# How Much Would This Cost?



## ianeberle (Aug 11, 2012)

I currently have a 36 gallon freshwater aquarium and love it, but I have put a couple hundred dollars into it just in the last four months buying new fish, substrate, new plants, etc.

I am looking to add a saltwater tank to my room as well. I'm looking to do something small (probably about 10 gallons) because they are expensive to buy, maintain, and provide fish, so something small would be more inexpensive.

Basically, I'm wondering if I need a special aquarium or if one of the 10 gallon kits found on Amazon or Walmart will do okay. Also, do I need a special filter? What would the cost be to get a tank looking like the one on this video: 10 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium Update #2 7/26/09 - YouTube.

I'm not opposed to buying a used tank on Craigslist to save money, but I need a reasonable estimate of what it would cost.

As for fish, I'm looking to get a pair of clown fish (aren't they necessary in every reef tank?  ) and possibly a third small fish as well.

Thanks and I appreciate it!


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

#1-Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhikers on Live Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way you go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon.

#2-Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter) Which is really not necessary.

#3-Multiple Power heads (2 or 3) 10x your water volume for just a Fish Only With Live Rock, and at least 20x your water volume for a Reef Tank. So lets say your going reef, and you have a 100g tank, you would need flow in that tank at minimum of 2000gph, or 2 1000gph power heads.

#4-Protein Skimmer, rated at 2 times your water volume. Unless your tank is under 30g, in which case you can do 10% water changes a week to rid the system of detrius. But, you'll have to watch the water parameters close, if things go haywire, you'll have to do more water changes.

#5-Saltwater Test Kits. Reef Test Kit. Test for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, Phosphates, Calcium, ALK and Magnesium.

#6-Saltwater fish food. Mysis Shrimp, Squid, Cyclopease, Algae Sheets, Romaine . Flake food is not really a good food to feed your marine fish.

#7-Aquarium vacuum. This one is iffy. Most don't use one, if you have enough flow in the tank you won’t need one

#8-Rubber kitchen gloves

#9-Fish net

#10-Two, clean, never used before, 5-gallon buckets

#11-Aquarium thermometer, digital being the best.

#12-Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock if you don't get Fully Cured Live Rock.

#13-Power Strip, possibly GFCI outlets by the tank.

#14-Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water, and a barrel for storing the water.

#15-Possibly a Quarantine Tank for your new fish. They sit in here for a few weeks to kill off parasites and bacteria, to keep it from getting in your main tank

#16-Heater rated for your size tank.

#17-Saltwater Mix. Marine Salt. Instant Ocean is the cheap Salt that beginners and Advanced use alike.

#18-Saltwater Hydrometer or even better a Refractometer, which is more accurate. There is also a Digital Meter that is way advanced if you have the cash.

#19-Aquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, or GFO and such)

#20-Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed coral. Some go bare Bottom, others choose the 2-3" bottom, others, more advanced will try the Deep Sand Bed, which is over 6" deep.


You can use the 10g tanks from Petco, Petsmart, Walmart.


----------



## ianeberle (Aug 11, 2012)

Wow, that's a lot of stuff, but most of it looks pretty inexpensive (ie the buckets, net, etc).

If I were to purchase the 14 gallon version of the tank I have linked to below, what more would I need to buy since it's practically a starter kit.

Coralife BioCube PC/LED Fish Tank at PETCO

Also, could I house two clownfish in that particular tank?


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

14lbs of Live Rock or Macro Rock. 1-2" sand bed. Powerhead rated at either 50gph or 150gph. That's it for the tank itself, and yes most put clownfish in those tanks.


----------



## ianeberle (Aug 11, 2012)

Thank you so much! I will definitely look into this particular tank because I was looking to spend about $300 to start up a saltwater tank. As it looks now, the tank will cost $200 from Petco, the powerhead around $30, the rock around $45, and two clownfish around $13 each. That's $301 right there. What kind of sand would I need? Do I need anything else?


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Refractometer (hydormeter)
Marine Salt
SW Test Kit
Thermometer
Sand bed would be your choice. Something along these lines. Fish & Aquarium Supplies: Marine Substrates, Sand, Crushed Coral, Live Sand


----------



## rogue909 (Sep 14, 2012)

I've been looking at a lot of the salt water setups and Ive noticed that a lot of people like to DIY. I'm a huge fan of it myself but I am curious as to how much money it actually saves. Have a look at it and consider making some of the parts yourself.


----------



## lkfishy (May 13, 2012)

Watch out it is very easy to become addicted to these beautiful marine tanks, and you will soon want a bigger one! Haha, I'm still justifying taking down a 5 month old 20 gal set-up (that wasn't necessarily cheap) to put up a bigger and thus more expensive one... It's so worth it though  And ocellaris clownfish are awesome, they really are little clowns, very entertaining and cute.Good luck!


----------



## roafamily (Jul 30, 2012)

lkfishy said:


> Watch out it is very easy to become addicted to these beautiful marine tanks, and you will soon want a bigger one! Haha, I'm still justifying taking down a 5 month old 20 gal set-up (that wasn't necessarily cheap) to put up a bigger and thus more expensive one... It's so worth it though  And ocellaris clownfish are awesome, they really are little clowns, very entertaining and cute.Good luck!



yes you are right i got a 30 gallon tank right now and saw a ad for a 100 gallon tank for 250 with the stand sand fish and other goodies.


----------

