# It's expensive to keep some coral reef



## WinterLiu (Mar 31, 2012)

some people told me, if you want to keep some coral and fish, you have to have a suitable tank, some lights, and food, and this and that, you have to spend at least $500,lol, for me , It's really not cheap, should work harder~~~~*r2


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

I've been hearing a lot of _"$ cha-ching $"_ lately too. *H2


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

Believe me, if you get deep enough into freshwater you can end up spending a fair amount of cash as well. Plants, lights, Co2 systems, better filtration setups honestly I am surprised my wife hasn't murdered me yet!


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## Scottyb442 (Dec 30, 2011)

No such thing as a cheap hobby. the more you get into any hobby the more you are gonna spend.


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## Aquatic Castle (Jan 11, 2012)

It's easy to spend way more than $500 on salt water tanks. That said, I helped my brother set one up for a bit less than that. He has a 10 gal tank which you can pick up for less than $20, a set of t5 lights from an odysea light for less than $60, a Finex 360 (you might consider an aquaclear and macro algae as a hang on refugium) filter for less than $40, and some sand for $20. A hydrometer for $8. $20 for a Milwaukee PH600. 

$20 for a bag of reef salt, reef buffer for less than $6, phytoplex for $13, marine food for $10, $2 for calibration fluid for the Milwaukee ph600.

Fish, you can get some damsel fish for $4 or $6 each. They are aggressive and will try to kill new fish. Just buy them all at once and only get a few. Make sure they are about the same size.--5 for $25. 4 coral frags for $100. 

Rocks, you can add rocks a bit at a time but to start you will probably want one live rock $20 and some dry rock $25 to start. If you were buying more than frags for the coral, you could buy all dry rock. Larger coral would come on live rocks. 



So that's,

$168 in equipment and sand. 
$111 for consumable stuff
$45 for rocks
--------------------------
$324 spent within about a month or two to get you started. 

There are probably a few things i forgot. The $500 seems pretty realistic for a minimalist tank but that is an expenditure over about 3 months. His 10 gal tank looks quite nice too. He hasn't even put coral in it yet. He set it up like 3 months ago. 

Another thing to consider. These are prices for all new equipment. There are often deals on craigslist for cheap used stuff. I recommend you stay 30 gal or less though because a larger tank will be more costly to maintain and to stock.


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

i bought a little two gallon a while ago. a little live rock rubble, a couple different kinds of algae, and a few frags later and i have a mini "reef" tank for under 100. 
it even has its own reverse photo chamber.

havent found a fish small enough to put in there yet. so far, its just a couple sexy shrimp.


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## SnakeBlitz33 (Sep 1, 2011)

The mony for me is second to the health of my aquariums inhabitants. All i have is time. So i get to save up here and there for a long time while i research the equipment i need to have a healthy tank. 

Believe me, ive spent some money- but i also enjoy my hobby.


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## filiate (Jun 11, 2012)

i get to preserve up here and there for years while i research the devices i need to have a normal and balanced container.


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