Calculating the costs

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Aquarium1

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So my mom told me that i am allowed to have a nano if I pay for everything. It'll be a while before that can happen, if it even does, but it gives me something to think about and research. I'm either going to do a 10g or a 20g long. I have to figure out what I can afford. What is the equipment I will need to set up a nano and about how much would each cost for a 10 and for a 20 g? What would be the approximate total cost for each without fish or coral? I am also thinking of using frags to save money instead of buying a full grown coral and using some base rock instead of all lr. What are some other good ways to save money? Any help would be appreciated.
 
Well, to be honest, it's going to be hard to sum up and entire cost for you being that a lot of things cost different prices, and sometimes you can get them used for cheaper, and sometimes you can't. I would say however, that in your situation, the lighting will be the most expensive, as always in SW when you are buying lights. Since you're not using a very big tank, whether or not you go with a 20G or a 10G, you will not need a protein skimmer. Simple water changes will achieve the same goal in this case. You will want to have some form of filtration though, so either you can get live rock, which will provide biological filtration, or you can get a HOB filter, which will provide mechanical filtration. Different methods, same results. And you could always do both haha. I personally would go with the live rock. Also, you will need a decent heater for the tank. Generally a good heater for a 10G tank would cost up to 20$, but for a 20G you can assume it would be maybe in the 25-30$ range. If it were me personally, i would save up some extra money and just go with the 20G. You can fit more in there, and it will give you more leniency on the water parameters, versus a 10G. In a reef tank, you want as little water fluctuations as possible, and really that goes for any tank, so having more water volume will give you margin for error. And for the live rock, generally you can go with 1.5-2lbs per gallon, but if your on a budget, i would say that 1lb per gallon could get you by.

You should also start thinking about what you want to have in that tank, as far as livestock goes. It's always best to plan ahead, so you can buy equipment accordingly. For the lights, in this case, i would say to go with PC lighting, since the tanks your thinking of aren't very large, nor deep. So PC lighting would be a good choice for you, and also a good choice to save money, considering they are not as expensive as T5 lights or metal halide lights. And for fish, i would say go with clowns, some gobies, some blennies, and firefish. Those are all great choices when dealing with tanks as small as those.

Buying frags instead of full grown coral is always a great way to save some money, and sometimes you can get them free, or for the price of shipping, if someone is giving them out. Just remember that coral grow, so even if you have a frag, it will become a fully grown coral someday! :D Now here's something else to think about. You may want to consider just saving up the money, and then paying up front and getting a BioCube. Only because it comes with everything you need, to instantly start your SW tank. It may even cost you less money in the long haul as far as equipment goes. And you could get something like the 8G or 14G since they aren't that expensive. Just think, that with all the things you have to buy, you could have saved a little bit of money by just buying a kit with everything needed included. Just something to think about. I mean, if you plan ahead, and you know you can setup your tank for less than one of those BioCubes, then by all means, just go your route.

Anyways, come back here for more answers to your questions, and im excited since you starting a SW! You're going to love it. It's a lot of fun.

Good Luck!
 
I would skip the idea of the complete biocube kits, you are more paying for the name than anything else. I think it is better to piece equipment together. The biocubes don't include a powerhead, heater, etc... HTH.

I would just get 1-1.5lbs. of rock. 1lb. of rock per gallon is plenty for biological filtration IMO. In small tanks, you will need to try to limit yourself on the rock any way so the fish have more room to swim.

I would try T5 HO, you may not be able to keep some of the more light needy SPS with PC, but you will still have a wide range to choose from with PC.

As for an estimation on cost, with the basic setup, no more that $300 for equipment.
 
Wow very great answers. Also how many w does my heater need to be? I'm looking through the equipment on the doctors and on aquacave.
 
For stocking my favorites I've picked out are: clow fish, clown gobies, orange spotted gobies, watchman gobies, fire fish, and banghai cardinals. What's a good clean up crew for a 10/20g tank?
 
Stay away from hermits, if they need a new shell, they will kill your snails. Others may tell you that you can keep extra shells in the tank, that may work, but the problem is that the hermit has to find the shell. Stay away from turbo snails as they are destructive and knock loose live rock and coral over. Maybe 2-4 trochus or astrea for the rock and glass and 3-6 nassarius for stirring up the sand.
 
O yeah almost forgot. What to do about food. I know earlier zer0 told me about frozen mysis shrimp which is a good idea (especially since my lfs don't sell live food) but i don't remember if they sell mysis or not. Is there any prepared foods I could feed them (flakes, pellets, freeze dried)?
 
CUC will pick up uneaten food and algae. The fish can eat pellets. You can feed frozen, just be sure to rinse it before you feed as it will lead to phosphate problems if you don't.
 
Is it ok if I fill it with tap to cycle it? We have an to unit we use for drinking but it has a pretty low gpd I don't know the exacts tho. Also what gph do I want the power head for the dt and for the bucket for salt mixing? Could I use a 25w heater for the bucket and what should the temperature be set to? What pellet brand would you recommend? Are API a good brand for reef test kits. Srry for asking soo many questions I'm just so happy if I can go through with this tank and I want to find out as much as I can.
 
Tap to cycle is fine, just use RO when doing PWCs. Aim for 20x-30x turnover per hour in the DT as for the bucket, just use any old PH lol. 25w for the bucket is fine. I have my tank at 82 constantly. I use Hikari Marine S pellets as I only have small fish. API test kits are great IMO.
 
And (hopefully) the last questions of the night. How much aragonite should I get? Would a hydrometer be ok for checking sg? I heard glass hydrometers were pretty accurate if I could find some.
 
I would just get a refractometer off of ebay, they are only $20 with free shipping (I think). Maybe 10-20 pounds of dry aragonite for a 10g and 20-40 pounds of dry aragonite for a 20g
 
Oops I guess I lied I have another question lol. I see on the side there are 2 refractometers. One says 0-10% the other 0-32%. Which is better? How do you use a refractometer? Once I get the nano I'm thinking of giving my 10g fw to my lil sister and teach her some of the basics. I'll probly still have to do water changes for it tho XD
 
That I am not sure on lol. I'm still using the hydrometer and getting all the headaches from the different readings. Once I/we upgrade, will be getting a nice refractometer though. I'm done for the night, need to sleep.
 
Lol I need to go to bed too. Btw for kicks and giggles I got me a few free catalogs and subscribed to aquacave newsletters.
 
Ok a few more questions. What salt brand do you recommend? Should/Could I use eggcrate under the lr? Should I go with Ebo Jager or a Stealth Heater? Could I use just 1 PH (Koralia) and a filter (Aqua-tech which will hold lr rubble and shrimp while cycling) and maybe put the filter on one side and the ph on the other? Also, how could I build a diy screen/mesh cover so the fish don't jump out? Thanks.
 
Asking what salt brand is best is like asking what football team you should root for. I would just get 2 koralia nano sized PH's for a 20g, but the koralia and the filter will work. Innovator has a link to some plans on those screen things in his signature. IMO, if the fish wants out, a little screen isn't going to stop it by much, JMO though.
 
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