Well ever since I've started this hobby I get one question get asked over and over, "How much have you spent?" In this post I'm gonna break down exactly how much it would cost to get a set up like my 10g nano reef. So lets get started!
First lets start off with the hardware.
Lights: $100. Yes this might seem expensive for lights but in reality its pretty cheap, I custom made the hood and lights. I similar light fixture premade would run in $300-$500 dollar range. The reason they are so expensive is that fact that reefs require a certain light spectrum and power to sustain a healthy reef.
Tank: $20. Probably one of the more cheaper things in the aquarium. I opted for a rimless tank which makes things a bit more sleek and streamline.
Powerhead: $16. A small underwater fan that creates flow and current in the tank, you don't want stagnant water. I opted for a very cheap one, there are models that run upwards in the $400 range.
Heater: $20. Simple coil heater to maintain proper water temperature.
Sand substrate: $27. I choose a black sand to match the black trim around my tank. Its Hawaiian Black Live sand.
Live Rocks: $20. I got lucky on this one and had my local fish guy hook me up with some rocks. Usually you need 1lb for every gallon so I needed 10 pounds and rock usually runs anywhere from $3-$7 dollars a pound.
Total for Hardware: $203
Running Total: $203
Additives & Supplements
Coral Glue: $10. An underwater glue to glue coral to the rocks.
Coralvite: $10. Coral supplements
Fuel: $12. Fuel for the corals, promotes bright colors and healthy corals.
Reef Accelerator: $12. Promotes healthy purple coraline purple algae
Reef starter kit: $15. provides essential minerals and iodine.
Long tweezers: $8. to pick up and place coral.
Hydrometer: $15 to measure the salinity of the water.
Salt: $45. Great deal at my local fish store makes 200g.
Water Test Kit $50. Test the levels of the water, very important for an aquarium.
Total For additives: 177
Running Total:$380
Now we Get to the fish!
True Percula Clown fish: $25. Its the orange Clown fish in the picture above.
Black Ocellaris Clown fish: $30. Different species of Clown, but black. Pictured above.
FireFish: $10x2=$20. I have two of these fish, and probably one of my favorite types. Pictured above.
Gobies!
Yellow Clown Goby: $8, pictured above
Another Goby!
Blue Spotted watchman Goby: $16. These fish have a cool symbiotic relationship with pistol shrimp, they watch out and protects the shrimp while it digs up food for both of them, hence Watchman Goby.
Total for fish: $99
Running Total: $479
Inverts!
Peppermint shrimp: $5x2=$10. These shrimp can eat aiptasia which is a "weed" and can really mess up your tank.
Starfish!
Red Starfish: $25. One of the cooler things I have in my tank.
Hermits!
Red Tip Hermit crabs: $1x8=$8. These hermits keep the tank clean as they eat algae and waste.
Snails!
Mexican Turbo Snail: $2. This guy is a bulldozer, he keeps the glass and rocks clean.
Total for inverts: $45
Running Total: $524
Corals!!
Trees!
Kenya Trees: $20. 3 trees and another coral which I don't know the name, you can see it pictures in the first picture at the base of the tree, they came bundled together.
Mushrooms!
Spotted Mushroom: $30. Bought the whole rock you see with the mushroom as a bundle.
Torch
Torch Coral: $15. One of my favorite corals, they green tips glow under the blue moonlight setting on my lights.
Trumpets!
Trumpet Corals: $10. These corals are cool, when they multiply they head pinches itself into two.
Anemone
Mystery Anemone: $8. Not sure what kind of anemone this is but it looks sweet!
Polyps!
Zoanthus colony: $60. Goal is for they to fill in the spaces and become one huge colony.
Mystery coral: $25. These aren't pictures and I have no idea what they are called, You'll probably see them in a later blog.
Total for corals: $168
Grand Total: $692!
Whoa! was not expecting that much. This is what it would cost if you didn't have anything and started from scratch and wanted to have one exactly like mine. I had a lot of the supplies already from my fresh water tanks and big 75g tank so the actual cost was a lot cheaper. I don't wanna scare anyone off with the price, you can make a saltwater tank for much cheaper, also for a lot more. The cheaper route would be to start off with only fish, the cost would be around the $200-250 range to get it started with fish; you could then move on to reefs after that as well.
-Luz
