With my calculations for my area using the peak time the light alone with all bulbs running for 12 hours a day will cost roughly 490$ a year. These bulbs are all less the 4 months old so replacing them in a year is another 150$. Ouch
cost of saltwater
- Thread starter Lepisosteus
- Start date
With my calculations for my area using the peak time the light alone with all bulbs running for 12 hours a day will cost roughly 490$ a year. These bulbs are all less the 4 months old so replacing them in a year is another 150$. Ouch
I have a 120 gallon reef and the whole system costs 160.00-170.00 a year to run with everything. Have a kill a watt tester plugged into it all the time.
Sent from the Monster Fish Keeping App
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You could do a FOWLR tank. You could just over kill the tank with a skimmer and you would be fine. I have a 1/3 the rock and 1/4 the live sand everyone tells you that you need. Rock and sand are good for natural filtration but it's not needed. If it's a FOWLR tank you don't need the coral lights and the wave makers that people say you need. FOWLR fish are Easier to keep and more fun than growing coral.
then in that case the essentials list is getting larger as is the cost - stony corals are generally in tolerate to change.
Plan for nitrate control - oversized skimmer, nitrate resin of some sort, and or cheato.
phosphates removal - R/O DI unit ( 100 gal per day), PO4 Resin
Stoney coral toxin removal - activated carbon chamber ran no more than 48 hours per week
Alkalinity - Lites for the sump to ionize the water at nite as to hold ph, reef crystal salt mix, calcium and mag dosing equipment, salifert or red sea tests for nitrate, po4, cal, mag, alk, iodine, and heavy metals, refractor rather than hydrometer.
Lighting - Using a lux meter to find appropriate zones for specific coral types especially with 3 different types of lighting ( the MH and led will give you better lux at depth than the t5ho), the MH can heat up the water running 12 hours so plan on buying a good chiller, glass reflects light so no glass lids
Current - sps likes up to 30x the volume of tank water moved per hour this is a total including the main drive pump, lps 20x , they need this to shed mucus, in tank circulation pumps should go side to side.
Electricity issues - large reefs pull a lot of power enuff to overload the rooms breaker so a dedicated breaker or 2 for your reef will go a long way, overhead wall outlets will help prevent salt creep fires, and a good timer for your lights.
Water change tank - filled from the ro unit with a tds meter ( tells you when to change filters), a pump or 2 to mix and hold salinity, heater for ph
LR - CURE ALL LR as to not give your corals worms, use flat pours rock of salt water origins preferably those from reefs or use the man made aqua cultured - also always dip corals in coral rx to get rid of the nasty hitch hikers.
All I can think of at the moment - best of luck - large reefs can be very difficult - a total hobby killer so tread slowly.
Plan for nitrate control - oversized skimmer, nitrate resin of some sort, and or cheato.
phosphates removal - R/O DI unit ( 100 gal per day), PO4 Resin
Stoney coral toxin removal - activated carbon chamber ran no more than 48 hours per week
Alkalinity - Lites for the sump to ionize the water at nite as to hold ph, reef crystal salt mix, calcium and mag dosing equipment, salifert or red sea tests for nitrate, po4, cal, mag, alk, iodine, and heavy metals, refractor rather than hydrometer.
Lighting - Using a lux meter to find appropriate zones for specific coral types especially with 3 different types of lighting ( the MH and led will give you better lux at depth than the t5ho), the MH can heat up the water running 12 hours so plan on buying a good chiller, glass reflects light so no glass lids
Current - sps likes up to 30x the volume of tank water moved per hour this is a total including the main drive pump, lps 20x , they need this to shed mucus, in tank circulation pumps should go side to side.
Electricity issues - large reefs pull a lot of power enuff to overload the rooms breaker so a dedicated breaker or 2 for your reef will go a long way, overhead wall outlets will help prevent salt creep fires, and a good timer for your lights.
Water change tank - filled from the ro unit with a tds meter ( tells you when to change filters), a pump or 2 to mix and hold salinity, heater for ph
LR - CURE ALL LR as to not give your corals worms, use flat pours rock of salt water origins preferably those from reefs or use the man made aqua cultured - also always dip corals in coral rx to get rid of the nasty hitch hikers.
All I can think of at the moment - best of luck - large reefs can be very difficult - a total hobby killer so tread slowly.
Have you considered a planted SW tank? FOWLR + macro algae and mangroves? There ar tons of kinds of macro algae, I think they look super cool, they benefit the system, and they are much cheaper than a reef. It's what I do, because I also don't like the plain FOWLR look, but I can't afford to get into coral. I do also have a few mushrooms and whatnot.
