aquariums done cheaper!!

So I started a post on cheap lighting and that made me think of other ways to cut costs. I have gotten quite good at it since I don't have a job and rarely have any money, so here's some tips I've come up with...

1) Don't buy the tank kits, most of the equipment that comes with is useless. I now always buy a tank and a glass hood separately, and the following equipment...

2) Lighting--here's my lighting on several tanks, way cheaper than typical fluorescent hoods super cheap lighting

3) Filtration--a small tank does not need an expensive power filter, I use sponge filters...even if you can't get them at a store, ordering online from a place like is still cheaper than buying power filters, especially if you order a bunch at a time

4) Heater--do not buy a super cheap crappy heater, it'll cause you a lot of headache and more cost in the long run. I have found 2 brands that work well, Marineland Stealth and Hydor Theo. Both can be found at chains like Petsmart, but the Hydor is usually a lot cheaper.

5) Gravel--you do not need 2" of gravel unless you are going to have a planted tank with rooted plants. Just enough to cover the bottom is fine, or even none at all. (My q tanks are always bare bottom...you can put a piece of black or brown paper on the bottom to make them look like there's a substrate). Remember the less gravel, the easier to keep clean.

6) Background--make your own with black or brown paper. Looks nicer and costs nothing.

7) Plants--live plants are very nice to have...they look much nicer and help the water quality. I would now never have a tank without any live plants. Myth: live plants are expensive, hard to grow, etc... I got a pack of duckweed, guppy grass, and hornwort from for about $10...all three grow like crazy and will soon fill all my tanks. Java fern and java moss are also easy & cheap, though slow growing. These plants don't need fancy lighting, expensive co2 or fert systems, and don't even need to be planted in substrate. They don't look super nice but have the benefits of live plants plus you can grow enough to fill all your tanks and even sell excess. Of course if you're looking for a beautiful planted tank like you see in books, that's a different story.

8) Fish--so you can get a guppy at the local chain for a buck...and it will get sick and die within the next month. I have tried over and over to buy my livebearers at stores and without fail they get sick and die. So I have started ordering them online from breeders. The lesson: with fish, the more you pay initially, the more you save in the long run. Some fish I will buy from nice and well-run (albeit expensive) mom-and-pop lfs's. Others I will only order from breeders that I have met online. However I will never ever ever buy a fish from Petco or Petsmart again, aside from bettas which I rescue with the expectation that they will probably get sick sooner or later. I cannot stress this enough, the headache and expense of treating sick fish and replacing dead ones is soooo not worth the money you save getting cheap fish at chain stores.

9) Stand--if you don't care how it looks, you don't need an expensive wood cabinet. 5's and 10's can be put on sturdy furniture. For larger tanks I get assemble-it-yourself metal stands at Petco that are quite cheap, at least comparatively.

10) Dividers--make it yourself (there is a thread somewhere, can't seem to find it....anyone?)

11) QUARINTINE QUARINTINE QUARINTINE have I mentioned quarintine?? I've had so many fish get sick and even die in quarintine. Better a few new fish than the whole tank. All you need is a bare 5-10 gal tank, heater, a small filter is nice (kept cycled in a permanent tank), clay pot or something to hide in is nice too, a light if you have an extra....

12) Order stuff online. I haven't done this a lot, but if you're buying all the equipment for a whole new tank at once, it's often cheaper to get it at an online store than at a chain, even with the shipping. I know a lot of people like

Wow this is getting long. Please add any other tips you can think of.

 

cheaper

I expect this thread to grow'

For a really nice background get the rattan or bamboo mats used by sunbathers. Dollar Stores carries them...wrinkle them, loop them or just flat they are nice.

 

Thanks for the tips! ThsI is definitly a thread to subscribe to.

 

Pea Gravel and Slate Cheaper at builders merchant than from LFS you are going to wash it anyway and the extra you pay at lfs is for washing.

Filter Floss Buy it from a craft shop (Stuffing for soft toys) get one with no additives hypoalergenic is fine.

Buy sponges from Dolllar/Pound store far cheaper than lfs

Buy water conditioners etc online

join your local aquarist club buy your fish from breeders you get better quality and you know the seller.

 

What a great thread 0morrokh!
Instead of aquarium backgrounds, I use colored poster board on some of my smaller tanks.

Jonah took my tip about pea gravel.
I bought 50lbs for under $3.00. Just make sure you rinse it real well.

Consider used tanks from Criag's List (buyer beware) or Freecycle.

Instead of aquarium plants I've started using silk plants from the dollar store. Just make sure there's no metal exposed.
I also boiled them first.

 

I use old t-shirts from St Vinnys (xxxlarge) for my back grounds. Blacks, blues, hunter green is my favorite. White ones I draw on or write my poems on em. I place 8 small square velcro strips on the tank, (stickey backed) and then 8 more one the t-shirts (stickey backed also) taaaaaaaa daaaaaa!!

 

Great Thread!!! Here's a few more tips:

1) Don't buy aquairium silicone at Petco (they charge $9 per tube). They sell it at home depot for $3 per tube.

2) The dollar store sells stick on thermometers for 99 cents and plastic plants for 99 cents as well.

3) Play sand from home depot is also a great substrate $5 for a 50 lb bag.

4) I have to give CapeKate the credit for this one:
Buy fabric from a fabric store or thrift store and use velcro (with adhesive on the back) to attach it to the back of the tank.

5) Order plants off of Aquabid. Many of the sellers have great deals under the category "Mixed Lots" and sell different plant packages for dirt cheap. Shipping is next to nothing on plants because they are light and don't need next day delivery.

6) Buy things such as water conditioner, fish food, etc in bulk. More expensive up front, but so much cheaper in the long run.

7) When you order online buy lots of stuff at once so you only have to pay shipping one time. If you are about to place an order think ahead and make sure you won't be needing anything else in the near future.

 

Most of all be prepared to employ yourself to make whatever you buy used or modified look great. Don't just slap a bunch of burned out neglected and makeshift stuff together that you end up hating to look at. Make it work and look like new, make it original, make your own, and enjoy what you have made.

 

Thanks for some useful tips. I'm thinking of using minimal lighting, but securing mirrors or aluminium food wrap behind doors housing the fitting and above to increase intensity as required. I assume that will work unless I'm missing something on the technical side.

 

I just thought of another one

The 99 cent store also sells glass marbles for the bottom of betta tanks. They also sell little glass bowls (they are actually votive holders) that would work great as betta caves

 

I considered using foil or aluminum tape on my inside door to help the light bounce back but I think some plain white enamel paint for me. What would really be great is an old mirror inset to the wood would give it class. But where am I going to find a free mirror 48"X19" and even if I found a piece who want to try and cut it to fit. However glass tiles with gold etching might work if you could find some on sale or a partial box.

 

backgrounds

Got Kids?...how about a project = make a diorama 1-2"thick to place against the back of your tank. Regular dried lightweight wood and artificial plants.....never get algae and gives added depth.

 

I considered using foil or aluminum tape on my inside door to help the light bounce back but I think some plain white enamel paint for me. What would really be great is an old mirror inset to the wood would give it class. But where am I going to find a free mirror 48"X19" and even if I found a piece who want to try and cut it to fit. However glass tiles with gold etching might work if you could find some on sale or a partial box.

I might try scrunching? the foil then flatten it somewhat and silicone onto carboard backing and set that up. The reflections may give a dappled effect and
is cheap experimentation

 

if you want to use the fabric ideas, you can also wrap them around a piece of cardboard and hot glue the parts that come around the back. so it can be nice and flat.

 

Gimme more Gimme more!!!!!

 

If you already have a florescent hood buy your replacement tubes from the hardware store. The tube for my hood was $22 at the LFS. The same tube (right down to the packaging) was $6 at the hardware store.

 

A very inexpensive way to create nicely planted tanks is to use Java Fern. I bought a mat of it (about 25 dollars) and planted it in my tank and dosed with flourish every week. Over the course of about 6 months it grew tremendously and I was able to divide up the plants and spread them throughout my tanks. Java fern grows like a weed, lol. This process takes patience, but it is well worth it

 

best thing you will ever buy for your tank? Air pumps... air pumps, splitters, air-stones and air hose... I currently have 3 sponge filters being run off the same pump (small tank mind you 5 gal and under). Calculate the savings... 3 filters at an average of $20 each (and that's being cheap) or 1 air pump that if I had another sponge and split it one more time my $30 air pump would filter 4 tanks... and also that's 3 less items using electricity...

 

OMG Red, I wish I knew this before I ordered my 3 filters for my divided 20 gallon! I didn't know that there were splitters! I looked into sponge filters but I was thinking that it wouldn't saving money to use them because I had to buy an airpump for each one Oh well....you live you learn.

 

After mounting my new $9 florescent fixtures with 20" bulb included I realized from my days as a diver that it is unnecessary to use reflective backing because water defuses light so much that there is really nothing left worth reflecting back down once it goes through the water. So I plan on taking a day to remove these portable light which just slip off and complete the refinish in Cherry Stain and Polyurethane.

 

backgrounds can be changed with your moods and wrapping paper ...ever see all the choices of papers out ther?? HUGE

quarantine tanks can be a nice rubbermaid container of any size...cheap at walmart....just always have extra media in your established tanks to set up a filter asap...

before ordering any tanks, filters, heaters, etc, check out craigslist or freecycle and if you see that good deal, get it and use it for spare pieces...someone just had 4 10 gal full setups for $10 a piece...theres your qt tank/filter/heater all in one...

 

I imagine one day they will have LED backgrounds at an affordable price, well that is if we don't turn into a 3rd world country fist.

 

Yahoooooooo found something new to me. I have a glass top stove. I use a glass top stove cleaner. Not only did it work on my tank (such a shine) it also filled in the scratches. Then I got to thinking, what about Rain-X? Beautiful shine and water runs right off it, no water spots less work.

 

I heard you can fill deep glass scratches with acrylic which when cured is non-toxic. But be careful to remove by repeated dilution any residue of chemicals you put on the inside glass. Of course the outside is a completely different issue what you use or leave behind doesn't really matter. But inside you should make every effort to clean and dilute any chemical residue with non-toxic cleaner like WDV followed by numerous wipe downs with RO until there is no more smell on the clean paper tows.

 

Let's stay on topic folks.

This thread is about tips on how to keeps costs down.

 

Yeah! You guys!

Let's stay on topic folks.

This thread is about tips on how to keeps costs down.

 

Wow this thread has really taken off...lots of great tips, keep em coming!