Starting up

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polocrosseplyer

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Apr 21, 2006
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I'll move this if this is the wrong place to put it...

I want to know the start up costs of having a saltwater aquarium - i just have a 10 gal fw right now, but i have the money for probably a 30-60gal tank, and the boyfriend wants it SW.
I'd like to know if it is really more expensive to set up a sw tank over a fw or if both even out?

and if he buys a SW puffer is that all he can keep in there?

Thanks guys, and let me know if I need to relocate this post!
 
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I am not going to look up prices but here is the checklist I would go with:
Tank
Sand for bottom
decorations inside of tank (or liverock)
lighting - basic florescent if just doing fish
filtration system - can go canister or wet/dry depending on tank that you have and space.
pump for filter


misc:
protein skimmer for additional filtration (optional)
heater
thermometer
chemical test kit
Hydrometer
power strips
timers (optional)

For on-going maintenance, You will need carbon if your nitrates are high, food, and salt water mix (or purchase your salt water). As always, with saltwater you will never use tap water. Water should always come from a good reverse osmosis machine.

I have no experience with puffers. I do know they usually eat live foods. I would first check to see if a 60 gallon is big enough as it seems like that would be kind of small for them.

I hope this is a start.

Mike
 
Well, my 29g cost me $600+(I stopped keeping track of it at this time) including fish, but my skimmer is inadequete IMO and so is my lighting, and I found the tank at a yard sale($20 with stand). It's probably into the $700 range by now. I can say from expierence, that you will spend at least a few hundred dollars more than you plan on.
 
saltwater tanks DEFINETLY cost more than freshwater tanks. ( :OT: P.S. you might con sider getting a few more tetras.)
 
I only have 3 tetra's because i lost 2 and I was going to move 3 hours away but now i'm staying and i can get more. Thanks for the info everyone!!!!! I knew saltwater would be out of the questions right now. We are also looking into the dwarf puffers.. which are not fw but brackish right? or should i be posting in the brackish forum?
ps:
he wants puffers(dwarf), i want cichlids or gouramis and schooling fish.... i'm thinkin i'm gonna have to buy two tanks....!!! eeeeek!
 
Drawf puffers are completely freshys. So are figure 8 and many other puffers.


Well, here's a possible compromise, you wan't cichlids, he wants saltwater fish. Rift lake cichlids have colours wich rival almost all marine fish.
 
thanks dorkfish, i'm gonna move this to fw for my other questions now!!!!
 
Hey, don't give up so easily. You can have a nice little salt water tank for the basic cost of the same freshwater tank plus a couple of extra items.

Roth pretty much hit it on the head with his stuff. But, most of that stuff, you would buy for fresh water, too, so you are not paying a whole lot of extra money.

Your extra cost comes from having to add salt to the water and the cost of the fish. Marine fish usually cost 3-4 (my guesstimate, no facts) times more than freshwater. But you can start off with an inexpensive small clown or the like. Not too expensive at all. I would try and talk him out of a puffer and go with something smaller/easier to keep (although I have never kept a puffer).

My list for a fish only sw tank would be:
1: tank/stand (unless you have something to put it on)
2: lighting
3: salt
4: power filter
5: heater/thermometer
6: hydrometer to measure your salinity
7: water dechlorinator

You could also add sand (playsand?) and rocks (lace/tufa) if you wanted or other decorations. As you can see, the list is not a whole lot different than a list for freshwater aquariums. If you use sand and rock for you filtering needs, then you can do without the power filter.

Where it does get expensive is with the other things you add/buy, i.e., test kits, nicer, more expensive fish and corals. Then you need to upgrade (with corals) your lighting. You will eventually want an R/O system, a protein skimmer, etc., etc.
That is when it really starts to get expensive. But a lot of this can be added later.

Sorry for the long answer. If you do decide to go saltwater, then be sure to read a lot and ask a lot of questions here.

Frank
 
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