Nesscities On A Budget?

[donny7]

I have about 150 to spend on my 55 gallon what do I need right off the bat? Filter a heater gravel and food right? I'm Doing a fish in cycle. I'm foregoing hoods and lights for he first two weeks cause there very expensice. Keeping his short and sweet.. im on my phone and its laggy.

 

[KittyKat]

Why fish-in? It's way more bother than fish-less and in the end, you'll have to spend more on dechlorinator than on the ammonia. To top that off, your fish are likely to die which, if you don't care about their health, costs more because you'll need to replace them. Also you shouldn't use lights for a fish-less cycle anyway, so that would be one worry less for the time being if you change your mind.

Here are the must haves:
* liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH (most important)
* filter
* heater
* dechlorinator
* plants (from my personal point of view)

Should haves:
* substrate (aquarium gravel or playsand)
* lights

 

[OldMan47]

The basics you will need are a filter, a liquid type water test kit, a dechlorinator and water. After that you will need food suitable to the fish you keep and a cover to reduce evaporation. The cover can be as simple as a sheet of glass from the hardware store. If your fish cannot thrive in your typical home temperature, a heater would be great to have but I have many of my own tanks running without artificial heat.