cost

[iwantareef16]

about how much does it cost to set up a sw tank

[RMPD109]

What size tank are you interested in? What type(FO, FOWLR or Reef)?

[Jason]

set up or fill up? sometimes people switch those words around a lot.

set up - not a lot.
fill up - a whole lot.

good lights are the most expensive part IMO.

[captivereefs]

a standard fish only is pretty cheap. If you add live rock figure about another $5--$6 per lb of liverock and you need abut 1 lb per gallon for most liverock. A reef ready to house corals and fish you can figure on at least $25-35 per gallon as a pretty accurate estimate.

[Devilishturtles]

Agreed. It all depends on the type of set up you want and the cost of things to put in it.

Live rock and lighting are the most expensive things for setup, IME, but the cost of those vary too. I think captivereefs estimate is pretty accurate.

[grimlock3000]

Here is the cost breakdown of my 15g tank. This stuff adds up quick!

$35 tank
$65 stand
$10 glass top
$40 aragonite substrate
$150 live rock (bought locally)
$130 pc light fixture
$160 skimmer (highly reccomended)
$15 maxijet
$15 minijet
$15 heater
$75 clean up crew (about $2.50 each locally, 30 critters total)
$50 marine test kits
$30 salt mixing bucket + heater + powerhead to mix water
$5 siphon
$15 salt mix, save money by buying this is larger quantities
$20 light timers (i have 2)
$5 power strip
$10 mag float
$5 kalk mix
$50 fish
---
$890

[the21kid]

Ugh..not sure I want to do this but I will try...this is for my 180. It's been a while so I might be guesstimating or totally off.

2 Overflows $ 300
33gal Wet/Dry $300
Mag 18 water pump $200
ETSS Reef Devil Skimmer $250
Inline Check Valve $35
2" Black Sand Bed $50
200 gal Salt Mix (just for start up) $50
Artificial Reef Ornament $150
2 Steath Heaters $30
402 Powerhead $35
2 PC's $150
Black Background $15
New Glass Tops $32
Penn Plax Back up Pump $15
110gal RO/DI $115
SW Master Test Kit $40
12' 1 ID tubing $20
Zoe, Zoecon, Garlic, Prime, TLC and some others $65
Stocking $250

If that's everything (which it may not be) Total is $1902...keeping in mind that I am NOT doing a reef

Be back later....need to go cry

[the21kid]

Thank goodness I got the tank, stand and canopy for FREE..ZERO....NADA

[quarryshark]

Cost....I don't even want to think about it.

[the21kid]

Yeah I looked at grimlocks post after I posted to see if I missed anything...I did....

Trashcans/Buckets....another powerhead for those...power strip...timer power strip (which I love and highly recommend)...siphon and gravel vac....YEESH

[ellisz]

I agree with quarry... I would rather not know. My wife keeps threatening me that she is going to add it up one day!

I keep looking at a 125 to replace my 75 too

It is a good hobby but it is not cheap and it can be time consuming too!

[quarryshark]

I agree with quarry... I would rather not know. My wife keeps threatening me that she is going to add it up one day!

LOL, my wife is always (with a slightly sarcastic tone) telling people that I have spend $10,000 on the "stupid fish tank". She is way off ...................I think 8O

[JamesR]

LOL.................I can't believe how much the stuff adds up, it's unbelieveable. If $ is a factor, perhaps one of the 12Gal (and they make 24Gal now) nano cubes would be a good start. You keep the cost down and still have a nice little setup.

Jim

[revhtree]

The only problem with starting with a nano is that if your new to sw, which I believe the original poster was, then starting smaller will be a lot harder to maintain. Nanos IMO are for more experienced hobbiest. In something so small, when something goes wrong, it goes bad quick.

[Phyl]

my wife is always (with a slightly sarcastic tone) telling people that I have spend $10,000 on the "stupid fish tank".

So you figure it must be much more than that, huh? I have to guess (and I don't dare know for sure) that I've easily spent 4.5k in under 3 months on this addictive hobby. I could *very* easily spend another 2500 (more light, associated chiller, calcium reactor et al, more power heads for the tank, refugium parts ...) and I'm only running a 120. With a 210 I'd be *dangerous*!

[ellisz]

I keep telling my wife that it is almost done and won't require was much attention. For some reason it never happens. I have to believe it will be one day though. It is hard to be a perfectionist is this hobby.

[quarryshark]

I keep telling my wife that it is almost done and won't require was much attention

ROTFLMAO, your wife and mine could have a great (you know what) session about us. I tell mine basically the same thing.
"Hon", it's set now. Just need to buy a little salt and food every month".
As I'm holding a bag of snails behind my back.

[phishead]

After reading all of these posts, it seems safe to say that if money is a concern, you should not start. I just wish that I had done this kind of research first.

[Devilishturtles]

ROTFLMAO, your wife and mine could have a great (you know what) session about us. I tell mine basically the same thing.
"Hon", it's set now. Just need to buy a little salt and food every month".
As I'm holding a bag of snails behind my back.

LOL, qshark.

My rents are like...."you spent how much?"

I got my tank and stand for free, thankfully. And plan on buying about another $100 worth of 'useless crap' (from the point of view of some) this weekend.

Ahh..it's great.

[iwantareef16]

i have a 75 and a 55 for my sump but i might sell or not (i need the money but expensive to by new tank but i have fond deals in the newspaper)i have no clue. I am just conctrateing on my future new pondthats if a sell the two tanks. (i have the liner and 125 preformed tub that has been set up for the past two years and a very great deal on a liner a 10by 15 foot liner for only 50 bucks! got it on a going out of bussiness sale from franks) i want to do a fowlr at the start but after a year or so i want to add one or two corals

As you can tell i dont have a job and need one real bad and want other things(laptop). Sorry for gettin of topic.

In time that deal will come everytime i look in the paper the sw tanks for sale are always like 700 to 1500 bucks Got the 55 ga with everything for 95 bucks and the 75 gal with everything for 150 bucks