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mvp4zo
04/19/2006, 01:23 PM
How much would it cost to set-up a 55 gallon fish only if I were to buy used products as opposed to new ones and are used products worth buying or do they just burn out and cost more money in the long run?

NewSaltyReefer
04/19/2006, 01:30 PM
To give you an idea, I started setting up a 20 gallon reef in January. I already had the tank and stand so everything else I had to buy.

To date I have spent $988.03

WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!!:rollface:

chuckh
04/19/2006, 01:37 PM
im myself would never buy anything used that would go in the tank itself. buying a used light might result in you needing to replace the bulbs. heaters and stuff might not work. so it all depends.

im in the process of seting up a 90 gallon. and im at about $2000 so far and have no fish or live rock yet. just the tank, stand, lights and gear.

gear only.

Coralife Super Skimmer Needle Wheel Protein Skimmer 125 Gallon. $125.00

Pondmaster Mag-Drive Pump PM 7
58.00

Amiracle Pre-Filter Box Set Skimmer
53.99

Visi-Therm Deluxe Heaters x2 150 watt
18.99 each

Maxi-Jet Powerhead/Pump x3
17.99 each

Aragamax Sand 60lbs (2x 30lb bags)
21.99 each

Oceanic Natural Sea Salt Mix 200 gallons
39.99

typhoon RO/Di
199.99

Coralife 48" AquaLight Pro HQI
729.99

$1342 total so far and do have the tank. stand, rock or fish yet.

hope this helps

Chromed1
04/19/2006, 01:45 PM
I am setting up a 44 gallon pentagonal....

To date;

Deltec Skimmer - $468

Typhoon III RO/DI - $199

Lighting is anywhere from $350 to $450


And the sad part is that I have a long way to go yet!

Recife
04/19/2006, 01:47 PM
If you are going fish only you can keep the costs down.
This is some of the expensive stuff you can skip:
- light: go for standard fluorescent.
- skimmer: buy the cheap ones, such as coralife.
-powerhead: flow is not that important in a FO tank. You can buy decent ones for $20.
-sump, overflow, etc: not essential. They can be quite costly. But note you will have to change water fairly regularly.

heater (< $20), termometer (< $5), salt (< $40 for 250 gal), etc are all cheap so you can buy them now.

The tank itself is normally not expensive, but it's one of the things worth buying used. Check craigslist to get an idea of price.

NANOFOOL
04/19/2006, 02:01 PM
i have an oceanic 58 and right now ive spent about $1500

rickh
04/19/2006, 02:19 PM
This is not a inexpensive hobby. There is always something else to buy. For example: my tank was setup, looking great, but was a pain to be constantly be topping off--so I bought a chiller to control evaporation. It works great. Oh Yea-hauling water from the LFS is a pain so you buy an RO unit. It's endless. I spend more in a week than I spent setting up and stocking a FW tank for a year. :eek2:

BloatedSwimBladder
04/19/2006, 02:48 PM
This hobby isn't cheap, but you can start off with just a small investment. I had a 75g tank for my first 2 years that had almost no equipment:
Light: Home depot strip light $10 with Coralife bulbs $20
Three power heads $50
Hydrometer $10
Live rock 45lbs $150
Play sand $20
Add to that, Salt for water changes, fish, and a cleanup crew and that was it.

What gets expensive is once you are hooked and then the money doesn't matter because you are basically an addict and will pay whatever it takes!

good luck

angelsj247
04/19/2006, 02:57 PM
i have a 20 gal fowlr, have spent bout 600$.. so far that is..

skeeter_ca
04/19/2006, 03:29 PM
75 reef $3000.00 complete but empty.

MCary
04/19/2006, 03:36 PM
I spent $6000 on my 150 gallon reef so far, but I'll bet I could set up a FOWLR using used equipment, not including livestock for about $300.

Lets see:

Used tank, light, and hood $75
with stand $125
Canister filter $65
heater $12
50 pounds of LR $150 shipped
Salt $35
Sand $30
Floating hydrometer (no swing arms, refractometer best I know, going cheap here okay) $10
Test kit $25
2 power heads from WalMart $35

That should do it. Whats the total:

$487 american

Mike