As Green as Green could be!

[jheath8713]

Hi, I'm looking to get into keeping a salt water, fish only aquarium. This would be my first aquarium (other than those little gold-fish bowls everyone has kept as a kid....) I've read several "beginner" books and taken the according notes I think I need to get started. Just as an extremely general question, If I was to set up a 125 gallon tank with good, quality supplementary equipment and systems, including stocking the tank with interesting, beautiful "beginner level" fish, how much could I expect to spend? Secondly, what if I posed the same question but for a smaller tank say 75g?

My research tells me that $3000-3500 should suffice...is that number way off??

Thank You!

 

[melosu58]

Welcome to AA. I would say that you could get it for much cheaper esp. if you were to get it online. Read this article on equipment needs. Also read our article section. It has some great info in it.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/stock-list-and-tips-for-maintaining-your-sw-tank-73477.html

 

[lynxpilot]

i frequent craigslist and often see entire setups for sale dirt cheap. I'd just mind what the system is. I wanted a pre-drilled tank with factory overflows and a lot of people set up fresh or saltwater aquariums without them. Electric stuff like pumps, heaters, and lights, you just take your chances when buying used. I didn't place a lot of value on a system where the price was weighted by fish because I wanted to have established water chemistry before adding fish and a move from seller's house to mine might mean an entire cycle again. I suppose there are alternatives, like LFS babysitting for a few weeks. Sounds like you're doing what I'm doing now. It's been a lot of fun so far and this website is incredibly helpful. I just added my first fish a few days ago after about 5 weeks of break-in. I'm probably still to early with it, but the clowns and tangs seem really happy so far.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

My research tells me that $3000-3500 should suffice...is that number way off??

I don't think it's way off, and for fish only you should be able to come in under that number just fine. It's probably a good budget number when you throw in all the "stuff" you eventually get... the stuff you originally thought you wouldn't need!

Now if you go reef... that's a different story and those numbers are on the low end of things - unless you buy everything 2nd hand.

 

[roka64]

I agree, you have done some great research and I would have gone a little lower for a FOWLR.
The initial set up is the part that costs quite a bit, but the monthly maint isn't bad at all. I buy my salt in bulk from drsfosterandsmith since they don't charge based on weight. Their priced are a bit higher than other site, but for the shipping and service they are great.