Thinking about a new hobby...

Hi all, I'm obviously new here and looking forward to "meeting" you all.

I'm thinking about starting a saltwater aquarium and am looking for some advice. First a little background, I have very little experience with freshwater aquariums and no experience in saltwater at all. The little experience that I do have was with a 10g freshwater community aquarium that I kept for about 10 years. Long story short, I lost interest, placed the aquarium in the kids rooms and well as they say the rest is history.

Nevertheless, I've always enjoyed the beauty of a properly kept saltwater aquarium and have always had the desire to build one of my own, particularly a reef aquarium. However, in all honesty, I've always been put off by the cost. Recently though, I've been thinking about it again and reading all that I can online, but the amount of information out there is a little overwhelming at present and I'm still not seeing concrete answers to my questions.

Therefore, before I invest hours more in something that I may not be able to pursue at present, I wanted to ask a few questions here.

One lesson that I learned from the 10g setup is that I do not want to go small again. It's just too much work for very little return, one is just limited in so many ways.

Right now, I'm thinking of building a reef setup in the 75 - 150 gal. size range. Specifically I like the size of the 135g tanks that I have found. To begin with, I would like to have a modest collection of corals and fish. I know that may be getting in too deep too quick but I'm still in the thinking stage right now. Anyway, I do have a couple of questions for now.

1. About what does it cost to operate an aquarium of that size on a monthly basis? I'm especially interested in the cost of electricity.

2. Can someone link me to a list of components that are needed for a 135g. reef setup? I've seen some listing that tell some of the basic components necessary, but I haven't seen anything that specifically stated what size pumps, heaters, etc. that a tank that size would require.

Thanks for all the help, I'm sorry for the length of the post, but hey that's what happens when you run into a :newbie:.

montanafish gal said:

I have no expereince with SW tanks, but wanted to say welcome to AC!

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Thank you!

Ace25 said:

I have a 75G reef... to answer your questions from my stand point..

1. Electricity runs me around $200-$225 a MONTH for my tank. Lights and Chiller being the biggest cost for me. Add $50 a month for a bucket of salt, RO/DI filters, test kits, food, etc... and averaged out probably cost me $350 a month to run my tank. My electricity rates living were I do in California are INSANE though and I can't imagine most others having the rates I have.

2. Unfortunately you are not going to find a direct answer to that question. So many variables and there is no real "right or wrong" answer to equipment. Usually for the size sump you will be told "Get the biggest one you can fit under your stand" as the answer. Return pump on a 135G I would look at around a 950-1200GPH pump of good quality, which will run you around $150-$200 easily. Heaters you usually want 2 of them, just for backups sake, but look at getting the wattage of around 3w per gallon, so 135G you want at least 400w in heaters, or 2 200w heaters. Skimmer, powerheads, etc all add quite a bit to the cost as well. It is not a cheap hobby (Reef), SW Fish Only is a mere fraction of the cost to run (1/10th).

I am extreme with my tank, I put in every penny I have to spare... that said, in the last 14 months I have now spent over $15,000 on my 75G reef. Again, I am the extreme example.

I am not trying to scare you away from going with a reef, and you could probably do just fine with 1/5th the costs I have spent, but it is still an expensive hobby for sure.

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I found your thread last night and you do have a beautiful aquarium! BTW, I wish that I had my system up and going where I could take advantage of your generous offer for coral!

Anyway, on the electricity costs, etc. WOW! I never dreamed that it would cost that much per month. Just out of curiosity can you tell me what your rate for kwh is? Or, how many watts your system consumes? I'm thinking that your electric rates must be crazy compared to mine which is $.0857 per kwh.

Thanks again for the detailed post.

Arturo said:

I would first go with fresh water, if you can handle that after some time then you might think of salt water. Salt water is not imposible but it is time consuming not to mention cost. First think of how much money you are willing to spend then go from there.

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Arturo said:

I would first go with fresh water, if you can handle that after some time then you might think of salt water. Salt water is not imposible but it is time consuming not to mention cost. First think of how much money you are willing to spend then go from there.

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Thanks, that's good advice. However, I have to admit that I'm much more interested in salt water at this time.

Ace25 said:

Dang, yours is only .0857? Mine is .30xx ... yes, that is not a typo. ".30/kwh."

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And here I was just complaining about my measly $150 power bill for the month. If I lived where you did, it would be over $500 per month! Based on a few calculations my power consumption for your system would be about $50-60 per month. Thanks for the information and the encouragement to be thankful that I live where I do.

Anybody have any other advice?