Completely new salt water tank user! NEED HELP

bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
I'm Ccompletely new to salt water tanks. I have fresh water but im thinking of getting a salt water tank. I dont want to spend too much money so im looking at 12 and 24 gallon tanks. I want more fish put with the rock i guess its alot more expencive. So i was wondering if any1 could give me links to good buys on this site or not. I aslo would like to no how long it would take and how much it all would cost.
Thanks for your help.
PLEASE REPLY BACK!
Thanks
 
reef46

reef46

Member
Well, Saltwater is ALOT more expensive than fresh. But it is well worth it!!! Best I can say is search the classifieds forum on this site. THere are always good deals from people upgrading and what not. most of all ask lots of questions here before you buy any livestock! and have fun!
 
jonthefishguy

jonthefishguy

Active Member
you are not allowed to post prices and where to buy it (competitors) on here. If it is an individual seeling it thats fine, but you cannot link names and prices to other companies.....get it?
 
rbaldino

rbaldino

Active Member
Originally Posted by bjoe23
Thanks for the info but do you have a price?
How much it's going to cost you depends entirely on what size tank you want and what you want to do with it (fish only, fish only with live rock, reef). Expect to spend a couple hundred dollars at least just to get started.
 
rbrockm1

rbrockm1

Active Member
if you want a 12 to 24g tank i would go with a bio cube or something of the sort. everything is built in and run you around $200-$300 pending were you get it. if you want a reef i would get a 20g long. they are awesome. just make sure you buy what you want the first time. it can get real expensive.
 
L

lsu

Guest
I think the easiest way to get an idea is go to a LFS that you trust and ask about what you will need to get a tank set up(LR,LS, skimmer,tank,test kits, just the basics). I wouldn't necessarily buy the equipment then but it should give you a ballpark idea of what startup costs will be. Your question is hard to answer because the cost will ultimately depend on what you want your tank to be and what you can afford to buy. Livestock and equipment costs can vary from a few dollars to thousands, it all depends on your preference
 
martinc909

martinc909

Member
Trust me. this hobby is expensive. even if you go cheap in the beginning it would end up costing you more money in the long run fixing your cheap equipment. That being said, when irresponsible people decide to get into marine aquariums, they try to go the cheapest way possible and when they realize that they need more money to keep theyre tank going they just quit the hobby all together. so i believe that going cheap here is not a very good idea.
 
murph

murph

Active Member
A fish only twenty gallon long would be a good starter tank and should not be much more expensive to set up than a fw tank of the same size. Added expense will come with the purchase of salt, refractometer, additional circulation, basic test kit, base rock and a small amount of sand substrate (just enough to cover the bottom of the tank)
For a basic fish only setup none of the expensive things you hear of on this forum are necessary i.e. live rock, skimmers, RO units, high wattage light fixtures etc. In years gone by we had none of these things and still kept wonderful fish only tanks.
Most of these high dollar items are geared toward keeping water quality pristine enough to house corals which is something you can work towards after you have maintained a basic fish only setup for some time and have a better idea as to your interest level in the hobby and time and money available to maintain a more complicated system.
 
R

rattler739

Guest
I would say a Fish Only (FO)or a Fish only with live rock (FOWLR) would be best to start with but depending on the fish you want (aggressive or not) you will probably end up with a reef, they are way more expensive but sooooo worth it, the colors and the fun you will have finding new things in the tank almost every day or just watching all of the corals growing, well worth it.
If you want to go cheap i would say go with an all in one system unless you want a bigger, agressive fish tank. that way if you want to start out with a FO or FOWLR then you can, but if you go the tward the reef then you have everything you need. Biocube makes 8g(i think) 14G, and a 29g. but the bigger you go the more stable your tank will be (less work) but then you are going to pay an arm and a leg for all the stuff.
Just research, ask as much as you can, find out what you want and take it slow, there is no such thing as a dumb question. No matter what, as long as you take care of it, you will have fun.
 
zdthompson

zdthompson

Member
our first tank was a 48 and we just did the basics and it was almost $1000
this is a $$$ hobby. Welcome to being broke
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by zdthompson
our first tank was a 48 and we just did the basics and it was almost $1000
this is a $$$ hobby. Welcome to being broke
I 100% agree.
 
petjunkie

petjunkie

Active Member
Well with a smaller tank like that you can't really do much of a fish only. I honestly would start out with at least a 30 gallon, it's more water for stabilty and you could keep four or five fish in it. Live rock isn't a must but it does wonders for filtration, produces food for your fish and gives them a natural habitat. My advice would be spend $50 on books, this hobby is not going to be cheap no matter how you do it and the cheaper you try to make it, the more problems you will have. Plus you may end up spending twice as much upgrading. Spend a few months reading and researching before you jump in and this hobby will be much easier for you.
 
shrimpi

shrimpi

Active Member
After I spent about 3500.00 on my tank, I came to realization that buying USED is alot more cost effective

I would check the classifieds on this site and also your local newspaper.
Check out online classifieds on CraigsList.com. This site is amazing for people selling thier stuff. Locate your area and search for saltwater or reef. For the amount you pay for a 12-24g nano (300.00 or so) you can get a whole set up including pumps, etc. for the same price.
Always go bigger than what you have in mind. Pretty much everyone wishes they went bigger.. except the nano people who love thier mini-tanks

Take your time finiding a good deal and you will save a TON of money.
My Wetdry filter alone cost over 200.00 and all I have is a 44g. buying retail sucks !
Good luck. Hope the mods dont freak about the craigslist thing, its not a competitor its a classifieds by individuals no companies.
 
bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
Ok, thanks alot people for the info
A Couple more questions tho....
If i were to get say the 24g nano tank wat would be the basic stuff i need and if you could give me a ballpark price
 
shrimpi

shrimpi

Active Member
Im not being a jerk here ... but I think you need to get a few Saltwater books or do some surfing of these threads.
There is alot that goes into a tank, as far as filtering etc there are alot of options out there and I think that no one is going to write a huge post about 'the basics' of the entire saltwater setup.
Most nano type systems come with built in lights and filter systems. Please do SOME research. If you were to look up one nano you would see this.
I myself, and many here on the site are here to learn and lend a hand, but they also arent going to take time answering questions like these over someone with a question that may be hard to find the answer to.
Questions like "tell me what I need" and people that post "new to SW tell me all I need to know" gets kinda annoying because they arent doing any work for themself.
This hobby is very detailed and requires alot of reading and troubleshooting- not to mention "time"- get used to that idea.
If you rely solely on others you will indefinetly bomb at this hobby.
 
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