My fiancée and I both love the sound of water and need to have some type of noise to sleep at night so rationally I thought why not start a small tank in the bedroom. Having my current financial status I set the challenge of not spending over $50 for the set up (obviously not going for top of the line here) what I've got already is a marine land led strip a ten gallon and salt mix so I found a power head (aqua clear 10) a power filter (fluval c2) a heater rated up to 65 gallons (fluval) and a bag of crushed coral thanks to clearance hunting through different stores hence the overkill on the heater lol but at least this way I can always upgrade later this brings me to the total of $42.65 now just need to get some live rock and fill it up! I plan on doing a species only tank with bright Yuma ricordeas never seen it done before and the lighting doesn't leave me with a lot of options any ideas or comments please post!
Reef on a budget
- Thread starter jstec
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DSP
Valuable Member
You can definitely do a Reef on a budget keeping soft corals like that Iv done it and still am with my wifes tank lol, Everything you named will work just fine, A couple other things you will want to get is a hydrometer or refractometer and some test kits, Api master test kit is a good low budget kit that will work just fine for your tank,And that's pretty much it to get the tank started since you have everything else, Of course there's some other things you can add later to help the tank like Chemipure or purigen in the filters and stuff like that but thats not absolutely needed it just helps.
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DSP
Valuable Member
Oh and a gravel vacuum to vacuum your substrate since your using crushed coral, Crushed coral traps waste more then sand does so whenever you do a waterchange I would gravel vacuum the crushed coral, Are you planning on buying your water from your local fish store? If not you will need to purchase a Rodi filter to filter your own water and honestly it's one of the best purchases you can make for a saltwater tank but it does go against the reefing budget lol, You will be very very happy if you buy one though.
I forgot to mention that I already have a reef set up in the living room so thankfully that saves me money on things I already have like extra filter material and the essentials I get my water from the lfs right now but I have been looking into the rodi
How would using old depleted water speed things up? Beneficial bacteria is not free floating. We test our water on a regular bases because the essential elements become depleted and for harmful substances like nitrates & ammonia. Old water is just that, OLD and useless! Always better to use clean fresh water, period!
giar
Community Member
Great point!
Using some of my established tanks filter media rock and the quick start it's only taken a little less then a week to cycle is that even possible? Checked my water three times 0nitrate 0 nitrate and 0 ammonia showed the same signs as my other tank when I cycled it but instead of taking three weeks it was accelerated am I loosing it or what
*SENSI*
Community Member
How would using old depleted water speed things up? Beneficial bacteria is not free floating. We test our water on a regular bases because the essential elements become depleted and for harmful substances like nitrates & ammonia. Old water is just that, OLD and useless! Always better to use clean fresh water, period!
i did that with my wifes bio cube also used LR that i didnt want in my tank, but i do weekly water changes on my 95 gal, an the bio cube cycled fine an has been running good for 6 months now
i did that with my wifes bio cube also used LR that i didnt want in my tank, but i do weekly water changes on my 95 gal, an the bio cube cycled fine an has been running good for 6 months now
Alright checked it with a different test and it's the same good to know I'm not crazy lol and I agree that using another tanks water is not the best idea I'm sure you could think of a benefit from it but overall getting fresh clean water stocked with elements has to be better
Duke4Life
Just a crazy eel guy, LMAS
I realized this a few weeks ago, wanted a fish and didn't have the funds. Frustrating at times but it's forced me to stay slow. I tend 2 research a ton whatever I'm interested in, this has also saved me a few times. Water and food, anything else is a bonus. Luckily it's getting warmer which means work picks up to full time.
