Fullofit343

So i have a 10 gal tank with an aqueon filter and the lighting that came in the the 10 gal aquarium kit. i would obviously need to upgrade lighting. How much would it cost to set up a reef tank?

travie

It all depends. Do you want to do a Reef Tank or just a Fish Only with live rock? Then it depends on how good you are at finding deals on quality equipment. I always suggest get the best quality you can afford; cheaper in the long run with great quality equipment.

Fullofit343

Well i would probably do a reef tank. a few different corals, maybe so shrimp. I haven't really done any research yet. i just want to know appx. how much money i'm looking at so that i can make sure i can afford it before dedicating hours to learning about it.

slamddakota99

im doing both...reef and reef safe fish...

travie

A very rough guess on my part is 500 to 1000 USD. But if you can find deals on equipment, it could be lower. Or try to find people on www.craigslist.com or www.kijiji.com that are selling their whole setup.

Aquaman123456

I think it will cost you about $500 max like travie said, I did my 29 gallon for about 1200ish. I got to the point where I stopped counting lol.

Fullofit343

Why is it so much? where does all the cost come from. I know i'd have to upgrade lighting and i already have a filter (100 GPH for a 10 gallon tank is enough correct?) and i have a heater. i would need to go the salt mix, live sand, the hydrometer and what else?

Iron waffle

firstly, SW fish and corals are more expensive than FW, sometimes a lot more. you'd also want a protein skimmer and maybe a small powerhead for aeration. RO water or distilled for water changes and the halide lightbulbs for coral are expensive to replace and use more energy. It really adds up.

Fullofit343

I read somewhere that a protein skimmer for such a small tank is unnecessary. do you need to buy an entire new halide light fixture for the coral tank or could i buy a bulb to put in the light fixture i have on the tank now?

sgould

If you are going to be keeping corals, you really should have a skimmer. For fish only you could do without. For lighting, you will need an upgrade if you want to keep corals, but you do not necessarily need metal halides. Tanks under 24" deep typically do just fine with T-5s, and with a 10 gallon tank, you could even go with power compacts. Either would be cheaper than halides.

Fullofit343

Right, i'm also a little confused. if you use live rock and live sand that acts as natural filtration? like you use it instead of a filter? like i said i have a filter already that turns over the 10 gallon 10 times. would i save money by not using live sand and using the filter instead?

travie

You definitely want to get Live Rock around 10 to 15 pounds. Then you can just buy aragonite sand, which doesn't have to be the live sand, just the cheapest you can find. This will be your biological filtration. Then do away with the filter, because it will just make a lot of nitrates if not cleaned weekly. Any nitrate level over 1 PPM is bad for most corals. Then get a powerhead for current/flow, I would recommend the Koralia Nano. You will need to be a whole new light fixture. A fixture that can keep corals healthy and alive will cost probably 50 to 100$ new.