Discouraged!

[moosubi]

When all was added up, the Red Sea Max Nano is a great deal. You can even get it tank only. I don't like the fact that it's difficult to upgrade, but it's a good price on a quality tank. All you'd need is rock and sand and you're golden

[spectra]

3 minutes ago, moosubi said:

When all was added up, the Red Sea Max Nano is a great deal. You can even get it tank only. I don't like the fact that it's difficult to upgrade, but it's a good price on a quality tank. All you'd need is rock and sand and you're golden

 

Yup local store has them for 600 or so............maybe 699 cant remember........

[moosubi]

Just now, spectra said:

 

Yup local store has them for 600 or so............maybe 699 cant remember........

Yeah, $200 for the stand, so I think 699 tank only. I almost bought one, but decided on the sump life.

[spectra]

4 minutes ago, moosubi said:

Yeah, $200 for the stand, so I think 699 tank only. I almost bought one, but decided on the sump life.

 

I like sumps to......................

 

But actually have a couple AIO also............................

[moosubi]

Just now, spectra said:

 

I like sumps to......................

 

But actually have a couple AIO also............................

Trying to convince the wife to let me get another AIO  She trumped that with saying she wants a 120g peninsula. Time to start saving!

[zohar78]

ooooooo...     120g pen...    ooo possibly pen drop off?

[moosubi]

Just now, zohar78 said:

ooooooo...     120g pen...    ooo possibly pen drop off?

To be determined, lol. I'm partial to shallow reefs. 

 

To OP: it's an expensive hobby, there's no getting around that. But there are definitely more budget friendly options popping up! Start with a FOWLR, then go from there. 

[spectra]

8 minutes ago, moosubi said:

Trying to convince the wife to let me get another AIO  She trumped that with saying she wants a 120g peninsula. Time to start saving!

 

Red Sea has them now just saying

[zohar78]

The cost does seem to be a more upfront, with recurring cost being little but still diming you to a slow death.

[ReefWeeds]

I'm going to get flack for this but go with the API Saltwater kit. For the foreseeable future, you're not going to need super accurate readings for things and honestly, I still use API frequently even though I have salifert and redsea tests. 

 

You can also get steam distilled water at rbe supwrmarket and forgo your RODI until you're ready. The biocube given the hood, doesn't evaporate much so you can top up with stream distilled by hand once a day until you know what ATO you want.

 

keep an eye on used equipment as well. 

 

The biocube is actually one of the least expensive AIOs because it comes with lights and is under $300. Is redsea nicer? Absolutely. But the biocube is a good starter tank. By the time you get a simple glass tank, add a good light and an aquaclear or some similar HOB filter, you're most likely up to close to what the biocube costs, if not more. 

 

Here's what you need:

 

tank (biocube)

light (comes with biocube)

heater

return pump (comes with biocube)

sand

rock 

floss holder (inTank - mediabaskets.com)

floss

basic test kit (API)

refractometer 

steam distilled water (supermarket) 

salt water (can get boxed salt at petco or you can get mixed Saltwater at your LFS) 

 

yes, it is an expensive hobby. The setup costs are generally the most inexpeenive part of the hobby. And you'll find once you start out you'll want to most likely upgrade some of the biocube stock equipment. 

 

Good luck! 

[ReefWeeds]

I typed this on my phone so please excuse the typos. 

[Hdale85]

The RedSea doesn't come with a circulation pump either, and neither did your original list. I'm really liking my Jebao SW4 which was like 55 bucks on Amazon and has some really nice features and they are pretty dang quiet. 

 

I do like those Red-Sea tank kits too. I told my wife in a year or 2 we're going to upgrade to a 100ish gallon kit from them. 

[Travis]

1 minute ago, Hdale85 said:

 

I do like those Red-Sea tank kits too. I told my wife in a year or 2 we're going to upgrade to a 100ish gallon kit from them. 

And you're still alive!? 

[Hdale85]

1 minute ago, Travis said:

And you're still alive!? 

???? Is that in regards to the Jebao? Lots of people use and like them......

 

Or maybe you're talking about me telling my wife we're going to upgrade lol! 

 

After spending nearly 1k on the 40g, getting a 100+ gallon setup for 2k ish with everything we need didn't sound that horrible to her lol. 

[Travis]

Yeh just having fun with the "I told my wife" section of the quote. Lol!

 

Thats great though!  My wife just this past week gave me the green light to order a 70g setup for just north of 2 grand. 

[Hdale85]

Nice! Once I started looking into skimmers, sumps, return pumps and what not...if I had gone for a sump on the 40b I'd probably be closer to 1400-1500 which is only a few hundred under the red sea 70g system lol. 

[Travis]

1 minute ago, Hdale85 said:

Nice! Once I started looking into skimmers, sumps, return pumps and what not...if I had gone for a sump on the 40b I'd probably be closer to 1400-1500 which is only a few hundred under the red sea 70g system lol. 

Exactly. The price between a 40 and a 70 is nearly identical. It all comes down to the foot print size. 

 

I knew I would be spending a good chunck of change to get this tank up, so I found the tank that was the biggest I could find in that footprint (36x24). If I get a tank any bigger, I'd have to start knocking down walls in my house! Lol. Go big, or go home! Lol. 

 

Now, that said, this will be the largest tank I have ever owned. Only took 13 years to get here!

 

Nano reefs, particularly ones under say 10-20 gallons is the perfect size for anyone interested in joining the hobby. In this size range, there are many affordable options and ways to stay on a small budget AND still maximize the fun and excitment of the reef keeping hobby. 

[Hdale85]

Honestly I'm not sure you'd really save much going from a 40b to a 20g or something. I went HOB and so on and 40b tanks are so cheap where as nano tanks aren't usually. Even if you could get one pretty cheap you'd maybe save 200 bucks or so. A lot of the stuff you buy as a newb is the same stuff you'd have to buy regardless of tank size. I was kind of surprised by this as I figured going smaller would be a lot cheaper. 

[Travis]

1 minute ago, Hdale85 said:

Honestly I'm not sure you'd really save much going from a 40b to a 20g or something. I went HOB and so on and 40b tanks are so cheap where as nano tanks aren't usually. Even if you could get one pretty cheap you'd maybe save 200 bucks or so. A lot of the stuff you buy as a newb is the same stuff you'd have to buy regardless of tank size. I was kind of surprised by this as I figured going smaller would be a lot cheaper. 

Where you save is with light fixtures. Most new folks won't buy high end lights from the start so the difference between a 24" and 36" tank isnt that much. But, when they decide to upgrade to something with more power, and name brand, the price gap between the two gets much farther apart. 

[Hdale85]

That's true, but I feel there are some budget friendly light options now days that you don't have to drop a grand on. Some people don't feel good buying those though, because they are Chinese generally lol. 

[lkoechle]

35 minutes ago, Travis said:

Where you save is with light fixtures. Most new folks won't buy high end lights from the start so the difference between a 24" and 36" tank isnt that much. But, when they decide to upgrade to something with more power, and name brand, the price gap between the two gets much farther apart. 

We did when we first started. lol

 

Our first set up was:

20L

AC70

2 maxijets 

AND a brand new AI SOL blue.  They were brand new to the market for $699.  lol  BUT we used the heck out of those lights and they were strong enough to grow with us.  we still had our original unit over our 85 and was growing great! (we bought a second unit used for $75 to go with it)

[samnaz]

Check out reef2reef classifieds. I wish I knew about it when I started up my tank.

 

And don't get all those expensive red sea test kits, you won't need most of them at least not for a few months. Get api test kits instead, way cheaper and they work fine. I have used both, and when you're starting out and testing a lot it has to be quick and easy (and accurate enough) and that's api.

[RayWhisperer]

13 hours ago, JonathanDillio said:

Hey Guys,

 

If any of you have seen the couple of threads that I have already created then you already know that I am a newbie to the reefing world. After doing extensive research I have filled my amazon cart with over $700 worth of items and still need to get an RO/DI system and an ATO system (so about another $400). The tank that I am looking to buy is the BioCube 32. Does alsmost $1000 sound right to get a tank that size up and running? I knew I would be spending some serious money on this new hobby, but damn, I honestly didnt expect to drop that much just to get started. I feel that everything except the ATO system is 100% necessary but I  I would really like some input. 

 

Could anyone give an in depth list of the things that I should definitely buy to get my BioCube 32 up and running? I would really appreciate it.

 

Im going to attach some pictures of my current amazon list. Remembers this doesnt include the RO/DI system, ATO system, or the cured rock i want to get from Reef Cleaners

 

I really appreciate any input 

I'm not reading through 2 pages. Just read the initial post. I can save you a few dollars right there.

Ditch the purigen and chemipure and replace with a quality activated carbon

buy you filter floss as poly fil from a craft store

build your own stand, or use some other furniture to put the tank on.

dont buy the handled container. A 5 gallon bucket is way cheaper.

if you can find it, buy dry sand. Live sand in a bag is not what it claims to be.

you can use a credit card to clean the glass. It's not as convinent, but it'll save you a few extra bucks.

dont buy the fancy test kit until you are going to start dosing. Stick with the basic tests, and focus on water changes. That's only putting off what will eventually need to be done. 

 

All that combined, just dropped about $200.

[moosubi]

11 hours ago, spectra said:

 

Red Sea has them now just saying

Yeah, that's the one she's hunting...  They're nice though!!

[Clown79]

Honestly a stupid simple system is far easier for new hobbiests. You don't need all the bells and whistles or the highest end product. 

 

Everyone says you'll want to upgrade, thats not always the case.

Many are happy with what they have or add another tank for a different set up.

 

Some invest loads of money to end the hobby within a yr because life changes, its too expensive, too much time dedicated to it.

 

 

What you really need:

 

The tank and light

Heater

Powerhead

Sand(or even barebottom)

Rocks

Water- buy ro/di or distilled. Investing in an ro/di right off the bat isn't necessary.

Refractometer

Buckets(with handles)

Salt

Api(honestly i've gotten the same results with api as all the others excluding phosphate, that you need low range kit)

 

Regular carbon like kent or seachem matrix

Filter floss

 

Laster when you have a phos issue add phosguard.

 

All the other stuff isn't necessary and can be added on after.