General Question About Starting A Sw Tank

[mandy82]

Hi, I have had a fw tank for about a month and I'm wanting to move onto a sw tank (with great persuasion from my husband). I do realize that it's a hell of a lot more stuff to learn, and from what I've read so far, it's best to start with about a 75 gal. Generally how much does it cost to start a sw tank without adding in the cost of fish? A rough estimate is okay...that's all I'm really looking for.

 

[fishyguy43]

6 months into my 55 gallon with sump and im out almost out $1,500 by now thats including fish rocks and a few corals though.

 

[mandy82]

omg...thanks for the info.

 

[steelhealr]

And that's not adding up marine maintenance. SH

 

[mandy82]

I figured as much...I've been telling my hubby IT'S EXPENSIVE and he didn't believe me. FW tanks are nothing compared to sw. Maybe one day when money isn't too big of an issue we can get into it. Thanks!

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Yep the equipment is just more complex because the water itself is more complex. I too only kept fw for about a month before, out of curiosity, started researching sw, and found out that i would love it much more than fw, and thankfully my parents could afford it lol. But so far including 2 powerheads, RO system, protein skimmer, filter, 6 fish and 11 corals, its been a little over $2100 for a 75 gallon. And salt of course

 

[crazyelece]

I have figured a good rule of thumb for estimating the cost before any livestock is usually 10x the tank volume. So for say a 75 gallon tank - roughly $750 dollars. And it just goes up from that estimate depending on how complex you want to go.

 

[steelhealr]

A minor example. I have a 24G nano tank. To make math easy, let's just say I have to change 5 gallons per week. One bag of Reef Crystals salt mix has salt for 50 gallons. So, one bag lasts 10 weeks. You need 5 -6 bags a year. That's almost $100 a year in salt mix alone not counting if you are buying your RO water or a filter to make it. Without water costs, my filter on Ebay was about $80. So, not counting water costs from the tap...$200/year right off the bat to make SW. SH

 

[dawhits]

hey,
I realize that I have had some luck in my cost's. I got a 55g tank for my bday but you can find them free on craigslist if your in the states or other classifieds ads everywhere else. My uncle is a marine biologist and he was telling us about some other biologists in his office who keep tropical setups from the water in Alaska, I though about this and decided to try it. We have a place where the water comes into the sound and forces cold mixed water from the bottom of the sound to the top and the water is very clear and very good quality as long as it hasn't rained too much recently. I test all the water before putting it in the tank. and filter it through a coffee filter then boil it to sterilize it(this also makes it less shock for the fish). That is how I avoid the saltwater costs. I bought my live rock on ebay at $3.00 lbs and got 25lbs to start out. I spent $10.00 on damsels. I had an extra hang on back filter and powerheads from all my freshwater stuff. I won't talk about fish costs here cuz that was a disaster. but for just the basic setup I have only spent about $150
-erik

 

[Sunny.C]

I have just starting my 55gallon with a sump, it's cost me $1200au so far no fish or live rock included yet.