MM Reef

[ScottyB]

Scotty, what would you say would be the minimum starter budget for a saltwater tank with maybe one or two fishes?

minimum...if you craigslisted and fire saled most of your equipment you could be ready to rock, minus livestock for about 250 bucks depending on the size of the tank and how patient you are to wait for deals. livestock will run another 50 at least, depending on how much rock you want and if you can find anyone just looking to get rid of fish or coral.

for instance, if i were to build a similar setup to mine from scratch:

- 10 gallon tank (practically free from craigslist)
- tank stand (optional, maybe 40 bucks on craigslist)
- 80W power compact flourescent fixture, reman'd (80 bucks and dropping)
- hang-on-back filter (free or cheap from a pet store, 20 bucks max)
- salt (30 bucks new)
- powerhead (10 bucks used)
- sand (can find for real cheap if people have excess, new for 20 bucks)
- 10 gallons distilled water (10 bucks)
- various powerstrips/timers (20 bucks max)
- test kit for nitrate/pH/alkilinity/calcium (25 bucks, depending on if you buy a kit or individually)
- food (2 bucks?)
- chemical additions such as calcium/bicarbonate buffer/trace elements (20 bucks, depends on what you need, where you buy, how much quantity)
- salinity meter/thermometer (almost free used or 10 bucks new)

OR

find someone selling their entire setup. this happens all the time. you can find someone selling a 30 gallon setup for under 300 bucks sometimes, especially if they need to move to a home where they can't keep it and are desperate to unload.

once established, my only consistent expenses are salt every 6-7 months and about 5 gallons of distilled water every 2 weeks (i mix my own salt). i also dose for calcium, strontium, bicarb and iodine every week in very tiny quantities. if you do your homework you can keep a tank at a very low cost. many people will tell you that you have to buy lots of fancy equipment blah blah blah....its just not true. i kept 2 fish in a 10 gallon tank all through college and drove them 2 hours to roanoke and back 4 times a year, with budget equipment, and they did fine. and man, was i ignorant about the hobby at that point.....and it still worked