2new Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 ALL RIGHT, TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WHAT-SO-EVER WITH SALT-WATER AQUARIUMS. (BESIDES FRESH WATER) A LARGE SALTWATER AQUARIUM IS TO MUCH FOR ME. ALL I WANT IS YOUR OPINIONS/ADVICE OR LIST OF THINGS I NEED FOR A 12GAL BOWFRONT(HAVEN'T GOTTEN IT YET BUT LOOKING TO IT) WHAT WOULD BE THE AVERAGE NANO AQUARIUM TO COST UNDER OR AROUND $100 ? IF SOMEONE COULD SAVE ME A TRIP TO MY LFS? ANY INPUT WOULD BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED:) Link to comment
tinyreef Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 under $100? ghetto reef but here goes: get a 5-1/2 gal. tank, a hagen mini HOB, 2~3 Galaxy Lights, heater, bag o' sand, and a combo test kit. don't forget the salt! that should leave you around $20 for livestock. it won't be that pretty but it's technically a nano. you want a pretty wife? well the same rules also applies for reefs. X) Link to comment
Physh1 Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 Thermometer, hydrometer, live rock, etc..... You really should save more money to do this in my opinion. You are cutting yourself short here my limiting yourself to a hundered bucks and I think with no experience at all and not being able to diagnose problems on your own yet that last thing you need to be doing is taking budget shortcuts on setup. I don't mean to be harsh but the reality is that if something goes wrong the chance of you getting disapointed and giving up the hobby is a likely result. I/we don't want that to happen. I think you'd need a good $200 to atleast get going in the right direction. That tank itself is going to cost you at least$60!!! Cameron Link to comment
Physh1 Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 ....please turn you Caps Lock OFF. It seems like you are yelling....it is also not pleasant to read. Thanks. Cameron Link to comment
gobies Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 Starting from scratch, I'd say $200 is a good minimum. I managed to start a nano for under a hundred bucks...but ONLY because I got a bunch of stuff for free (lots of well-established live sand, some live rock, some crabs and snails) and had other stuff on hand already (tank, filter, heater, hydrometer). Christmas is coming up...make a list of stuff (be specific, precise, and detailed) and distribute it accordingly. Or ask for gift certs from assorted places. I've got posts somewhere on a budget nano... follow the instructions below to find them. Link to comment
BrianR Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 Not to burst your bubble here, but I myself am in the process of starting up a nano reef. First nano for me, and after several months of research, then a few questions asked an answered, I am now in the process of buying everything I need. I have placed away $500.00 for this little nano tank, 10 gallon in size, and while I am still purchasing equipment (building the hood right now so have not bought the rest of the equipment until it is finished) I bet I spend just about every dollar of that $500.00 While I am probably spending an extra bit of money here to buy what I consider the best I can possible find, not necessarly the most expensive mind you, but the best does cost a bit more, trying to do this on $100.00 I don't think could be done. Even $200.00 would be streatching it in my opinion. I am a newb myself though to the nano tank, so maybe some of these long time experts can help, but I think you need to pocket at least a couple hunderd bucks for this, and while you do that, start the never ending searches of how to build a nano-reef tank. Almost anything you can think of is posted here somewhere, from live rock/live sand, lighting, heating, hoods, filtration, water changes, etc. etc. Just doing some general searches for lighting will teach you more then you ever thought possible. Good luck. Link to comment
d0lz Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 I'm also in the reasearching phase of my nano-sperience and quite frankly you're going to be throwing away that 100 bucks if you actually try and set up a tank on that budget. Right now my budget is right around 900 dollars for a 26 gallon bowfront. tinyreef makes a good point, pretty stuff costs bucks, although generally speaking a pretty wife costs more than a nano-reef. Of course then you could have an ugly nano reef and cheat on it with a pretty one, and then that'd cost you way more mula.. I think I extended that metaphor a bit to far... Link to comment
Crakeur Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 Originally posted by tinyreef you want a pretty wife? well the same rules also applies for reefs. X) too funny tiny. Even funnier? The idea of setting up a nano for under $100 is hysterical. Yes, you can get the tank and gear for under $100 (ebay, used stuff, cheap ass gear), however, you will be dropping more money along the way as you upgrade and replace the crap that you cheaped out on from the get go. My advice to you young reefer wannabe, is to do a ton of research about the types of fish and corals and mushrooms and other livestock that you would like to keep. After you have decided what it is you want to keep, then do a ton of research on the necessary equipment needed for these types of animals. Lighting, water flow etc. is all dependant on the types of animals in your tank. Next, do a ton of research on the web trying to find the best prices for each piece of equipment and livestock that you will be purchasing. This should take you several weeks at the least. Plus, once you get the tank set up, you will need to let the live rock and sand cycle so add another month. Figure two months before you are ready to add livestock. Now, take twenty to thrity bucks each week that you are researching and cycling and add it to your tank fund. Eight weeks at $20 a week will give you an additional $160 to spend on your tank. Honestly, you will regret skimping now. Link to comment
ajroahkni Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 Your budget constraint may actually work for you, as it'll force you to let the tank cycle. You need a tank, powerhead, salt, specific gravity meter, heater - your "hardware." $50 if you're a bargain hunter, and forget the bowfront. Then, buy about 10 lbs. of Live Rock ($30-40) and a bag of live sand ($10 - 20?) That'll cap you @ $100 and you're broke. Figure on letting the rock cure for six to eight weeks or so in the tank, remember you are broke. Some folk advocate not running lights when curing, so not dishing out $$$ on lights shouldn't be a problem, besides you're broke. Also, you could probably do w/out a test kit yet, as you've not introduced fish, coral, etc. - because you're broke. Eight weeks. Save your money. Figure out your tank. Buy good lights w/ the money you've saved. Be broke again. Nano-tank = nano-net worth. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 I was going to do a "tank on a budget" project for my GF -the project has been cancled, due to financial difficulties [see my title to answer any further questions]. It was a 5 gallon tank. I was going to use LR and sand that I happen to have. I was going to bond the rock together with epoxy that I already have. I was going to use salt I already have. And for coral I was going to use cuttings and frags from my own tank, as well as a couple of friends that were going to chip in. Essentially, all I had to buy was a tank, lighting (decent lighting... I have no problem with softie only tanks, but I do NOT recommend going ghetto on lighting), a power head, snails, and a reliable heater (don't go ghetto on this either!). My estimated bill $200. This hobby just isn't cheap. Is it possible to go ghetto? Yes, but you will end up spending more money in the long run to fix the things ya' should have done right the first time. I'm not trying to discurrage you, just give you an idea of what things are going to actually cost you. I hope you do take the plunge, and we get to see you around here more often. Link to comment
tinyreef Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 c'mon printer, she's worth a nice sps 10g! good loving for mh's! hey, i figure my wife's worth around 500g to me! (i do have a couple of kids from her for pete's sake!) then again they're both daughters. : (300g then) i figure the wedding receptions will be equal to at least a 300g each (fully loaded). :*( Link to comment
spoondigity Posted December 5, 2002 Share Posted December 5, 2002 Maybe 2new meant $100 for the tank itself Link to comment
2new Posted December 6, 2002 Author Share Posted December 6, 2002 All right all right I see you all have made a strong point. Its not that Im broke I just didnt expect those size aquariums would cost so much. And recently I bought a fresh. aq. for about $450. Besides Im only an adolesent. I'll take your advice and law low for a while and research. Thanks Link to comment
2new Posted December 6, 2002 Author Share Posted December 6, 2002 I know youre gonna comment about spelling but it was lay low Link to comment
BCOrchidGuy Posted December 6, 2002 Share Posted December 6, 2002 Thats a good idea to lay low follow some of the threads, figure out what you want in a nano, what kind of live stock and what size you want. Once you have figured out what kind of live stock you can study different choices for lighting and go from there. Soon enough you will have your nano but you may as well do it right the first time and learn from our mistakes. Link to comment
gobies Posted December 6, 2002 Share Posted December 6, 2002 You will SAVE money by getting the best stuff you can. You won't have to keep upgrading stuff! Link to comment
Inpha Posted December 6, 2002 Share Posted December 6, 2002 Dave where you at? I know you got somethin say..... I have probably spent $700+ on my 10 gal. I havn't even fully stocked it yet. Don't forget RODI.... Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted December 6, 2002 Share Posted December 6, 2002 GEEZ Inpha, unless you have MH and a chiller on the thing I think you got ripped off.... LOL. What do you have in that thing? p.s. I buy my RO/DI water for less that $1 per gallon . Link to comment
Inpha Posted December 6, 2002 Share Posted December 6, 2002 RODI system- 150 2x36 PC plus hood- 110 tank and stand- 50 40lbs of LR @ 4 bucks a #- 160 test kits etc - 50 salt - 50 corals etc- 150 snails/shrimp - 50 etc etc Link to comment
minigeek Posted December 10, 2002 Share Posted December 10, 2002 ...I am at 9 months now on the tank (geez, I need to take some new pics for everybody) and I haven't even bought corals yet! And to be perfectly honest, I am very, very glad that I have taken time to do this right. Please take a look at this thread I posted a while back when I did buy some items and start cycling my tank. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...=&threadid=1048 At that time, I invested 210 dollars for my initial setup. At this point, I am around 450 dollars as of last night because I finally bought my CSL retrokit 32 watt 50/50 light and that made one big difference in my tank. Now I can finally buy some corals! YES!!! So please take a lot of time reading the long history of threads here and ask lots of questions. Don't jump in until you have 200 dollars IMO. I understand completely the excitement of wanting to get started but if you buy crapy equipment up front, you'll pay for it down the road. Let us know either way what you do, and always post pics if/when you can because we love to see how others setup their tanks. Link to comment
ajroahkni Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 Originally posted by Inpha 40lbs of LR @ 4 bucks a #- 160 etc etc 40# in a 10G? I'd LOVE to see that. Must be an awesome cliff-face-o-live-rock. Please post a pic Inpha. Link to comment
Inpha Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 I was actually gonna do a post on my tank... i'll take some updated pics tomorrow and post... its prolly slightly less than 40... 38 or somethin Link to comment
BCOrchidGuy Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 Consider yourself lucky if you pay $4 a pound. Here LR can run anywhere between $5.50 to $8.50 per pound depending on where it is from etc etc... Link to comment
jcm1229 Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 Looking at my new 10g, this is what it cost me Tank $10 Sand (20#) $25 LR (10# Bali) $60 2x36 ballast and reflector $75 2 PC bulbs $50 Home made hood $25 minijet 404 $12 aquaclear 200 $13 heater $10 ----- $280 I've added salt, snails, crabs and some LS from my tank at home. I'll buy a small fish or 2 and all corals will be donations (join and ask members of your local marine aquarium society) or frags from my tank at home. So for about $300 I'll have a nice nano without skimping on equipment etc ... I'm also prepared to spend additional money if the need arises. Link to comment
Inpha Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 I wasn't complaining... actually I would have paid more than 5.50 prolly... but you gotta love that great guy named Dave ESPI.... Link to comment
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