I have often thought about starting a saltwater aquarium, can someone give me information on how difficult they are to maintain, what is the minimum size tank required and overall cost involved. I currently have a 29 gallon freshwater aquarium. i appreciate any information given, jerry557
Trying to think back to when I was a newbie…what I should have known comes to mind.
Initial Start Up Costs will vary depending on your choices.
Fish Only
Fish with soft corals
Complete Reef Garden
I can list many ways to start off but it really depends on “what you want in the end”. The other problem is there really is no end in this hobby. I started off with 10 gallon that had one clown and anemone for kicks. Now I have a 72 gallon Reef Tank. See where that got me? =)
Basic purchase:
Tank, Lights, Filtration, Heater, Substrate, Water Chemistry Book for Marine tanks,Quality Test kits, and Salinity measurement tool. OH forgot Power Heads for flow.
You have the tank covered …
Filtration:
Live Rock or Dead Rock and cure it in the cycle (dead to live during cycle will save you cash).
Skimmers for coral tanks recommended ..Fowlr you can get away with not having it. I still recommend skimming.
Estimated costs:
Live rock is at 10.99 lb for me locally. Dead base rocks are 1.99 lb
Skimmers: 150-250 for some good hang off the back skimmers or sump based. Could spend more but we are trying to save you money and not have you buy junk either.
Lights:
That is dependent on your tank style choices. Fowlr can get away with simple lighting which is not very costly at all.
You choose to have corals and photosynthetic life (Anenome) you will have to invest in some good lights.
Estimated Costs:
Basic Light with Compacts you are probably looking at 50 bucks counting the hood and lights.
Power Compacts: 100-200 dollars
High end lighting Like Metal Halides: 300+ dollars
Substrate: Barebottom, Sand, Crushed Coral…I would say Fine Sand… but that’s me.
Estimated costs: 20 bucks for the sand for a 29 gallon tank..rough estimate.
The other part of this equation will you have a SUMP or NOT. This is important because adding a sump is very beneficial but comes with more costs to set that up also. You can go without a sump and add one later. It’s not a must but does require more purchases of things.