Realistically How Much Is A Small Saltwater Aquarium?

The current equipment I have is a 10 gallon tank, it has a small internal filter and a heater that keeps it in the 75-78 degree range. That's about all I have right now and I live in a pretty remote place in canada with one pet store with fish and they only do freshwater that I know of. I have a good relationship with the owner so I could maybe have her source some things but it would probably be cheaper online or such. What are the expenses that I would be looking at for setting up my very first saltwater aquarium? I have a 29 and 46 fresh water but I've never even touched saltwater before. Whats a basic setup kind of need, and what else is recommended?

 

A 20 long Fowlr start up cost may be 200 to 300 depending on your equipment choice. if price is a concern you may want to look the other way when it comes to reefs

 

I've had Fowler and the most costly thing was the live rock. Even then you can get by cheaper if you get "dead live" rock and a small piece of live to seed it. You really don't "need" a skimmer for fish only. External filter with just filter floss. Just a good light to see the fish nothing fancy. Maybe some powerheads for the flow and the fish .Fish can be expensive depending on what kind they are. Oh and of course the salt.

So if you have the tank, light and a hob you will just need the rock, substrate and fish and your salt. Oh and your HOB using just the filter floss.

This is the basic setup so no coral or delicate fish

 

Price is a factor but not neccessarily a dealbreaker, I know that saltwater is of course more expensive than fresh. My lfs doesn't carry any kind of live rock just some dragonstone and stuff like that. Is there anywhere that I could order the rock in small quantities that would ship to canada? Same thing with the fish I'm not sure if my store can even get them in so could I order those as well? As for the filter its not a HOB its internal would that affect it? I'm a complete noob to saltwater. What does live rock do for the tank besides help in the cycling?

 

Forgot to add you also need the salinity tester! Lol .Gotta know how much salt is in the water. I'm sure I'm missing something else you may need but its late and it eludes me at the moment lol.

 

Here is a good guide for setting up a 20 Long FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock). Now keep in mind these are all US price references. Canada isn't the best place for the hobby, so if you have the opportunity to purchase things stateside, I highly recommend doing it.

 

Here is a good guide for setting up a 20 Long FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock). Now keep in mind these are all US price references. Canada isn't the best place for the hobby, so if you have the opportunity to purchase things stateside, I highly recommend doing it.

Ordering things from the states this far north is a pretty crummy process. Thanks for the video I can at least use it for reference