Re: 120cm - George of the Jungle
Great question, thanks. You're not the first person, and won't be the last to question quoted costings. And rightly so.
Sure, you don't need CO2 or T5 lighting, or any of the other 'expensive' extras that I used to achieve similar results. You may struggle with a couple of species, but broadly speaking there's no reason you couldn't get a similar effect with a much smaller budget.
The £1,100 total cost is a realistic estimate of what to expect to pay for a similar sized set-up using equivalent products and methodology. Let's look at it from a different perspective. What would a 120cm complete ADA system cost? Probably 5x that, minimum.
I do suspect, like you, that
if some PFK readers based their decision whether to not to get into the planted tank hobby on this feature alone, then it
may put them off. I hope it may also inspire some readers to have a go themselves, cost aside.
This is a calculated risk that I take when contributing articles to PFK. It's impossible to cater for every reader on every budget. Of course, it's also unrealistic to assume that every reader is going to read just the one PFK issue.
On balance, I have also contributed plenty of articles to PFK that cater for those on a lower budget. Indeed, one aquascape that was featured on the magazine's cover was less than £100.
FYI my article next month compares different set-ups on different budgets, so this helps to further address the balance.
Cheers,
George
I must visit this Planted Tank Gallery section more often 