HOW MUCH?

[Discus]

i am thinking of setting up a marine tank how much do you think it is going to cost me i only want a small tank as i dont have that much space in my house.

thanks

 

[Navarre]

How long is a peace of string?
It really depends on the size of tank, type of filtration and the type of marine tank you want.

If you choose a fish only tank then its cheaper as the lighting required is not specialised.
A reef tank will require T5s or probably Halides (much more expensive).

Size of tank? I have a 100 gallon tank (130 gallon setup) and i feel this is not a large tank. I know people with 200-500 gallon tanks

The average size tank for most beginners in the Uk is 180 liters/40 gallons This is considered one of the larger sized small tanks.

 

[Discus]

I want a sensible size tank for fish and maybe some coral

 

[hyrookin]

I would say that a 55 gal. is a good starting point providing you have the
space.but as navarre said it is too broad to put a solid figure to.
but starting out with a reef will raise the costs big time compared to
a fish only, which can be set-up fairly cheap, as long as you understand
what you are doing.with corals come high-end lighting,lots of live rock and
live sand,a quality protein skimmer(a must in a reef set-up, optional in fish-only)
just to start.

 

[Navarre]

My 40 gallon (uk gallons) cost me over £1100 to setup for a reef.
I know this can be done far cheaper as iused a Juwel Tank (expensive when compared to others). I had a large amount of live rock and a Prizm Skimmer (i no longer use this and i dont feel its necessary in a new tank.. later on it may well be). T8 lights and external filter, oh and a UV.


Juwel Tank & Stand £600 (alot of cash but i wanted a tank fromthe juwel range)

T8 Lights £100 (fine for soft corals)

30kg Live rock £300 (the best filter you can buy)

Prizm Skimmer £120 (these can be got cheaper and there are better skimmers for the money)

External Filter £80 (Not really needed but useful for flow and storage for carbon etc)

 

[Discus]

If it is going to costs too much I would be happy to just keep fish and maybe upgrade it in the future.

p.s. Thanks for the help it is really helping

 

[Navarre]

Fish only wil be cheaper but only by the price of the lights. You will still need the live rock skimmer etc. So i guess you will save yourself £50 as you will still need some form of lights to show the fish off.

 

[jimdogg187]

i spent $2000 bucks starting my 50 gallon reef, and i still havent upgraded to metal hailides. sw is not a cheap hobby but, for me, it's worth the money. with regards to my 125 gallon fish only, i got the tank from a friend, and probably dropped another 2 grand into setting up properly.

 

[Discus]

If it is only £50 them I might as well go for the whole lot

p.s. any online shops recommended

 

[Navarre]

Are you from the UK?

 

[Discus]

yes