honest budgeted opinion

[nitrofish1]

i guess you want a reef tank. my honest advice dont buy either of those. slowly upgrade your tank over time when you can afford it.
start out with.
i would by a used 20 or 30 gallon tank. or bigger if you can afford it.
i would use a regular hob filter and a regular light.
buy a small piece of liverock, like 5 or 10 dollars worth.
buy sand if you want it
figure out how you gonna get saltwater, maybe a lfs
if you make your own with mix. buy a bucket that treats over a hundred gallons.
then find a source of water you want to use. maybe RO or distilled from a grocery store. you can use dechlorinated tap if you dont have inverts. I wouldnt buy a RO filter yet as you just want to get your feet wet in saltwater, they are costly.
test kits for nitrogen cycle.

this will be the beginning tank. you can have a couple small fish no corals, inverts if you use RO.

over time when you can afford it buy these items.

-first, this is really really recommended but you can do a tank with out it, get a protein skimmer rated for your tank size. it is very important to buy a good one and read reviews. expect to spend atleast 200 dollars, less if you buy used. now you can add alot more fish and still keep your water quality good. will also reduce the amount of water changes.

- buy base rock, this will eventually become alive from the original chunk of live rock you have. expect 2-4 dollars a lb depending on the source, you want probably atleast 1 pound per gallon.

- next buy lighting for corals, depending on what corals you want to keep and how big the tank is this will be from 100-500 dollars maybe more. i would say expect 200-300 for quality lights you can keep many corals with.

-test kits, for ph, calc, magnesium. and supplements for calc and magnesium.

now you have a quality full reef tank. there are other pieces of equipment you can add if you get really serious.

wouldnt i just need a powerhead with live rock?

 

[sostoudt]

wouldnt i just need a powerhead with live rock?

i assume your refering to the beginning tank. with the HOB filter you get the bonus of mechanical and chemical filtration. those arent necessary but there nice to have. yes you could just have power heads and live rock, ive done it on nano tanks before.

when your tank is more then lightly stocked and reef. i really recommend the skimmer. water changes suck in saltwater


but i glad you asked as that reminds i left powerheads of the list of stuff.

 

[adammreef]

go with the biggest tank you can afford the more space and gallon's the easier to keep the water parameters stable and the better the space. Private message me with any follow up questions

mr.reef24

Mr. reef you always give great advise, just one thing I have to add to your comment is that while yes a larger volume system can be easier to maintain. ex a 30 gallon system compared to a 300 gallon system. But what most people don't take into consideration is that when things go wrong in a larger system especially a reef tank like high nitrates or alk spikes for example they are much harder to fix and much more expensive to fix then in a smaller or medium size system. So you really have to take that into consideration when looking to start a saltwater tank. Don't just spend all you money on the biggest tank out there because you have to be able to afford tank maintenance each week. And don't get too small of a tank because keeping water chemistry balanced in a nano tank can be very difficult for a newbie in this hobby. And is a reason why alot of people get frustrated and leave this hobby. Start off slow and don't try and rush into this hobby cause it can be very expensive. And don't be scared to ask questions we were all new to this hobby at one point.

 

[vass69]

Craigslist.org

Great deals on tanks and equipment. I bought a 75 gallon for $400 but there are definately smaller more affordable setups out there.

 

[sostoudt]

btw i hope i didnt scare you off with my price approximations. but i really believe doing it with quality equipment that you can easily replace and switch out. because i have tried to go cheap and save money many times, in reef tanks. it almost always ended up being a decision i did regret.
the only cost cutting decision i was happy with is buying a used coralife super skimmer 125 off ebay for 50 dollars. i think this is a great budget skimmer if you have a sump, although it is hob too it not a very good choice aesthetically, because of the large pump and return box.

 

[nitrofish1]

btw i hope i didnt scare you off with my price approximations. but i really believe doing it with quality equipment that you can easily replace and switch out. because i have tried to go cheap and save money many times, in reef tanks. it almost always ended up being a decision i did regret.
the only cost cutting decision i was happy with is buying a used coralife super skimmer 125 off ebay for 50 dollars. i think this is a great budget skimmer if you have a sump, although it is hob too it not a very good choice aesthetically, because of the large pump and return box.

the reason i went with the nanocube to begin with was that it didnt have the 200 dollar lighting or etc., but it was the entire setup for 200 dollars, along with the stand. all id have to do is buy a heater and some live rock.

 

[sostoudt]

the reason i went with the nanocube to begin with was that it didnt have the 200 dollar lighting or etc., but it was the entire setup for 200 dollars, along with the stand. all id have to do is buy a heater and some live rock.

it would let you get just a taste of easy corals, and maybe a small fish or two. if your sure thats all you wanted to do, it would work. the key to most of those nano succeeding is stock it extremely lightly with fish, so be aware of that if you purchase it.

almost every one starts out with a taste, and then immediately regrets getting the smaller tank and lesser equipment, and then later have to buy more stuff. i did that, thats why i steered you to a tank that easily upgradable.

 

[nitrofish1]

it would let you get just a taste of easy corals, and maybe a small fish or two. if your sure thats all you wanted to do, it would work. the key to most of those nano succeeding is stock it extremely lightly with fish, so be aware of that if you purchase it.

almost every one starts out with a taste, and then immediately regrets getting the smaller tank and lesser equipment, and then later have to buy more stuff. i did that, thats why i steered you to a tank that easily upgradable.

thats really all i want to do though, is keep a handful of starter corals on a nice size chunk of LR, cuz the thing is, i dont have room for that larger tank, or the money for that matter. i could set up a bigger tank on a stand, yet, i would end up filling that with corals, and depleting my savings. i wasnt going to keep any fish in this tank

 

[sostoudt]

thats really all i want to do though, is keep a handful of starter corals on a nice size chunk of LR, cuz the thing is, i dont have room for that larger tank, or the money for that matter. i could set up a bigger tank on a stand, yet, i would end up filling that with corals, and depleting my savings. i wasnt going to keep any fish in this tank

well if no fish it may work well then, most of my problem with it was the filtration, as most people starting would want to pack it with fish.

 

[nitrofish1]

well if no fish it may work well then, most of my problem with it was the filtration, as most people starting would want to pack it with fish.

did u pack it with fish and coral?

is that a monthly water change with a coral-only tank?