Saltwater tank set up help

[Glacier47]

Okay, so I am thinking about setting up a salt water aquarium from scratch. I have had a freshwater aquarium for 3 years, but I know that saltwater is the penultimate achievement of the fish-keeping world. I have already done some preliminary estimates and found that a FOWLR (what I am considering) setup can cost me about $2000. The aquariums I am considering are 60 gallon, 75 gallon and 125 gallon. These cost, with the stands, $250, $500, and $660, respectively. My estimates are likely off, so my questions for you guys is:

A) How much would a good but budget-conscious set up cost (if you could include the gear names and prices, that would be
great)

B) How much more money, work, and what supplies are needed in a reef vs a FOWLR tank? Is it worth it?

C) Should I just stick with a FW for now?

 

[twilliard]

Here is the thing if we all kept track of what we spent we either wouldn't do it or we would be divorced.
Looks like you have a good plan. Stick with it!

 

[Glacier47]

Ouch. I'm still hypothetical with all of this. It's a big investment, to say the least. I travel a lot as well, so that may not be too great...I might just stick with a cichlid tank.

 

[justaDutchguy]

You could start with a smaller tank, just to get the feel of it, keep it simple, relatively cheap and have patience. But then again, if you get hooked, like realy hooked, you'll want to upgrade in about 3-4 months. At the point of getting hooked, it's no return, your wife either hates it you or you get lucky and the wife also gets hooked.
God am i happy my wife loves our tank too, eventho she has no clue how it all works.

 

[Glacier47]

So what would be the cheap/small route be like? And luckily I don't have that problem yet

 

[Salties Diner]

I would suggest looking at what fish you want to keep and their requirements before purchasing any tank.

 

[bpcass]

I kept a 30 gallon "training" reef tank for about 2 years before upgrading to a 75. I built my setup mostly with cheap used equipment and stuck to soft corals and a few LPS. Because I knew I would eventually be upgrading whenever I bought anything new I invested enough to get something that would work in a larger tank. Lighting in particular was cheaper with a 36 inch long tank. I think my biggest initial expenses were sand (6 inch bed) and live rock setting me back probably $350. I could have made it much cheaper by using mostly dry rock with only a little live to seed the tank.

 

[ReeferBob]

My 125 setup cost just shy of $5k before any livestock. That included a controller. Whatever you think it will cost, double it. 60 is too small I would not go with that one. 125 is 6 feet long so you need space for it.