Trying to get a price estimate...

Man i admire the fact you want to start one at age 13.. but its to expensive and actually can become time consuming.
Is maintaining a SW set-up extremely difficult or much more difficult than FW or BW? the answer is yes especially if you have corals. i mean its not incredibly hard but at age 13 when your parents are up your *** all the time i cant see it happening...

Honestly man i would take some money you can each week or whatever and put it off to the side and save up for a couple years.. its not worth starting a small inexpensive SW tank becuase it can be stressfull on you but even on the fish becuase they are not getting the right supply's to take care of them... the good stuff is expensive and im a broke 18 year old working two jobs so i can have these things.
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I have been saving up for my fish tanks for years, and if I have to spend a lot of money on this I know I can (although not all of it!) Because I have a lot of birthday money and savings in the bank. :( I really wanted to do a smaller FOWLR, I'm still thinking about it though (nothing is definite)... I know that my mom thinks SW would be great, she's only worried about the costs.

Just save and be paitent.. reefs as awsome as they are not something to rush at all and thats one thing i know for fact! plus youll be happier in the long run when you have upwards of 700 dollars to start a nicer tank man!
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I'm definitely not going to go for a reef, it's just too hard for me, lol... I also already have upwards of 700 in the bank for this :o I'm still working on research, and the final decision will really be made once I can get a grasp on the total cost. Hopefully a trip to the LFS this weekend! :)

and fo is not a term lol i believe you need live rock.. itd be hard to have a tank without it becuase it does alot of the filtering.. so even if you dont want corals you would still need a FOWLR setup.
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Oh ok, I heard it on a website and I thought it sounded a bit odd, lol...:shakehead:

ok for my noob question what is ro di water im guessing one in deionized what is ro ?
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ro = reverse osmosis
it's basically water that has around 95% of the mineral content removed from it...
 
QUOTE=aquanooby;2110920]ok for my noob question what is ro di water im guessing one in deionized what is ro ?[/QUOTE]

RO stands for revers osmosis.

setting up a tank that size can be cheap if you have some diy skills or you know somebody that does. almost all of the equipment on a tank can be built. of course your going to have to spend money on test kits and stuff like that but you can find deals on anything. i dont think anyone is going to be able to give you an axact number on what your going to spend though
 
New question time!

-I know that 5" is considered a deep sand bed, but would 4" work? I measured on the tank and 4" leaves more swimming room (which I'm going to need in the there).
-If I have 1-1.5lbs of live rock, do I still need a filter?
-Can I use the lights I have now since I'm only doing a FOWLR? (I have a 15w flourescent tube)


Here is a partial list of fish I have compiled for my tank size (I still have a bunch of fish that I need to find min. tank size on)... if there are any others that I've missed let me know! Some of them have 20g as the minimum tank size, but I'm posting them anyway so I can find out if they will be alright in a 15g long (since the tank sizes are pretty close together) (P.S.- Some of them are hyperlinked to a picture so I can remember what they are, lol):

Diadema Pseudochromis
Tank Size: 20g
Banggai Cardinal
Tank Size: 20g
False Percula Clownfish
Tank Size: 10g
Yellowbelly Damsel
Tank Size: 20g
Neon Dottyback
Tank Size: 20g
Springeri Dottyback
Tank Size: 20g
Green Clown Goby
Tank Size: 10g
Barbershop Shrimpgoby
Tank Size: 10g
Yellow Watchman Goby
Tank Size: 20g
Royal Gramma
Tank Size: 20 gallon
Chalk Basslet
Tank Size: 20 gallon
Black and Yellow Blenny
Tank Size: 15 gallon
Two Spot Blenny
Tank Size: 15 gallon
Two Spot Bimaculatus Blenny
Tank Size: 15 gallon
Ocellaris Clownfish
Tank Size: 10 gallon
Pink Skunk Clownfish
Tank Size: 20 gallon
Tomato Clownfish
Tank Size: 20 gallon

I know that's a lot at once lol, sorry bout that, but thanks! :)
 
Looks like you got it figured out. I am saving to start a floating reef but I just got a 75 for FREE. :)
 
buy more live rock if you can afford it i have a 29g and i have 30lbs of live rock and 30lbs of live sand plus a marineland 400 filter yea yea i know hobs arent the greatest but i diddnt have the money for a canister
 
Finally the results of my price research! Here's what everything comes down to at my LFS (and other places if stated):

20lbs Live Sand: $22.99
Hydrometer (from petsmart): $7.99
Marine Salt Mix (7.5lb box): $10.49
Protein Skimmer/Filter (2-in-1): $39.99
RO/DI Unit: $50
~RO/DI Water: $0.50/gal
Test Kit (from Amazon): $21.95
Live Rock (from craigslist): $30-45

TOTAL (excluding RO/DI): $103.39

And now, for the fish/clean-up crew; These prices are only from my LFS, and it's only the fish from my list that they had in stock:

CLEAN UP CREW

Hermit Crabs: $1.99
Cerith Snails: $1.99
Nerites: (I have some that I can possibly acclimate to SW, I still need an answer on this one)
Cleaner Shrimp: $29.99

FISH

Banggai Cardinal: $19.99
Occelaris Clownfish: $19.99
Springeri Dottyback: $54.99
Green Clown Goby: $12.99
Royal Gramma: $19.99
Firefish: $39.99
*Blue Damsel: $4.99
(*unsure if these would work but I thought they were very pretty!)

So that's my current research status as of now, lol. Thoughts? Any fish reccomendations or suggestions? (I also still need some comments on the fish list in my above post!)
 
you can't put all that fish in 15g tank, and not at once either. also, i wouldn't keep a firefish with a clown in such small space. no to damsel. also, i wouldn't buy cleaner shrimp for couple of months.
 
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