Just a reminder: Budget saltwater tanks don't exist

[AnomMatty]

From reading this I think OP was trying to express concern over the possibility of penny-pinching at a detriment to the welfare of the tank inhabitants. IMO that's a moral compass issue more so than a monetary one. If you can't afford to keep the inhabitants happy, sell/give them to someone who can and find a hobby without as much flat maintenance or figure out why your flat maintenance is so high and lower it to where happiness meets monetary ability.

I view 'budget' in this, and any other hobby, as a moving point of reference. Noophysche's are budget combared to Kessil's, and a thousand other examples, but the point moves depending on who you're talking to and what the conversation is around. A budget return pump for a 500g system is going to cost more than higher end return pumps on a 40g system. It's all relative and moving, and kind of a hard conversation to have without very specific points given up front.

 

[KrisReef]

Agree on this. Starting out from scratch, including no experience, it’d be fairly risky to buy second hand as there’s just so much to know about the equipment, what you need, and what to look out for. Particularly as a lot of second hand gear seems to go for (IMO) quite a bit relative to its original price unless you’re buying a full setup from someone quitting, but then you need to want that setup…

Yup. My wife wanted a small fish tank for the house, but I had so many of her fishes in my reef I knew 'small' wasn't going to cut it.

I found a hundred or so gallon acrylic (no seems to worry about) with a refugium, pump, (spare pump), skimmer, live sand, stand with lights inside, and a bunch of other stuff (5 gallon measuring pale with a soft handle) for $350 about 15 minutes from my house. They were done with the tank and gave me some designer clownfish so they could move furniture in their home.

I didn't buy the light right away, but later added a nice LED (on sale) that was twice as much as the rest of the stuff, but she is happy, the tank is growing Inferno anemones that I need to trade in for frags or food or additives with my LFS.

Electricity and water for the last two years probably cost me more?

And I did want a 'small' tank, and she got used to it once she saw how happy the fish are cruising around in it. If only they would wipe their own glass.

 

[KrisReef]

From reading this I think OP was trying to express concern over the possibility of penny-pinching at a detriment to the welfare of the tank inhabitants. IMO that's a moral compass issue more so than a monetary one. If you can't afford to keep the inhabitants happy, sell/give them to someone who can and find a hobby without as much flat maintenance or figure out why your flat maintenance is so high and lower it to where happiness meets monetary ability.

I view 'budget' in this, and any other hobby, as a moving point of reference. Noophysche's are budget combared to Kessil's, and a thousand other examples, but the point moves depending on who you're talking to and what the conversation is around. A budget return pump for a 500g system is going to cost more than higher end return pumps on a 40g system. It's all relative and moving, and kind of a hard conversation to have without very specific points given up front.

"Moral Compass?"

If you can't steal the food for your fish then you don't deserve them?

The whole world has a broken moral compass and the north pole shifts around to accommodate us.

I like poached salmon but I usually get mine at Albertson's and put it on a BBQ.

 

[lbacha]

the issue with a budget build in this hobby is that it doesn’t work well for many new reefers. Many experienced reefers can look at their tank and know what is needed day to day. That means many of the automations are not necessary to keep the tank stable (this is the key for every reef tank budget or the highest tech out there). Without experience many of the expensive gadgets help a new reefer avoid the instability that a new tank almost always goes through.

You can save money but controllers, auto water changes, filter rollers, correctly sized skimmers, good test kits, etc are all expensive and take the hobby out of the budget realm. You don’t need any of these things but I would say that it definitely will help a new hobbiest succeed.

I see a lot of experienced people saying you can reef on a budget (I agree completely as I have 30 yrs of experience and have had a few very low tech tanks that did extremely well). if you are new then I highly recommend making good friends with one of those experienced reefers as you will need their mentorship to succeed on a budget as a new reefer. You need someone that can look at your tank and tell you what is happening. If you rely on forums or your pet store you may get lucky but in many cases by the time you think you need to reach out it is already past the point of an easy fix (water change, increase all, adj salinity or PH, etc)

I will wrap this up saying you can grow coral in a betta globe with a small power head and nothing else. I had one on my office desk with zenia and zoanthids for years. It got light from my desk lamp which I put on a timer. Not much more budget than that although I changed all the water every couple days (easy when you only have 3g to change lol)

Len

 

[AnomMatty]

"Moral Compass?"

If you can't steal the food for your fish then you don't deserve them?

The whole world has a broken moral compass and the north pole shifts around to accommodate us.

I like poached salmon but I usually get mine at Albertson's and put it on a BBQ.

The quality of life an individual feels necessary for their captive fish is an individual decision/belief, and everyone's is different. Not sure how you deduced what you said from what I said, but kudos for it.

 

[ca1ore]

If by budget, you mean cheap then, yes, cheap reef tank probably is an oxymoron. Budget also means the amount allocated to a project - which can be a low amount or a high amount. When I bought my last big tank, it came in slightly under budget at $3K.

 

[Troylee]

I'm not saying spend 20k but the less you spend the more work and the more problems down the road you have. I would def say unless it's a tank 2nd hand is great

It’s not! It’s only as complicated as you make it! Running a reef can be very simple and cheap! $250 I had a 60gal cube that flourished… ought it second hand and just cleaned it up and grew it out…

 

[William Chiavetta]

Budget means different things to different people. My tank is 100% my budget.

Tank $200
Stand $200
Lights AI32 $200 x3 have a spare and Quanta 32" light bar $150
Apex el $300 x2 have spare
Red sea reefwave $200
AI nero5 $250 x2 have a spare
Red sea skimmer new $200
Homemade sump $50
Jebao pumps $80 and $65
Bought a 15watt uv traded a guy for a 25 watt $200
Corals (lots) but most were cheap frags and or bought from local reefers. Probably $1000 in all.
Salt always on sale never paid more than $8 a bag IO.
Red sea dosing amazon $86 for gallons each last forever.
Never spent more than $150 (flame angel) on a fish. Most of my fish were sub $100.

I try to keep my tank spending down. I rarely add new corals now and whenever i see salt on sale i buy it.


I also have two nanos.

One is a IM15 $100
Jebao pump $50
Jebao WM $50
Reefbreeders light $200

WB20
$400 for the entire used setup from a local reefer.
AI prime
Mightymax pump
Nero3 $150 onsale

I worded my original post very wrong. I meant people who prioritize saving money over giving fish a comfortable life.

 

[William Chiavetta]

I disagree, there are plenty of budget reef tanks out there that look better than some high end tanks.

Water quality, stability and regular maintenance are keys to success in this hobby.

Budget lights, budget tank, budget corals, budget salt…with stable water parameters and good maintenance you can grow healthy and happy corals that will fill out and look amazing in any glass box.

The amount of money you spend is irrelevant to quality. I think that is true in everything we do, not only in reef keeping.

New & old reefers: the R2R marketplace you can find great pre owned reef gear at a lower cost than brand new. I would also take advantage of the forums that have tons of information about this hobby that is absolutely free.

I worded my original post very wrong. I meant people who prioritize saving money over giving fish a comfortable life.

 

[William Chiavetta]

It’s not! It’s only as complicated as you make it! Running a reef can be very simple and cheap! $250 I had a 60gal cube that flourished… ought it second hand and just cleaned it up and grew it out…

WOW that's impressive. I worded my original post very wrong. I meant people who prioritize saving money over giving fish a comfortable life.

 

[cliff076]

I don’t know but this was very budget friendly

 

[William Chiavetta]

I don’t know but this was very budget friendly

I worded my original post very wrong. I meant people who prioritize saving money over giving fish a comfortable life.

 

[Mizu]

I just finished gathering everything I need for my (first) 30 gallon tank and it's costing me between $1500 to $2000, I wasn't even trying to go super expensive or anything. But I do think if I were to set up a second tank it would be much cheaper

 

[Troylee]

I worded my original post very wrong. I meant people who prioritize saving money over giving fish a comfortable life.

Fish is even cheaper than a reef… rock and canister filter is fine. They will live comfortable.

 

[fish farmer]

I worded my original post very wrong. I meant people who prioritize saving money over giving fish a comfortable life.

I will add to this since this is in the new hobbyist forum.

IMO, fish tend to bring more problems in this hobby. Disease, overstocking, overfeeding which can lead to algae issues, etc. Need for more life support with additional fish.

You can grown corals in a fish bowl....if you add a fish to that bowl....it adds a whole other set of potential problems.

 

[F4TALREEFER]

Your entire scenario is only viable as a build for a experienced reefer. A newbie has no clue how to build a cheap system like this.

They will do what is realistic, look at red sea's website and price out a kit they know is designed to work together.

Pricing out a hodgepodge of low cost parts only makes sense for those of us who know exactly what we need in advance.

Would agree and understand that.
It's why I believe more reefers need to spread the word and take new reefers under their wing. The current state of the hobby and all hobbies is due to the current world we live in. Where most companies push things that are not a necessity for the sake of money. And everyone thinks they need shiny, new, latest, and greatest.
Find it funny how BRS and all these guys are pushing using Kalk again. Only after a decade of building the hobby on selling a million and one more expensive methods of reef keeping.



People should never jump into a hobby or project without gathering knowledge from plenty of sources. Preferably unbiased sources that aren't selling you something.
If you blow money not doing this, well that's your first mistake.

Would prefer to Google and find a thread how to reef on a budget... Vs reminder budget reefing doesn't exist.

I have huge respect for brs and what they have done for the hobby. Ive only been reefing since 2012(no sarcasm still a newb compared to a lot) And can see they are one of the major reasons the hobby has grown into what it is. But also see how the major players have turned it into the assumed expense it has become.

I worded my original post very wrong. I meant people who prioritize saving money over giving fish a comfortable life.

Understandable and believe too many people see fish as "disposable first pets" hell people even think disposable about coral.
Hell same with cats/dogs in terms of what is deemed acceptable diet by most is actually far from an ideal diet for our canine/feline friends.
I do still think with proper due diligence and a little guidance you can create a thriving environment on what is a very reasonable "budget" vs pricing vast minority of people out of a hobby. And a message we should be trying to spread.

Kalk as an example has been dismissed by the marketing companies for years and other additives pushed, yet is the cheapest alk/calc supplement. And leads to a PH in the thriving range. Vs the meh you can keep it 7.8-8.3.

 

[William Chiavetta]

I just finished gathering everything I need for my (first) 30 gallon tank and it's costing me between $1500 to $2000, I wasn't even trying to go super expensive or anything. But I do think if I were to set up a second tank it would be much cheaper

I worded my original post very wrong. I meant people who prioritize saving money over giving fish a comfortable life.

 

[PapaFishRocks]

Marketplace has been the source for almost all my Apex stuff and Hannah testers. All at least half $ of new. That counts as budget reefing for me.

Case in point, just bought a bunch of Apex stuff this morning from Doctorgori on the Marketplace this morning.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I beg to differ with you. I’m a “Cheap Reefer.” All four of my Aquariums are used, my Quarantine and my Oceanic were Free, including the Stands. I reconditioned the Stands, The Wrought Iron one wire brushed and used Bed Liner on it. The Oceanic Replaced the Bottom and added plywood to the Top, from my Scrap Wood Pile Painted till it’s nearly Water Proof. 65 and 120 Gallon Acid Cleaned Aquariums. Then painted the Stands. Six of my Fish are Rescues, some I did pay for, but at below market. I trade Corals. None of my Equipment is WiFi. IMO it’s a waste of money, for something more likely to break. I do a lot of price shopping, and research. A lot of DIY, BTW, I always make drawings on my computer, before building stuff. This includes Piping. Saves making expensive mistakes. Only thing I shy away from buying used, is Aquariums Stored Empty for a long time. Also UV and Lighting .

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

@William Chiavetta

I read your opening post and you've definitely got some engagement...but then you've had to walk back and say this a lot:

I worded my original post very wrong. I meant people who prioritize saving money over giving fish a comfortable life.

Having been here on/off for a few years now, slow down before making that initial post to make sure it says exactly what you mean. You came in hot and got some people firing back at you, and I really think if you had been more detailed in your opening post then it would have gone smoother. I even second guessed your intentions when I recognized your avatar photo as being from AlgaeBarn's site, so for some people that's going to set off "troll alarms". So maybe just proof read next time before you post.

As multiple others have posted, a "budget" is set by the user - so for some like me, I traded for my 240gal and some of the gear or I reused equipment from other tanks I decided to shut down, so financial costs for set up were really low. I think the only out of pocket expense at start up was rock, sand, and salt.

Is there a "cheap" tank? Not really... "Cheap-er" maybe.