# Thinking about saltwater



## fishluver06 (Jan 12, 2008)

I'm getting a 50 gallon tank soon and I was thinking of keeping saltwater fish, but from what I've heard it can be a bit costly how much on average does it take to set up and maintain a saltwater aquarium.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

A 50 gallon tank to start running will cost anywhere from $500-2000+, depending on what sytem you are running (FO, FOWLR, Reef). It is a lot to think about.

The needed things:

-Proper lighting (the biggest concern in reef tanks; at least 4WPG, if not more on reefs. FOWLR/FO can have less lighting.
-Protein Skimmer would help tremendoulsly in a tank of this size.
-Sump. Again, highly reccomened in a large tank.
-Plumbing for sump
-Testing kits, Refractometer, Quarantine Tank, meds, etc
-Live rock/sand for Reef/FOWLR
-Powerheads. Two would be best here.
-Salt mixes and RO/DI water
-Heaters; two or three smaller watts are better than one large one, unless it is kept in a sump.
-Enough money for daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly maintence (Water top-offs, changes, chaning of lights/powerheads, etc)

This is the basic run-down of things. You need to do a ton of information if you plan on keeping saltwater. If you are pretty new to fish keeping, start with fresh. In SW, there is little room for error.


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## bndrinkin (Mar 20, 2008)

i just started a 37 gal

im $600+ into it


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## Aquatic_Fan (Nov 30, 2007)

ITS EXPENSIVE AND I HAVE A 10gal .....WHICH IS A PAIN IN THE A**


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