cost of saltwater

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Lepisosteus

Lepisosteus

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
May 20, 2014
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Ontario, Canada
I currently have a 150 gallon freshwater tank that I would like to convert into saltwater reef. I got the tank, lighting, and a sump for the tank. What other expenses will I have and what should I look to pay? A new and used price would help I want it to be a good setup.
 
What type of lighting did you buy?

Are you sure it will support the coral you want? Think about wattage required for everything that will be allot of cost. Especially lighting if you have halides. One thing I didn't see was a protein skimmer. Also plan an ro water filter. Live rock will set you back a good bit plus corals and fish are much more expensive than freshwater. Plus salt mix for the reef. Added wave maker for more water flow and to keep everything from settling in the tank. Return pump for the sump of you don't have one. Sump plants maybe miracle mud. A good algae scrubber. Water change buckets or more a ro water storage jug for top off. Are you going to drill your tank add the cost in as well or use an overflow siphon then add buy cost in. Reef additives, test kits,

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assuming your lighting is sufficient the necessities will be:

multiple powerheads
Rock ( I recommend MarcoRocks, buy it dry you're lookin at $2/lb vs 8-10 in a fish store )
Aragonite Sand
Salt mix

Those are your bare minimums at the end of the day. Depending upon what colors/fish you want will be the difference maker in what else you need. This could easily include the following:

protein skimmer
upgraded lighting
wavemaker
RODI unit
advanced lighting
auto top off
refugium lights/miracle mud
 
My advice is don't do it. I just came back too freshwater after about 6 years of saltwater. From advice given on equipment make a list and price it out. Your looking at an easy 3000.00 just in equipment before livestock. Corals are anywhere from 10.00 to 75.00 (not rare ones either). So at least another 1000.00 in Live rock and livestock. Not to mention all the other stuff. In the Saltwater world you get what you pay for. For a tank that size two MP40's would be sufficient. That's going to run you a little over 900.00 Three Ecotech Radions thats about 2200.00 and on and on.

I know your thinking I don't need the best of the best but you will after a few months to years into it. Trust me.....

One of the last straws for me was had 4 tangs and two Snowflake clown fish die. That was at least 800.00 gone in one night. I sold my corals to a LFS for 700.00 so you know I had about 5x that invested. And called it good no more Saltwater for me. It is a different beast. Very pretty but at a price. Be happy with what you have unless you have an endless pocket of cash. :grinno:

Saltwater is very addicting ......... You have been warned. ;)
 
SW can get expensive if your planning a reef - if not - not so much. The essential list starts with good sw test kit like salifert or red sea and a hydrometer at the least.
 
Join a local or regional club. It is a great way to get deals on used equipment, coral frags, and other livestock. People in my local club seem to go out of their way to help eager new people. I'm sure other clubs are similar? See what other people have that works. Spend the money to do it right -- it's way cheaper in the long run.

Your ongoing costs are electricity, salt, and foods. Probably also supplements (calcium, alk, mag) if going full reef. I suggest buying captive bred fish at first. They are hardier and when you kill them as you're learning, you won't have an impact on the ocean since they're farmed.
 
radions are overpriced and unnecessary as are MPs... for a 150 a few koralias will run you about $150 and you can get sufficient lighting for well under $500.. probably half that or less if you go with a quad t5 (which is sufficient for just about anything but SPS) Dry Rock will save you money and pest problems moving forward. As Riley said local clubs are also a great way to save even more money on equipment and corals. I see no reason you can't be converted fully for under $1000 with a decent stock starting. Of course moving forward you will be buying more corals etc but that is all up to you!
 
The lighting I got now is the USA outer orbit 72" fixture with 3x250 watt metal halides 8x39 watt t5's and 24 LEDs. It ends up being over 7 watts per gallon. I got the light for 150$. I got a guy who can sell 40g sump and 220 gallon skimmer for 200$ as he just shut down his sw 150. Everything else I'll buy when I see a good deal, I'm in no rush for this tank but I want a nice reef tank.fish and livestock I'm looking into a mix of LPs and sps but I'll buy everything from private owners ad I prefer giving them money over big Al's. Fish a few occelaris clowns, black occelaris clowns, and a few others and I'll be happy. Thanks for all the input so far, helped a lot
 
DIDYSIS said:
What type of lighting did you buy?

Are you sure it will support the coral you want? Think about wattage required for everything that will be allot of cost. Especially lighting if you have halides. One thing I didn't see was a protein skimmer. Also plan an ro water filter. Live rock will set you back a good bit plus corals and fish are much more expensive than freshwater. Plus salt mix for the reef. Added wave maker for more water flow and to keep everything from settling in the tank. Return pump for the sump of you don't have one. Sump plants maybe miracle mud. A good algae scrubber. Water change buckets or more a ro water storage jug for top off. Are you going to drill your tank add the cost in as well or use an overflow siphon then add buy cost in. Reef additives, test kits,

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Lights a USA outer orbit 72" fixture. 3x250 watt metal halides 8 xt5's 24 LEDs. A little over 7 watts a gallon. Should be good for most if not all sps corals. I'll be selling off my freshwater livestock along with 2 eheim filters so that's another 500$ to spend on saltwater stuff. Selling all other tanks as well to focus on one tank. Thanks everyone for the help, and the warning, I may end up sticking with fresh
 
Highest cost for you overall will be the power for that light. At over 1000 watts it will be a monster to feed plus you have to change bulbs every year. my best idea sell the light and buy the cheap ebay reef 120 watt leds. They will do the job have some up front cost but use far far less wattage each day and not require bulb changes. Have you ever looked at bulb replacement cost alone for that light? A ton of money over the first couple years. And if that light is used you will need to buy bulbs anyways to start using it and that will cost you as much as you paid or more for the light.


Lepisosteus said:
The lighting I got now is the USA outer orbit 72" fixture with 3x250 watt metal halides 8x39 watt t5's and 24 LEDs. It ends up being over 7 watts per gallon. I got the light for 150$. I got a guy who can sell 40g sump and 220 gallon skimmer for 200$ as he just shut down his sw 150. Everything else I'll buy when I see a good deal, I'm in no rush for this tank but I want a nice reef tank.fish and livestock I'm looking into a mix of LPs and sps but I'll buy everything from private owners ad I prefer giving them money over big Al's. Fish a few occelaris clowns, black occelaris clowns, and a few others and I'll be happy. Thanks for all the input so far, helped a lot
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