Setup cost

BioWheel filters are ok for freshwater, but not for salt. What brand is the skimmer? I have a feeling that for $50 you aren't going to be very happy with it...a good quality efficient skimmer will run around $150-$200.

Here is my price list for the 90 gallon i'm putting together (switching out my nano i have going now for something bigger) ....the equipment for it and for your 40 gallon would be pretty similar...i only have low light corals, so i don't have to have super strong lights:

rock: $300
substrate: $100
bucket-o-salt: $37
sump filter/material/plumbing, etc. - $150
refractometer: $40
RoDi unit: $200
tests: $40
lighting: $300
skimmer: $200
powerheads: $50
chemicals,food, ph buffer, etc: $40
heater: $30

I don't think i saw you mention anything about water. You really can't use tap water for a saltwater aquarium. You need to get a RoDi unit or buy water, but that gets expensive also because of water changes. It's always good to have some water ready for an emergency water change...strange things happen, you never know!
 
you can get like the coralife super skimmer up to 65 gal on marine depot for $88 and if you throw a few more things in there and bump the cost up to over $175 then your looking at free shipping so I would reccommend buying from there
 
Look for people breaking down their tanks in your area. This is where you can save big on live rock and dry goods for your setup. I usually see liverock go for $2 per lbs. I would buy a good book, before you buy anything else. Good Luck and Happy Learning. :D
 
I have a 24 gallon AQUAPOD,

It's a very nice all enclosed system, and so far I'm happy with it, but if I had to do it all again I'd not go that route.

The reason? You are stuck with wht it is, if you want to add other stuff then you have to cut/modify the system (Which voids the warranty) You cannot hang anything on the back of the tank so your skimmer has to be submerged IN the main tank (the fission doesn't fit in the overlfow on my AP)

The pod/nano cube's do work, but I've also heard reports of people replacing the pumps that they come wiuth due to poor flow and reliability issues.

As for the fission skimmer, I have one, but I wouldn't reccommend it. It creates WAY too many bubbles which make it hard to view the inhabitents of the tank (Someone on the forums actually did get it to work right, but they had to do a lot of modding IIRC)

If you are VERY miserly, and want to do a 20 - 25 gallon setup, you can probably get away for 300 for the equipment (Prolly more like 400 but It can be done, once I have more room at my apt Im going to see just how cheap I can do a reef for :) ) The LS/LR and livestock for the tank are going to be the real Huge expense....

Hope this helps
 
I agree with shooter... it's better to be prepared with the right equipment instead of doing it 'good enough' and end up having to replace basically everything you've already bought! Besides, if you have the proper equipment, it makes maintaining the tank much easier! If your filtration is not good enough (bad filter, not enough rock), you are going to have bad water quality, have to do more water changes, possibly have more livestock deaths.

As far as nanos go, in some ways they are more difficult for beginners than a big tank. Water quality (including salinity) changes very quickly and requires a lot more monitoring and water changes.
 
my $30 gal is a 75, no sump, remora pro/w pre box.3 pwr heads,, heater tec 6x54 ho t-5 lighting,salt, salifert test kits ect.. the tank than has a tbs 75 package. this system works great
 
an apropriat aproximation is about $30 -$50 per gallon. I am at the higher range of that for my 90 gal but that is for a full blown reef. For fish only you can spend quite a bit less.
 
All j007dreamer wants is a tank setup with fish..... I've seen three different posts by j007dreamer. doesn't seem to listen to anything... So here goes my advice, DO it get it over with be out of the hobby in less than a year. The only thing that bothers me are the fish and corals that will suffer... You need to listen to what people are saying about slowing down, take your time. Save some money. So when your ready you can get all your equipment at once. set your tank up, wait 2-3 months for rock to cure in. Total time 6-8 months????

Good Luck
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7131309#post7131309 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bobt2
my $30 gal is a 75, no sump, remora pro/w pre box.3 pwr heads,, heater tec 6x54 ho t-5 lighting,salt, salifert test kits ect.. the tank than has a tbs 75 package. this system works great
Click to expand...

You mean $30/Gal, yes?
 
Since when does curing rock take 2-3 months?

You can get 45# live rock from liveaquaria.com for $148.08 and a coralife superskimmer for $88
 
Yeah... and I can rush into a system... Cut corners and have all kinds of fun.... A reef can take a year or more to full mature. Heck you set your tank up with water and fully stock it the same day...

To each his own...
 
I think the best thing you can do right now is wait and read. The simple fact is that $300 just isn't enough to set up a a saltwater tank. There are just too many corners you would have to cut. I recommend spending the next 3 months saving up as much money as you can and reading this site regularly to learn as much information as you can.

Patience is the key to this hobby. If you try to rush things in any way you're going to spend a lot of money and end up with a lot of problems. Right now you need to hold off on buying anything and spend your time learning and saving money. I know it's hard but when you can setup your tank without wasting money or running into problems you'll be glad you did.
 
I have tried to keep costs under control -still more expensive that I expected

Tank & stand $400 (used 90 gal - I had to replace the pump, the sump, and the light fixture)

Light $200 used T5 sunlight system

Pump $ 100 new

Sump $80

extra overflow box $60

protien skimmer $250 (used Euro- reef)

Live rock $300

Live sand$100

R/O $200

livestock - God knows


Good luck

(I love my tank - it is worth it)
 
j, as you can see, there are a lot of people here that are giving you good advice. I tend to agree with most everything that they say, but, after saying that, you can still have a nice, succesful saltwater tank with your $300.00 budget.

I would stay with your 40 gallon tank and not go with the nano, although I know nothing about it. Usually, a bigger tank is better, just a little more room for error. As I said earlier, the biowheel filter is not needed if you use rock and/or sand for your biological filter (which I would do and am doing). If you want it for some mechanical filtration (remove free floating particles in the water) then by all means, buy it.

As far as the counter current skimmer goes, that is older technology, but still works, although you don't see them around much anymore unless they are do it yourself type that are normally quite large.

If you stay with a small bioload, which it sounds like you intend to do and one or two small fish like a small percula clown (my favorite), along with some rock and/or sand, you will have a nice starter tank.

As said earlier, stay away from tangs. They need lots of room to swim, roam around in. 40 gallons is just not big enough.

Remember to take everything you do, slow and easy. When I say slow, I don't mean wait a day or two. Always only add one or maybe two, if they are real small, fish at a time. I would then wait at least 6-8 weeks or more before adding anything other than something like snails or so. Refrain from overstocking (very hard to do).

It sounds to me like you want to do things right. Be sure to read and understand certain things about this hobby. I do agree with sruiz. Don't be discouraged. Read and learn.

Good luck,
Frank
 
I think that 30-50 dollars a gallon is high. It does cost a lot of money though. I have spent about 1500 dollars for my 75g with 29g sump.
 
Come on this is america. Get a 0 interest credit card for a year and max it out and have a super nice full blown system. HA, wouldn't that be fun!!!!!!!!!!!:D :D :eek2: :eek2:
 
Yes, that would be a blast even though my wife is currently asking me to give her my credit card so I can't buy any more reef stuff for a while. :0
 
Create a budget for yourself. Mine is about $100-150 a month and buy the correct things you need as you get the money. I had to run my tank fallow (fishless) for a while until I got the money.

$300 will get you sand, rock, and salt wait till you have more money buy a skimmer and some inverts (they are a blast) wait a while longer get some lighting wait again get some fish (slowly), then useing your budget buy corals little by little.

The end result is, you can get started now, but you wont have a successful reef till about the $500-800 mark.
 
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