In general, how much would starting a ~20gal marine tank cost?

If you already had a tank, stand, and hood??


I was just curious. I have a feeling it is VERY expensive.

It depends on an awful lot of factors, such as what kind of equipment you'll be using and what sort of animals you'll want to keep. A fish-only tank could probably be started for a couple hundred dollars. However if you wanted to do corals and things like that, the cost would be closer to $1000. It pays to shop around and compare prices. I know Ive seen a lot of things online that are cheaper even than buying them at our store with my discount. So just check around.

Your basic checklist would be:

• crushed coral substrate (1 lb/gallon)
• filter (optional depending on what sort of system you want)
• heater
• thermometer
• marine salt mix
• hydrometer
• test kits
• live rock (at least 1 lb/gallon)
• water conditioner (if you use tapwater) or reverse osmosis water
• powerheads
• protein skimmer (optional)

I would put prices but they vary so much from place to place. Hope this helps a bit!

So the $1000 would be fore a reef type tank?

Hmmm

It doesn't have to be all at once, you can get a few items at a time to setup your tank. And then once cycled take time to get the fish, corals if you are going for that, slowly and you will have a beautiful tank. I was always told a 55 gallon tank is better because it would be easier to keep the levels right in the tank and easier to care for. But i have seen people go for smaller tanks and if you keep up with maintenace then it should be fine. If you are new to saltwater do ALOT of research before even buying anything.

With salt water tanks you never just buy all at once in fact it should take you about a year to get all the things you need. Trust me i have learned from this.

I have a 13 gal tank and I rushed on a few things and have lost 4 things that cost me around $30 a piece....Patience is a good part of salt water tanks.

So true Koko! I agree that starting slowly is the way to go. For about the first month or so that my tank was set up, it had 2 pieces of live rock in it. It looked so sad!! Then I started buying new rock each payday and soon worked my way up till now I cant really fit anymore in.

And the corals/anemones are where it starts getting expensive because they require very high intensity lights that are quite expensive (both to buy and to run!).

I have a 20gallon tank, with a stand and hood (although I doubt the hood ould do for saltwater, it only holds 1 bulb) and I was sort of hoping to convert it to saltwater, BUT......I don't know if I ever will.

Do you *have* to have REALLY strong lights? I know you do for some of the really fancy stuff, but what could you keep with say.......90watts of light? ( I have a feeling that not much would live )

I would say, fish, live rock, hermits, and you might get away with star polups but that would be pushing it.

So 140w would probably be better..

If I DO start a marine reef tank, I want to be able to keep button polyps and the "mushrooms" and the softer corals. The "SPS" or whatever they are seem too difficult for a beginner. Lol

Just to give an idea... I have 720 Watts over my reef!
So I have approx. 11WPG...
But I have a clam and such...

On your 20gallon you might want to look at PC lighting maybe? What are the dimentions of your tank?