Things you will need when starting a saltwater aquarium.

[dbacksrat]

just to show those of you that are considering setting up a sw tank how much it costs: $300 for 29 gallon tank, stand, and canopy w/ 20 watt light at petco
$346 for equipment ordered online (food, filters, etc--i could have gone cheaper, but i wanted my tank to be successful)
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as of now i am saving $150 for live rock as we speak
i hope to ask for a compact flourescent retrofit kit (2x 55 watt) for christmas ($65, not including the bulbs)

this is an extremely expensive hobby--i havent even considered a Q tank yet

i got the tank and stand for my bday in march and it still doesnt have fish it yet--hopefully they will be added around christmas

be sure to research a lot--TFH Publications has some good books out (dont know the names though)

[1979camaro]

of course...im assuming the tank was only 50 and you an do without the light that dbacksrat got cause you are likely to not use ikt anyway...canopy is obviously optional...and a cheaper stand is available...i think you could get the tank/stand for about 125 if you dont want it all pretty like...but yes, still not a cheap aspect of fish keeping

[S.Reef]

Yeah...I'm still in high school and could have a really cool car if I didnt spend all the money on fish tanks.

[dbacksrat]

same here s. reef--in order to complete my tank i'm going to have to get a job--i guess its time to enter the real world

sorry to be off topic though--before you buy fish, be careful: some stores have certain policies with their saltwater fish
places such as petco have no guarantee that sw fish you buy will live, but some places online have a 10 day guarantee for most sw livestock

[fishdude07]

all i have to say is...great thread!

[TurbineSurgeon]

A couple of things I would like to add:

Saltwater tanks are somewhat less forgiving than their freshwater counterparts, not to mention that instead of losing a $2 tetra, you could be losing a $50 coral or fish. Research is essential here, and I strongly feel that there is just too much that needs to be understood with saltwater to be able to get it in little bits and pieces on the internet. I think a good book such as those mentioned above should be on the mandatory list, even before the tank itself.

[wayne]

Instead of losing a single fish its pretty easy to take down the whole tank, especially if its small.
You can do saltwter for less money than this, but the cheaper it is the more understanding you need of whats going on.
Cheap, easy, successful - pick 2 of these 3

[S.Reef]

LOL...thats the way it goes.

[Lotus]

The way I figured it, getting a couple of the most recommended books was kind of an investment in the tank. It's easy to spend $40 on the wrong equipment or fish if you don't know or understand what you're doing. Having a book to help you through it will probably save a lot of money (as well as some of the oceans' treasures) in the long run.

[FiSh15]

i was thinking about turning my 29 gallon planted tank into a sw tank. i pretty much have most of the equipment except a protein skimmer and all the other sw stuffs. i was just wondering what are the recomended readings for ph, etc....