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