55 gallon Cost

Buy the cheap non-living live rock as a foundation and put the pretty liverock on top of that. Figure on about 60-75 pounds of live rock @ $3-$8 a pound. You absolutley need a skimmer to (preferably one that is rated at least 100gallons).

I am about to convert a 55 pentagon corner to salt and I am figuring on spending about $800 to do it right.
45 lbs of base rock @ $3 total: $135
25 lbs of show rock @ $6 total: $150
Lighting (250W Halide) total: $250
live sand total: $100
Skimmer total: $150
Grand Total: $785 (before fish)

it will cost alot but just be happy you don't live in England where everything costs double! lol

i pay £6 = $12 for 1lb of live rock

That is very true Princess. Live rock in England costs a lot more than in the USA. Come to think of it, so does everything else!

its hard to estimate a cost on the tank, due to a lot of factors. Buying BASE rock is fine, and you don't even have to seed it with LR. The tank wont look so great but over time it will populate on its own. The way recommended is to cape the base with LR, transferring BB to the BASE rock. You will want already cured rock to get better results faster, but either way it will populate on its own.

same concept with Live Sand

uncured live rock will have far more life on it than cured and is a good bit cheaper too but you also have greater chances of getting unpleasant hitchhikers, most of which are fine if you don't want corals.

i have paid all together for a 15gallon nano reef tank and rock everything...

tank = £ 130
test kits = £ 30
sand = £ 15
rock = £ 55
syphon/food/calcium = £ 25
salt 4kg pack = £18
buckets/filter media= £ 10
1 hermit crab = £ 7

about how much would that be in american i wonder??? im way to lazy to convert lol

say with fish and everything about £300 - $600

^^^^^ without any coral!