lots of my old decor.

 

[islandguy11]

Get a lot of diy supplies or home/kitchen accessories (e.g. buckets, big plastic trays & bowls, cloth cooking strainers for removing pre-filters from tanks w/o making a mess, etc.) from local 20 Baht shops (our 65 cents version of your $1 shops in US).

 

[Coryloach]

Self control

 

[kno4te]

Probably the best way.

 

[kno4te]

Self control

Best way.

 

[esoxlucius]

The joys of working in plastics recycling. The various items in the picture were taken from work, totally free of course. Plastic crates for holding filtration media, which will sit inside the blue barrel. The polycarbonate triple wall roofing panel will sit snuggly in my canopy, which I built yesterday. And the cream of the crop was the huge tub, on wheels. I reckon this thing will hold around 120 gallon. When I get around to moving my new project into position I will need somewhere to hold my stock for 24-48 hours. This tub is ideal for that.

If I was to buy that lot on line I don't reckon i'd have much change out of £250. Happy days.

 

[TheReefer]

The joys of working in plastics recycling. The various items in the picture were taken from work, totally free of course. Plastic crates for holding filtration media, which will sit inside the blue barrel. The polycarbonate triple wall roofing panel will sit snuggly in my canopy, which I built yesterday. And the cream of the crop was the huge tub, on wheels. I reckon this thing will hold around 120 gallon. When I get around to moving my new project into position I will need somewhere to hold my stock for 24-48 hours. This tub is ideal for that.

If I was to buy that lot on line I don't reckon i'd have much change out of £250. Happy days.

View attachment 1375183

I used a plastic bin I found in the trash that has a cracked bottom and cut the bottom off of it and used it as a compost until my wife made me get rid of it because it was an eye sore

 

[Itsadeepbluesea]

I look for good deals on used stuff (i.e. m 180g was $200) try to DIY what I can. On the opposite side I a very easy side gig, that is specifically for hobby money that I save up to have funds when needed.

 

[AnthonyFish20]

I buy my filters and media online also food sometimes and also like others have said find deals on stuff on this site or craigslist.