How much more expensive is marine over freshwater?

[Stolireef]

Pro-Cost saving tip: DO NOT BUY AN APEX. It's addicting and adds $1000+ to your build. (worth every penny to me).

Yep. But, if you're quick, you can get quite a bit of Apex stuff used. Since the software can be updated, a 10 year old Apex can run nearly as good as the latest version. Mine is about 7 years old and with Fusion, it does just about anything I want.

 

[Jon0807]

Much of my cost comes from thinking I can do things cheaply and not thoroughly doing research. I've spent a lot of money on equipment I don't even use, not spending as much as I should have on something I didn't think I needed, but ended up buying it anyway after spending money on something else and impulse buys. I tend to try and do a lot of research but even with that, it's never enough. All the money I spent on trying to make my 36 gallon bowfront work and work cheaply, I could've gotten a nice Red Sea Reefer or something similar. Or I could've gotten an AIO and saved a bunch of money. I'm currently moving things into a 40 gallon breeder, but I'm trying to do things right. Taking my time, realizing my limits, and research research research.

I've ran freshwater tanks successfully for years. Everything from goldfish to planted tanks. Like some have said, it doesn't NEED to be expensive as long as you ask a lot of questions and research a lot. The only real added cost with saltwater over fresh is the saltwater.

 

[ericarenee]

Ok.

I have to make this more complicated
Freshwater tank (TROPICAL) FISH ONLY
Saltwater tank (Marine ) Fish only.

If you compare fish only tanks Only added cost is Maintenance and Price of Specimens . If you keep Discus or other highly sought after fish the prices will prob be similar.

Now
Tropical planted tank and proper equipment
Marine Reef tank and proper equipment

To do either of these right its Quite Complicated and expensive..

You cant compare a Tropical fish only tank to a marine reef tank for example


We have a Reef tank Large and a small Planted tank. for the size of the planted tank vs the reef tank we prob spend equal amount of money per gallon..
not to mention the REEF Tank is MUCH Easier for me to keep in check.... grr i hate common pond snails.....


OHH Sorry to make this more complicated but well

 

[davocean]

Actually I think Erica pretty much nailed it.

My only add is for your thoughts of breeding clowns, that becomes a bit more involved, you can't really do it just in a display, the eggs are collected and placed in a separate tank and you need live rotifers as soon as they hatch, which often means you are culturing rotifers as well, they may hatch in a display but they won't survive long, so that is a whole another step up and added gear.
It's nothing like breeding FW fish.

 

[Valentini89]

Freshwater, no need for a sump or high output lighting, also no need for any reactors or skimmers. These things are for marine tanks and are not cheap. There are so many differences. The cost difference can be in the thousands. It rises with the size tank you get. Fresh water, gravel. Saltwater, sand. For a large tank you may spend hundreds just on sand. Then there's rock. LFS here charge $5/LB for live rock.. hundreds can be spent on live rock for a marine tank. Skimmers can run you from $150-300 or more and sumps, depending on what you get, can range from a cheap kit to a $1000 custom sump. Nothing is cheap in the marine hobby. Return pumps, powerheads, test kits, refractometer, salt, reactors, media, hell the tank itself is more expensive because it's usually drilled. Don't forget about that HO lighting that can run you from $300-1300 it all adds up plus yeah the fish are alot more $$$$ and then there's coral.

 

[Valentini89]

Two questions in one here.

How much more expensive are the running costs of a 4ft x 2ft tank with marine compared to fresh water?

Also, which are the most important bits of equipment? Could someone place them in order for a FOWLR set up? Any I could do without?

Sent from my GT-I9301I using Tapatalk

You need to make a list like mine if you are doing saltwater....

Tank- 60*30*30 drilled. $2000
Lighting- t5/MH or LED $1200
Sump- trigger emerald 39. $500
Return pump- ecotech M1 $349
Wavemakers- current. $300
Skimmer- reef oct classic $250
Chiller- penguin 1/2 HP. $500
Heater- won bros 1500w. $50
Inkbird. $45
ATO - Neptune systems $200
Trigger Emerald ATO box. $60
Durostar ds4000s generator. $300
RODI unit. $150
Sand. $200
Rock $400
Tripp lite power strip 16 x2. $100
Renew pro waterchanger. $649
Dosing pump undetermined. -----