How much do you spend per month on your salt water/tropical aquarium?
by Aquaboy on Saturday, March 27th, 2010 | 4 Comments
In time and money. Just considering getting some nice tropical fish, really want salt water for the variety of fish species.
Just a ballpark, I know it depends on size and types. Just trying to see if it would be something I am interested in.
Thanks
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I strongly advise that you start with freshwater before saltwater, even if it’s just a modest tank and equipment. Just by looking online at the initial cost of saltwater things like protein skimmers, coral lighting, and the higher prices for saltwater than freshwater fish are often enough to ward off most beginners. Therefore, give freshwater a run. It’s cheap but prepare a few dollars increase in your electricity bill. Also, money only matters initially and/or when you want to upgrade your system in size and/or technology. Be prepared to spend a couple hundred for a saltwater tank at first and then a considerably lesser amount regular for simple maintenance and food.
Well, it’s really the initial purchase of all the equipment that’s an investment. For a basic 10g tank, filter, heater, gravel, live and fake plants and other decorations, it would be anywhere from $100-150, but that was at a pet store. It is entirely possible to get the whole kit for about $60-$100, give or take a few bucks.
All you’d have to do after you purchase the tank and equipment would be to stock up on food whenever it is needed. A container of normal tropical fish food goes bad every six weeks, so it is advised you keep it fresh! You will need to replace the filter cartridges every month, and depending on the type of filter and the type of cartridges used, that’s a small investment of about $10-$30.
For water changes, you’ll need to make an initial investment of a water siphon and maybe a bucket, and that’s all you’ll need.
-Figure 15 minutes per week on maintenance- that’s a 25% partial water change while vacuuming the gravel.
-I feed my fish a variety of food throughout the week, and probably spend 15 minutes feeding (that’s one actual minute of getting the food and putting it in the tank, and 14 minutes staring at them).
Once the tank is up and running there is hardly anything that needs to be bought but food, and water conditioner. I don’t have monthly costs to worry about really. Because I feed a variety of foods (flake, granule, frozen, wafers, etc.) I don’t go through any one food quickly, and the food is cheap anyway.
I started with a small 24 gallon marine tank; its not that hard and really not that expensive. It probably cost 10-15 $ a month. Now I have a 180 gallon shark tank that guy cost me around $50 a month just on salt haha Cheers Max