LionFishPsyco

If I buy Everything Used And Try To Make My Own Aquarium and Stand Do You think I can Make a Salt Water aquarium With only 250$?(maybe More)(not Including Fish)

MizRamzi

Check out the: Oceanic Bio-Cubes! They come in 8g, 14g, and 29g. They are totally self contained and come with everything. I bought my 8g on sale for 99.00$ that was a steal. Usually they run around 199.00$ I did build my own stand for around 45.00$
Remember buying used means you may need to replace certain items before your able to.
Then you need to consider LR which is very expensive 10.00 per lb at least. With the recommended amount being 1lb per gallon
Substrate
Lights
filtration
all of which is dependent upon the size of your tank.

My 8g has already cost me over 500.00 with live stock.

Don't mean to bring you down but SW can be expensive and very costly if it's not done right. You could start with a used tank/stand/lights for FOWLR and then build up from there.

matt6765

how big?

spider_pig

It depends on what you want (Ex. size tank, fish only or reef) In general, SW are about 2-3X more expensive that a FW of the same size not including fish. Look around for used established tanks. that could save you a handful. hope it goes well.

LionFishPsyco

I would not be a reef As I know they Cost a ton.
It Would be Fish only With live rock.
The tank Size I want Is a 55 Gallon.

spider_pig

it would def. cost more than 250 even used. Even a 29g bio cube would cost more than $300 by itself. But you never know, you might find something.

Oil_Fan

Is it possible to do a SW tank for under $250? Yes. In my basement, I have a standard 20 gallon FW tank with a HOB filter, regular lighting and a bit over 20 lbs of LR.

I only have one gold stripe maroon clown fish in there along with an emerald crab and 2 asteria snails but it works. My biggest expense was the LR. Even that you can do in stages.

I probably spent around $180 - $ 200 for the setup plus livestock. Now I don't have a protein skimmer on that tank but since I only have one fish, it's not really needed as water changes take care of removing any waste.

Angela_96

You can, if you search through craigslist and find a used tank. Right now where I live someone has a 29g biocube with stand, live rock, sand for like 175 and that is a great start. You can alaways aquabid and online shop for livestock or join a local reef club to get cheap frags.

cerianthus

Why not? What are the dimensions planned? If building, make sureto make it Reef Ready.

If handy enough to build tank & cabinet then should be able to build Protein skimmer, lighting, sump/refuge with return pump which will be bulk of the expense

I dont know where you are but should be able to find good/decent Fiji Live Rock for $99.00/50lbs Box(Liveaquaria.com). If thinking of doing for lions in 55 or 75, 50 lbs should do. Why pay $10/lbs? If 50 lbs are not enough, you can always top it off with few pcs at a time locally until satisfied.

carlos413

I got mine from craigs list. Check it I got 55 gallon tank, stand, skimmer, wet dry filter, the python hose, "I don't use it". All that for $175, and a 30 minute drive. Not bad. All I had to dish money on was the lights. Power compact 260w with moonlight for $150. Look around you might find a good deal. Pics Comeng soon!

LionFishPsyco

Thanks Everyone For You're Opinions And Suggestions!
Right now I have Been using CraigsList to try to find a good deal, but I haven't Come across Anything yet.
I'm Also researching on how to make an aquarium.

MizRamzi

To bad you didn't live near me, I'd give you a 75g SW ready tank with stand for free, just get it outta the back of my truck!!!! It was given to me for free but there's no way I can afford the accessories to set it up.

gmen4life

lol im on my way mizramzi

rileyrk190

I currently giving saltwater another go, but honestly i spent more than that just to start a ten gallon when i first tried saltwater, and i already had the tank. It also never made it to the point of adding fish. Its amazing how quickly things add up. You have to remember the other things such as hygrometer, master test kits, powerheads..etc

MizRamzi

That would be a ride wouldn't it, lol. I did forget to add those lil items to my ever growing list. But I do gotta say, it's all been worth it. I do know that living in a smaller town where I am sooooooo limited as to where I buy the things need, has made it a bit more expensive. A least for things like LR, substrate, lights, test kits. We have only one LFS here that sells SW, their markup is 110%
I have since found Aquabid.com I was able to buy 2x calicum test kits for 6.00$ a API master test kit for 20.00$ Inverts, hard and soft corals are easy to get there too.
Good luck, keep us posted. This is sooooo much fun!!!

ATP

If I were you, I would just keep on searching on cragislist. I got a 125 complete reef set up with LR, live sand, fish, MH lighting, Skimmer, etc.. for $500. I also got a 40 gallon complete for $300