How Cheaply Can I Set Up a Fish Tank?

[10 Tanks]

Hello again TFF,

I wanted to see how cheaply I could get the stuff to set up a fish tank.

Went to the local thrift store and found a 50 gallon tank for $20.00.

Found a couple of desk lamps for $5.00 each. New bulbs were another $5.00.

Went to the local water area and found some rocks and driftwood. Cost was about 45 minutes of my time. The stuff was free.

Got a sponge filter online for $7.00.

Found an old, heavy, wooden filing cabinet at the thrift store for $24.00. It will be my tank stand.

Fish will be a dozen or so feeder minnows for $.15 each at the local fish store. Another $1.80. Will get them when I figure out where to put another fish tank. That’s the hardest part! Maybe after all that, it can’t be done. Oh well, the loss is minimal and it was fun finding out how cheaply it can be done.

Total cost: Roughly $70.00.

 

[AlexT]

Enough $$$ left for a high end filter Mr Tanks!

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. After reviewing my post, I found I could omit the sponge filter. The reason being, I don't have an air pump to run it. So, I put on my "thinking cap" and realized I could simply change half the tank water twice weekly and wouldn't need any filtration. The frequent water changes would maintain perfect water conditions, because I only keep a dozen small fish. So, subtract the seven dollars from the total and you have roughly $63.00. Now, that's cheap!

10 Tanks (now 11)

 

[GaryE]

Around here, thrift store prices are way higher.

I have one 10 gallon tank I found curbside on garbage day. It's perfectly fine. I added sand on the bottom ($5). Dollar store acrylic paint did the back black ($1.50). A cover cost me a bit of work, as it was a panel from another throw-away tank that leaked. A grow bulb ($5) in a shop fixture ($5) from a jobber store covers lighting. I made the filter with a V-8 juice bottle ( I have since learned that Costco salsa bottles also make ideal filters, and the main cost there is to my digestive system), and hid it behind free beach rocks. I'm lucky to have a seriously rocky beach across the road.

I needed an air pump, but my fishroom has central air. So I plugged it into that system, a cheat, I guess. I haven't priced diaphragm pumps.
I'm at $16.50.
This is a basement/fishroom tank, so a 2x4 stand holding it and several other tanks cost about $30, wood and screws in, plus painting time.

Fishwise? I didn't want a heater so I stuck with my beloved Aphyosemion killies, happy at 20c. I used some I'd bred, but a pair in the local fish club would auction at around $5-$15, and from them, you can produce as many as will fit.

Old tanks get pitched out surprisingly often. I am leery of large ones, but smaller tanks are the ones people buy to try, and a lot of people get bored or don't want to do water changes and have all their fish die. I've spoken with guys in the USA who go out driving on garbage day, looking for tanks they can repair, or just use. I'm weird and cheap, but not that weird and cheap. I tend to take a look when I pass a garage sale or a thrift store.

Thrift store book sales will surprisingly often cough up excellent aquarium books from the ancient age of paper, btw.

If I intend to keep fish from fast water, or demanding fish, I will use a quality filter. 10 or 11 tanks always pitches for what I see as boring fish (sorry - tastes are individual!), but a lot of fish can be very cheap to set up for, if you aren't thinking showtanks.

Depending on where you live and what local laws say, aquatic plants can be found in... water. Even as far north as I am, hornwort, elodea, Vallisneria and ludwigia are just sitting there in early summer. If it's legal to collect, it's good.

 

[Fishmanic]

You need some kind of filter to maintain beneficial bacteria. A hang on back filter with sponge as media would work best. Or you could use two sponge filters on opposite sides of the tank. You would need a midsize air pump to power them.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I am lucky. I do not want a cheap tank, I want the best I can get and I can afford it. But that said, I do know one very important fact. In the long run, the cheapest solution is usually the one that costs the most. My first canister was an Eheim 2026. I got it over 20 years ago. It has never broken, still runs as quietly as the day I got it. Plus from day one it doubled as my pressurized CO2 diffuser for almost 10 years.

I pushed the CO2 bubbles directly into the filter intake. I would not have tried doing that with any other brand of canister. But I gave up high tech plants and gave up the CO2. The planted tank was a 50 gal. But I upgrade the space to a 75 and just used the Eheim on it with some help from two powerheads with large intake sponges.

The last canister I set up up was about 5-7 years ago. It is filled only with 20 ppi Poret foam which is pricey. But I have only needed to clean it once since it was set up and that took over 3.5 years. I had to wait until I saw the spray bar output slow.

Being around for the 60s and 70s leads me to leave you with an appropriate song:

 

[GaryE]

A low budget tank can be a project. I don't need them either, but I am a cheapskate. Plus it's fun when these projects work.

I disagree with @10 Tanks almost always, but I get what he or she's saying here. Intelligent DIY saves money, if you get the principles of what you're doing. Buying the chepest filter or heater gets you burned. I have some cheap Chinese branded HOBs that were workhorses, and are timing out now at over 12 years constant use - closer to 15, actually. The impellers are wearing out and replacements can't be found. But that is very rare indeed. I have gotten cheap model US filters that barely made 5 years. They were no saving.

A no filtration tank, IMHO, isn't worth having. Swamp fish are uncommon, and I don't think it's ethical to keep non-swamp fish in still water. That's where I see being frugal as being taken a bit too far.

 

[10 Tanks]

You need some kind of filter to maintain beneficial bacteria. A hang on back filter with sponge as media would work best. Or you could use two sponge filters on opposite sides of the tank. You would need a midsize air pump to power them.

Hello. Did my post bring out some real penny pinchers? I love it! So, if you're willing to change most of the tank water a couple of times a week, you'll remove the dissolved nitrogen from the fish waste well before it builds up and harms the few fish in the tank. This is part of saving money. Most of the water is changed so often, a filter of any sort would just be moving water that's already clean.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have had as many as 28 running AquaClear hang-ons. Today it iis more like18. My first was a 200, I still have it. I have bought them new and used. Most of my 100s aka 20s, cost me $9.99 or less. My last was a 500 aka 110, I got used about10 years ago. I had to replace a cheaper part or two. It is still going strong on my 150 gal. I have also had an Emperor 400 before they redid them and an Eheim Liberty 200. Nice filter but too small for most things I need one for.

My first of 3 Eheim canisters which ehad pressurized CO2 bubbled through it still runs silently today. My canisters were not cheap like the ACs. But my very first car was a VW Bug. You could not kill them. Today I runs a lot of air driven Poret foam filters. A few are Hamburg Mattenfilters. I wish I had found this method sooner. I use larger more expensive air pumps, but still diaphragm. I had 2 of the 15s (just sold one) and a 20 of these
https://jehmco.com/html/diaphragm_air_pumps.html#DAPMH8-15

It took me about 15 or 16 years to find Poret and Jehmco. I have done cheap by necessity and I prefer the other way if possible. Breeding some of the plecos pays for it all for me, I am very lucky in that respect. I do the work and they make the money

edited to add the following as I hit post after 10 posted and I did not read it soon enough

10- I have 20 tanks in two buildings and 4 rooms. In the summer it becomes 5-8 more and 5 rooms (one being basically outdoors). There is absolutely no way I can do what you suggest. Most of the folks I know who keep fish ask me why I have so few tanks. I doubt any of them can either.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello again. The post was just a challenge to those who might like another tank, but are short on resources to make it happen other than by omitting pieces and finding pieces that cost next to nothing. I have 11 larger tanks and am wondering where I can possibly put another one. But, I don't go to work any more and I have the time, but lack the space. But, it's so much fun to think about another tank!

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[10 Tanks]

A low budget tank can be a project. I don't need them either, but I am a cheapskate. Plus it's fun when these projects work.

I disagree with @10 Tanks almost always, but I get what he or she's saying here. Intelligent DIY saves money, if you get the principles of what you're doing. Buying the chepest filter or heater gets you burned. I have some cheap Chinese branded HOBs that were workhorses, and are timing out now at over 12 years constant use - closer to 15, actually. The impellers are wearing out and replacements can't be found. But that is very rare indeed. I have gotten cheap model US filters that barely made 5 years. They were no saving.

A no filtration tank, IMHO, isn't worth having. Swamp fish are uncommon, and I don't think it's ethical to keep non-swamp fish in still water. That's where I see being frugal as being taken a bit too far.

Hello Gary. I really wouldn't have any fun if people agreed with me. I appreciate your opinions always. I always check my used tanks. Yes, I've been burned a couple of times, but the loss is very minimal. Tanks with no filters work as well as those with them. My 300 gallon, has no filtration, just a strong aerator. The tank gets a 50 percent water change weekly and the Goldfish are thriving, with new fry last year. This year, I'll keep some Goldfish from a local pond, when they close it down for cleaning. Anyway, you can really do away with some expensive equipment if you'll just change out a lot of water a lot of the time! And, don't forget to keep the food to a minimum.

Keep up the good work!

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[TwoTankAmin]

@10 Tanks

Is your water free? Do you use a pump to get it into the house and or your tanks? I just wonder if there is a cost to changing 50% twice a week beside your time. And then I wonder if what happed to me in late 2019 happened to you. I had a heart attack and was in the hospital for about 10 days and unable to do tank work to any real degree for many weeks after. I was fortunate to be in an aquarium club and a couple of the members showed up several times over about 10 weeks coming every other week. I normally do maint and wc weekly.

I have a private well but it takes electricity to get the water out of the ground and into the house. I am retired and have time to spare. But the least amount of time goes towards water in and out- 50%-60% a week.

But I can get a small storage tote holding 95 quarts for
$23.27 +$0.00 est. tax
Free delivery
AliExpress.com

So there is almost 24 gals. (one can go smaller and save a few dollars)

I can get an air pump used for about another $5-6 Total $29.27
I can scrounge airline for free.
I can splurge on a Poret foam cubefilter (but not shipped) for about $8 Total $37.27
I can get used heater for about another $10 Total $47.27
I can find some sand for nothing or go bare bottom.
I can find wood outside my home- I live in the woods. The same for rocks.
I can use ambient sunlight and room lighting for the tank.
So I can spend let's say $15 for fish at a local club auction and do nicely. Total $62.27
I do not need a stand as I have plenty of places to put the tank already.

But I have no reason to do this. If I got really clever I might even be able to scrounge some of the stuff above cheaper or free.

But i believe in two things strongly which guide me in how I do many things:
1- Anything worth doing is worth doing right.
2- In the long run, the cheapest solution is usually the one that costs the most up front.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello Two. I don't think the water is free, but it's as close to that as you can likely get. Living in Colorado, our mountains get a considerable amount of snow and since we live very close to them, we have a lot of water. I change several hundred gallons of water weekly and my water bill is minimal. Since I retired, I spend a lot of time looking for good deals and working on all my tanks. I've found if you do your homework, you'll find there are a lot of good deals on tank stuff and I have access to water areas, so I never spend money on decorations like rocks and driftwood. Here's a picture of a 75 gallon I put together with nothing but cheap equipment. The tank was on sale and I spent a little on bottom material and I took plants from a "Dump Tank" I keep with stuff from other tanks. The rest was free. All I spent was a little of my time. With a little preparation, a cheap solution can be a very good one.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[GaryE]

The thread was about setting up, not running.

My water is at an unmetered flat rate, and it's good water. So I can do all the water changes I want, without worry. We have no water shortages here - water surrounds us.

I did fewer water changes when I lived where water cost a fair bit. That's something we don't think of in these threads - we forget that other people on the forum don't live next door. We're not as bad as the "Is Johnny's Aquarium a good store?" type threads, when Johnny's store is 8000 km away and no one in the forum crew has ever been to where the poster lives!

Posters here deal with wildly varying energy costs, water costs, water quality, temperatures, distances to good retailers, etc. I have to stop forgetting that.